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Question about dive computers
- Thread starter Stormblessed
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purbeast
Contributor
I've been watching videos and reading reviews of both the Suunto Zoop Novo and the Mares Puck Pro. I'm torn as to which one I'd prefer to get at this point, and the Mares being 1/2 the price is making it even harder. I was just talking with Leisure Pro on chat and they said that you can return stuff if it has been opened but not taken underwater. So I'm thinking of getting both of those and playing around with them at home, and then returning the one that I don't like as much as the other one.
According to @KenGordon you can plan a dive for the Zoop in Suunto dive manager software, and have the computer readings match your plan on the actual dive. This is not something you can do on my Cressi Leo, and I wonder if that functionality is available for the Mares line. This, plus "Suunto tax" in the US, would explain the price difference.
If you don't care for that functionality, then you're basically paying for extra buttons (that some people find too stiff and hard to press).
If you don't care for that functionality, then you're basically paying for extra buttons (that some people find too stiff and hard to press).
purbeast
Contributor
So I got my Mares Puck Pro and the Suunto Zoop Novo today and just played around with them quite a bit. There's really not much more to do with them right now other than mess around with settings and stuff though lol.
The Mares Puck Pro was pretty easy to use regardless of it only having 1 button. It was pretty obvious what it did and how to use it, and navigating into the menus was easy. It was kind of a pain in the ass when I went to time, and had to cycle through the each time field and date when I tried to change to 12h from 24h. And I did it twice. But once I figured it out and saved the time, I didn't have to go back there. I definitely found the font and layout and stuff of some of the options very odd and hard to read. There was some stuff I flat out couldn't read and didn't know what it even meant.
Physically I found the strap hard to maneuver on this one. I found the plastic tooth that holds the watch in place was just kind of a pain to get in/out of the strap. It kept on getting caught when I didn't want to, and then pulling it out was kind of hard. I read that people said the strap was too short but for me it was more than long enough. I didn't have a wetsuit on but it would go over my 3mm easily with a lot of space to spare.
The screen as mentioned I found kind of hard to read on some screens, just due to the font and how they do the text. It was kind of weird changing the time where you see a "24h' options, and you press the button and it switches to "am/pm" and it's in really tiny font and it's in a different spot. Just things like that were kind of odd.
As for the Suunto Zoop Novo, it was also pretty easy to navigate around. Going through the options is obviously easier with the extra buttons being able to go back and forth and what not. I also found the font a lot easier to read on this one compared to the Puck Pro. I did notice as I pressed the buttons quite a bit that I was getting dimples in my thumbs, as you do kind of have to press down a bit, and with the plastic screen protector it makes pressing the buttons somewhat awkward due to the screen being a few inches off the base where the buttons are.
I found the screen on this overall to be nicer than the Puck Pro. It definitely seems bigger slightly and it is crisper. As mentioned the fonts were easier to read and it seemed a lot more uniform with how the text was. I also noticed that in the settings it had a 'secondary time' that the Puck Pro didn't, which I guess you would use just to set two different times if you are in on vacation in a different time zone and want to see the time back home. Not really a big deal at all just something I noticed.
While the strap on this is longer, it didn't really mater to me. I did find it easier to get this one on/off just because of the metal tooth on it (maybe that's why, but it was easier) and the extra part of the strap I kind of doubled back and put into one of the loops on the strap.
Aesthetically I like the Zoop Novo better. I also like the cleanliness of the screen on the Zoop Novo compared to how the Puck Pro is broken up into 3 different sections, although I understand and it makes sense. Without the sections I feel it makes the screen just have a cleaner feel, especially with the fonts being uniform. I heard people saying that the backlight on the Puck Pro wasn't as good but I don't know I couldn't tell much of a difference, they both did the job. I did see a video of someone showing the 'live dive log' thing that the Zoop Novo does too and thought that was really cool, but obviously I can't use that yet.
I'm going to play around with them a little bit more, well as much more as I can without doing a dive, but right now I'm definitely leaning towards keeping the Zoop Novo. It was like $296 with a coupon versus $159 for the Puck Pro, but if I like it better and feel better about it, it's worth it to me.
The Mares Puck Pro was pretty easy to use regardless of it only having 1 button. It was pretty obvious what it did and how to use it, and navigating into the menus was easy. It was kind of a pain in the ass when I went to time, and had to cycle through the each time field and date when I tried to change to 12h from 24h. And I did it twice. But once I figured it out and saved the time, I didn't have to go back there. I definitely found the font and layout and stuff of some of the options very odd and hard to read. There was some stuff I flat out couldn't read and didn't know what it even meant.
Physically I found the strap hard to maneuver on this one. I found the plastic tooth that holds the watch in place was just kind of a pain to get in/out of the strap. It kept on getting caught when I didn't want to, and then pulling it out was kind of hard. I read that people said the strap was too short but for me it was more than long enough. I didn't have a wetsuit on but it would go over my 3mm easily with a lot of space to spare.
The screen as mentioned I found kind of hard to read on some screens, just due to the font and how they do the text. It was kind of weird changing the time where you see a "24h' options, and you press the button and it switches to "am/pm" and it's in really tiny font and it's in a different spot. Just things like that were kind of odd.
As for the Suunto Zoop Novo, it was also pretty easy to navigate around. Going through the options is obviously easier with the extra buttons being able to go back and forth and what not. I also found the font a lot easier to read on this one compared to the Puck Pro. I did notice as I pressed the buttons quite a bit that I was getting dimples in my thumbs, as you do kind of have to press down a bit, and with the plastic screen protector it makes pressing the buttons somewhat awkward due to the screen being a few inches off the base where the buttons are.
I found the screen on this overall to be nicer than the Puck Pro. It definitely seems bigger slightly and it is crisper. As mentioned the fonts were easier to read and it seemed a lot more uniform with how the text was. I also noticed that in the settings it had a 'secondary time' that the Puck Pro didn't, which I guess you would use just to set two different times if you are in on vacation in a different time zone and want to see the time back home. Not really a big deal at all just something I noticed.
While the strap on this is longer, it didn't really mater to me. I did find it easier to get this one on/off just because of the metal tooth on it (maybe that's why, but it was easier) and the extra part of the strap I kind of doubled back and put into one of the loops on the strap.
Aesthetically I like the Zoop Novo better. I also like the cleanliness of the screen on the Zoop Novo compared to how the Puck Pro is broken up into 3 different sections, although I understand and it makes sense. Without the sections I feel it makes the screen just have a cleaner feel, especially with the fonts being uniform. I heard people saying that the backlight on the Puck Pro wasn't as good but I don't know I couldn't tell much of a difference, they both did the job. I did see a video of someone showing the 'live dive log' thing that the Zoop Novo does too and thought that was really cool, but obviously I can't use that yet.
I'm going to play around with them a little bit more, well as much more as I can without doing a dive, but right now I'm definitely leaning towards keeping the Zoop Novo. It was like $296 with a coupon versus $159 for the Puck Pro, but if I like it better and feel better about it, it's worth it to me.
Was there a reason you didn't want an i300C? For $300 I'd chose that (or I felt really adventurous: a seac guru from amazon) for being more computer for the money. Even though zoop probably has a better display than either of them.
purbeast
Contributor
I did a ton of research and watched videos on them and stuff, almost to the point I did too much research, and I just wasn't a huge fan of the looks and screen on that one. And while I believe you it has more features, as a beginner I don't know if those extra features would really be anything I'd take advantage of anyways.
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purbeast
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Yeah there was a post in here that had a lot of info in regards to the ones the companies use (or had a link to the post) and I also read more about them outside of here. Being a noob, I'm fine with conservative for now.
purbeast
Contributor
So I have another question for you guys.
I randomly looked in the classifieds and saw a Zoop Vyper Novo for sale for $400. That one came with the USB cable and the rubber boot by default with the Vyper. The computer also has AI if you want it but it also has a compass. Considering it is only $100 more than what I paid for my brand new Zoop, it kind of got me intrigued a bit, since I can still return my Zoop if I want to. I don't really know if the compass or not will be of use to me (I'd assume at some point it would be) and again, I don't think I'd get AI (at least not any time in the near future), but also coming with the accessories, including the USB cable which is like $80 for the Zoop alone, has me somewhat interested.
The one for sale for $400 had just been sold (I'm not sure if it sold for asking price or not either) but I put up a post and someone else has one they would be willing to part with for $400 that has 10 dives on it. It was purchased in July 2017 and used on a vacation once in August 2017 for 10 dives. The only concern I had about it was that the seller mentions it had a low battery already and he had purchased a new battery kit, and would include that in the sale if I want it. But after only 10 dives and it is like 1.5 years old, that seemed a bit odd, just because from what I read, it sounded like you can get around 300 dives out of a battery over the period of 8-12 months. But me having no clue about these things, I don't know if it's normal for a battery to wear down when not in use.
Is this normal with dive computers or does this seem a bit odd to those of you with experience with dive computers?
I randomly looked in the classifieds and saw a Zoop Vyper Novo for sale for $400. That one came with the USB cable and the rubber boot by default with the Vyper. The computer also has AI if you want it but it also has a compass. Considering it is only $100 more than what I paid for my brand new Zoop, it kind of got me intrigued a bit, since I can still return my Zoop if I want to. I don't really know if the compass or not will be of use to me (I'd assume at some point it would be) and again, I don't think I'd get AI (at least not any time in the near future), but also coming with the accessories, including the USB cable which is like $80 for the Zoop alone, has me somewhat interested.
The one for sale for $400 had just been sold (I'm not sure if it sold for asking price or not either) but I put up a post and someone else has one they would be willing to part with for $400 that has 10 dives on it. It was purchased in July 2017 and used on a vacation once in August 2017 for 10 dives. The only concern I had about it was that the seller mentions it had a low battery already and he had purchased a new battery kit, and would include that in the sale if I want it. But after only 10 dives and it is like 1.5 years old, that seemed a bit odd, just because from what I read, it sounded like you can get around 300 dives out of a battery over the period of 8-12 months. But me having no clue about these things, I don't know if it's normal for a battery to wear down when not in use.
Is this normal with dive computers or does this seem a bit odd to those of you with experience with dive computers?
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