Same brand as buddy or not?

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I think it would be best to buy another Oceanic. The GEO 2.0 is a great computer and pretty cheap right now at $269.
 
Get what you feel comfortable diving. I started off with an Oceanic Pro Plus 3 and loved it. My wife decided she wanted the Cobalt II when we bought her gear because she liked that the display was always illuminated vs having to push a button to backlight it. After a few dives, though, she decided the Cobalt showed way too much information at once for her and the alphanumeric characters were just a touch too small for her eyes. So we traded and now she likes the PP3. Both of us can use either as necessary so it doesn't really make much difference in the grand scheme of things. Just get what you are comfortable with and can afford. And if you both end up with the same computer, great! If not, you'll still enjoy your diving just the same.
 
Stand by for 1 million responses to buy a Shearwater perdix
Apparently the Perdix run by some sort of magic. I use a Scubapro G2 with a Uwatec Luna as a backup. My wife has a Suunto Eon Steel and a Zoop for a backup. They all seem to track very closely when computing NDT and RBT witin a minute or so on any dives we've done. Of course that's without wearing split fins.
 
The reason Shearwaters get such a loving fan base is because they're simple, user-friendly, robust, and just work all the time. Shearwater is constantly tweaking their software and it's easy to download the upgrades. If you're shearwater doesn't work, they're customer service is hands down one of the best in all of the diving industry. To me that's worth every extra penny. I've had Hollis, Suunto, Oceanic, Scubapro, and many other brands of computer. My shearwaters hands down beat them all.
My wife and I were cave diving in France several years ago. The screen suddenly went out after a dive on her Predator and wouldn't come back on. We had a backup computer, but still would prefer to dive with a computer each and at least one backup. We contacted Shearwater to ask if there were any field repairs or tests we could do. They said no, but said they would get us a computer asap eventhough we didn't truly need one. We thought they were going to have one of the european distrtibutors ship a loaner. Instead Lynn who works at Shewater sent her own personal computer to us from Canada because it was the fastest option. We weren't in Paris. The caves in France are in a pretty rural area, yet it still got to us in under 48 hours.
So you've heard the saying "they'll give you the clothes off their back?" Shearwater will give you computer off their wrist. Their level of customer service (be it online support via email or phone support) makes them the no-brainer computer to buy. On top of that petrel, perdix, and teric computers have a high resale value.
 
I have emailed them on a Sunday night for tech support and gotten an answer within 20 minutes.

Plus, the layout and controls are great, the screen is EXTREMELY readable for those of us with 20th century eyes, the battery is easily replaceable in a few seconds on a bouncing dive boat, and they are built like tanks.

Pretty much any dive computer will keep a recreational diver safe. You certainly don't need a Shearwater. But they aren't just for tech divers... and if I was going to put some money into my dive gear, I can think of worse areas to be spendy.
 
Of course that's without wearing split fins.

Good thing. Split fins are deadly. Every piece of monofilament, netting, rope, and anchor chain in the water will be sucked up into the fin and you will find yourself entangled. They also push you into deco faster, and are known to attract sharks. A recent study found that they are a major contributor to the formation of tissue bubbles. The only safe way to dive with split fins is to use them in tandem with a backplate and wings... :)
 
Different computer brands is no big deal as long as you realize some brands will put you into deco faster. My Oceanic has never been to deco on typical Cozumel recreational dives, but I know Divers with Suuntos and one other...can't remember which...have gone to deco much faster.

My wife and I have PP2s and I just got her a PP3....until I get a Perdix AI.

The biggest issue with different computers is you may have to end a dive sooner or do some deco stops to keep one computer from locking you out for a blown deco stop. I've seen DM's tie a computer to a SMB and send it up. It may have been a suunto set for air that the diver forgot to set to Nitrox.

Good luck,
Jay
 
https://www.shearwater.com/products/teric/

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