Hey, I'm a AOW diver who's training for my Rescue and Nitrox cert, and i'm looking into getting my first dive computer. I really want a hoseless model, and have been doing some research lately into the different algorithms the different computers use. I picked up a copy of August "Scuba Diving", in which scuba lab tested 11 top dive computers. They put the computers in a Hyperbaric chamber to simulate 3 repetitive dives.
Some of the computers, based on their algorithms, added a lot of no-deco time as they ascended from the max depth. The computers that added the most deco time, almost twice as much as the others, were using the Haldanean Algorithm: which groups the bodies thousands of different tissues into theoretical tissue compartments, each with a different rate for absorbing and releasing inert gas. It also states that gas was always released at the same rate at which it's absorbed. As I'm sure many studies have proven, and which Scuba Lab confirmed, it's a very liberal algorithm.
Scuba Lab believes its a very liberal algorithm when its compared against the Buhlmann Algorithm and the DCIEM Algorithm and especially the RGBM (Reduced Gradient Bubble Model). Scuba Lab says that this Algorithm was developed after Doppler bubble research showed that "silent bubbles" unknown to the Haldanean algorithm often form after a dive without causing DCS symptoms. On the theory that these bubbles would be slower than dissolved gas to leave your body, and could even interfere with the outflow of dissolved gas, the RGBM algorithm is very conservative.
I'm very intrested in the AERIS Atmos Elite and The OCEANIC VT PRO wrist mounted, hoseless dive computers, my concern is that they borth use the Haldanean Algorithm, which at some points on the last dive, gave 74 minutes of no-deco time when ascending, while the RGBM gave 30minutes of no-deco time.
In conclusion, i want a safe computer, but not a paranoid one. Based on these different algorithms, is it okay to add that much no-deco time when ascending? Which algorithm or theory is correct? I don't intend to pretend that i know a whole lot about this subject, i've just read the Scuba Lab's results and some other material. Thanks for your responses, i know this is kinda long...