Qomputer Quandary!

[nicholasj]

My first dive computer.
Here I was all set to buy a new Suunto Vyper Air at the London Dive show next week when I read a good review of the Uwatec Galileo Terra. Latter not air intergrated........but I probably do not need this as I only use hire regulators so I cannot really use a transmitter. Also only single nitrox but pay extra to get software upgrade to three gas on the Terra.
Any Galileo Terra users out there? How does the irDA work on it? What is the SmartTrak like to use? Is it worth the extra price compared to the Vyper Air?
And now I hear there is a Galileo Luna about to be launched.
Anyone heard of this?
Any comment appreciated

 

[TheMadDane]

To the best of my knowledge they have cancelled the release of the Luna due to the tremendous sales of the Sol. They have also cancelled the production of the Terra as it has been removed from their website.

I have had no problems with the irDA and the SmartTrak software is very good, I prefer to use diving log 4.0 as it's much more comprehensive.

Good Luck.

Again this is the last that I heard. I do love my Sol and all the great features including the great screen.

 

[nicholasj]

Yes the Sol and Tera are great. The screen and information/layout is fantastic. I may go for the Terra but now I received an email newsletter from Suunto and they are releasing a new computer at the London Dive show next week..........oh well more choice!

 

[Mr Carcharodon]

My first dive computer.
Here I was all set to buy a new Suunto Vyper Air at the London Dive show next week when I read a good review of the Uwatec Galileo Terra. Latter not air intergrated........but I probably do not need this as I only use hire regulators so I cannot really use a transmitter. Also only single nitrox but pay extra to get software upgrade to three gas on the Terra.
Any Galileo Terra users out there? How does the irDA work on it? What is the SmartTrak like to use? Is it worth the extra price compared to the Vyper Air?
And now I hear there is a Galileo Luna about to be launched.
Anyone heard of this?
Any comment appreciated

The IrDA has worked well for me, and is significantly less expensive than the Suunto interface cable. And getting the Suunto to consistently interface with my computer has always been a problem. Also the Smartrak software seems to be less buggy than the Suunto software.

Generally I have found Suunto to provide poor to non-existant after sales support for their products. Their dive computers themselves are OK. That said I do ignore some of the numbers the Suunto spits out which are clearly wrong. The Uwatec has not seem to do this, but have only had it for a realitively short period of time. The Suunto is less expensive up front however.

 

[nicholasj]

Thanks for this.....which do you have, the Sol or Terra. And you have a Suunto also?

 

[nicholasj]

This is the same as the Terra but with air integration. Terra no longer in production. Luna quite expensive compared to discontinued Terra. Seems like air integration is not an option, hence high price.
Anyone know more?

 

[zf2nt]

One thing you should consider is the difference in the algorithms behind the computers. A Uwatec and a Suunto computer will behave very similarly on the first dive of the day, but on repetitive dives will be vastly different. Suunto uses a different off-gassing algorithm during the surface interval, and that algorithm is extremely conservative. When you go down for the subsequent dive, your NDL will be much less than if you were using a Uwatec computer. I recall doing one sequence of dives a couple of years ago where I had my Suunto Cobra go into deco mode while the Uwatec showed I had 59 minutes of NDL remaining! That was an extreme case, to be sure, but there was always a significant difference in NDL on repetitive dives.

By the same token, the Pelagic computers (e.g. Oceanic, Aeris) are very liberal--much more so than the Uwatec computers. They are so liberal that I personally would be afraid of diving them to their limits. But then the question naturally arises...How much back from the limit would I feel safe diving? And I don't know how to answer that one! It would be nice if the manufacturers would disclose what testing they have done so we could judge for ourselves the validity of the basic algorithms.

Bruce

 

[nicholasj]

Thanks for the information. I did not realise they may be so different. I was aware from reading reviews etc. that the Suunto can be quite conservative though. In reality I do not think I would do more than two dives in a day. The Uwatec Luna manual which I downloaded recommends two hours between rpetitive dives but the Suunto just one. I suppose the NDL would be longer thereafter with the Uwatec. It is a lovely computer but my funds won't stretch to it!
Thanks

 

[Photodivr]

I have attempted to read as many of the threads on the Uwatec Galileo Family of dive computers as I could. Some of the threads are dated. Since this is a big purchase for me, I hope anyone with experience with the Uwatec Galileo Luna and/or experience buying from diveinn..scubastore store & shipping to the US would provide me with feedback on your experience.

Thanks

 

[Liquivision]

Several people reported problems if they ordered a Galileo from scubastore. Although scubastore is a great shop (I buy tons from them), and the price is great, there is that weird rule that Uwatec has where if you buy from an overseas location you don't get a warranty. So you might need to buy it locally.

I would strongly investigate that before deciding.


Eric Fattah
Liquivision Products