You can choose between Buhlman w/GF or VPM-B depending on preference. Much better than the other fancy looking "tec" computer from Europe.
It's an interesting computer, but I found the interface very clunky and the screen busy and distracting. It's very customizable though so I'd imagine that it can be toned down to something more suitable, I just didn't spend enough time with it to really see. There are some features that I like, showing MOD for each gas on entry is nice, the compass is nice, the deco table is a worthwhile feature to be able to see all of your stops on one page. The analyzer function is cool, but it's an extra almost $300. Really anybody diving a rebreather already has an analyzer (and nowadays should have a Cootwo because it does CO as well). I'm not sure how their CO2 monitor works, but I'm assuming it's rather rebreather dependent, and there really hasn't been an effective CO2 monitor on the market yet so I'm not super confident that they've licked that problem. Does me no good if I can't fit one in my Meg. What sort of interface cable are they using, it doesn't look like a Fischer connector? If CO2 monitoring is just interpolated from a temp stick, that has its own set of issues. It's cool that they're trying to bring that to market though.
It very much looks like they copied a Shearwater, changed some stuff around so it didn't look tooooooo close, and then got a great deal on a bunch of integrated hardware modules with a boat load of features so they decided to write code for them. EVERY.SINGLE.FEATURE.AVAILABLE.
I appreciate their desire to add a bunch of features that are cool. Feels very much like feature creep to me though, which worries me in a technical diving computer. I'd sort of prefer if there wasn't GPS and a barometer and an artificial horizon, etc. because having those as options means the the computer has to use processing power to run those. I hope you can turn on and off each module to suit what you desire. I don't want to have to scroll through a ton of pages to get to what I need. I don't want the computer going cross-eyed because the magnetometer starts freaking out the whole computer every time the solenoid fires.
I'd really like to take one for a spin, but at almost $1400 it's a tough pill to swallow when the gold standard for technical/rebreather computers is $300 cheaper, is already well proven, and has demonstrated time and again why it is the gold standard. If they had a loaner program, I'd love to get one even just in a pool.
It's an interesting computer, but I found the interface very clunky and the screen busy and distracting. It's very customizable though so I'd imagine that it can be toned down to something more suitable, I just didn't spend enough time with it to really see. There are some features that I like, showing MOD for each gas on entry is nice, the compass is nice, the deco table is a worthwhile feature to be able to see all of your stops on one page. The analyzer function is cool, but it's an extra almost $300. Really anybody diving a rebreather already has an analyzer (and nowadays should have a Cootwo because it does CO as well). I'm not sure how their CO2 monitor works, but I'm assuming it's rather rebreather dependent, and there really hasn't been an effective CO2 monitor on the market yet so I'm not super confident that they've licked that problem. Does me no good if I can't fit one in my Meg. What sort of interface cable are they using, it doesn't look like a Fischer connector? If CO2 monitoring is just interpolated from a temp stick, that has its own set of issues. It's cool that they're trying to bring that to market though.
It very much looks like they copied a Shearwater, changed some stuff around so it didn't look tooooooo close, and then got a great deal on a bunch of integrated hardware modules with a boat load of features so they decided to write code for them. EVERY.SINGLE.FEATURE.AVAILABLE.
I appreciate their desire to add a bunch of features that are cool. Feels very much like feature creep to me though, which worries me in a technical diving computer. I'd sort of prefer if there wasn't GPS and a barometer and an artificial horizon, etc. because having those as options means the the computer has to use processing power to run those. I hope you can turn on and off each module to suit what you desire. I don't want to have to scroll through a ton of pages to get to what I need. I don't want the computer going cross-eyed because the magnetometer starts freaking out the whole computer every time the solenoid fires.
I'd really like to take one for a spin, but at almost $1400 it's a tough pill to swallow when the gold standard for technical/rebreather computers is $300 cheaper, is already well proven, and has demonstrated time and again why it is the gold standard. If they had a loaner program, I'd love to get one even just in a pool.
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interesting indeed
