Share your “If I had to do it again, I would have got this dive computer" Stories

[djtimmy77]

The improperly working Pro-Plus 2 pressure sensor combined with a tank that didn't have the amount of pressure we thought it did resulted in an OOG situation. Fortunately we shared my air and got out of the situation unharmed. After that experience the Pro-Plus 2 was taken out of service, replaced with a SPG (her primary computer is a wrist mount) as well as my other buddy with the wireless transmitter (that would have intermittent connection issues) adding a normal SPG.

 

[lcollar]

My first computer was a Sherwood Wisdom. If I had to do it all over again I would buy the Wisdom again. This has been a great computer and provides just about anything you could want in a dive computer including really BIG numbers. Another feature it has that I use all the time is a graphic display on one side showing theoretical nitrogen loading and on the other ascent rate. Both are extremely useful features. I also have a Suunto D9 and Vytec wrist computers. I dive the Suunto products as backups to my Wisdom. That's how much I like the Wisdom.

I bought this computer with magnetic compass on ebay, used, for $200. I bought a second for my daughter for less than $300. Sometime people buy dive gear and decide they don't/can't scuba dive. It has over 300 dives on it now and still going strong. It also has replaceable battery. New, this unit is out of your price range but if you are patient, deals are out there.

 

[lawtyger]

So, I'll stopping by a couple more dive shops today after a successful information gathering stop yesterday at a LDS. I'm starting to like the Oceanic brand and currently am toying around with the idea of a Veo 2.0 or a VT3 (but hope to see some of the other Oceanic options on my stops today).

The Veo 2.0 would be more than enough computer for my recreational dive purposes. But, I like the bigger face of the VT3 and the techy in me likes the idea of the AI transmitter although I'll still get an analog SPG either way. A VT3 will push me out of my price point a bit but is doable.

I don't think I'd have any regrets going with a Veo 2.0 level computer which will be more than adequate. I may just be thinking afterwards should I have just bit the bullet and spent the extra to scratch that transmitter itch from the very start. Anyway, things to ponder I guess.

 

[Hatul]

I like wrist mounted computers, because they're easy to watch, and I like to keep a weather eye on my depth and time. You CAN clip a console off so you can see it easily, but it's kludgy. But if you decide on a wrist unit, then you are looking at a transmitter for air integration. That tends to be more expensive, and also can be fallible, so you end up with an SPG anyway. So I think it makes more sense to save money, use an SPG and a non-air-integrated wrist unit. I had, and liked an Aladin Tech 2g, which is a reasonably priced Nitrox computer with a stopwatch and resettable depth averaging. The display is not as large as the Vytec, though. The download software for the Aladin is the best I've used, hands-down, but the IR interface is annoying.

The "I wish I'd just done this in the first place" computer I have is a Liquivision X1, and is rather out of your stated budget.

Hi Lynne,

I hope you don't take my question as an offense, but since you appear on the X1 advertising video, it begs the question of conflict of interest and if you're getting paid to promote the X1?

Adam

 

[Hatul]

I don't mind the idea of having console for backup computer, spg and compass. I haven't met anyone who actually uses their integrated compass, btw. Outside of cert dives and nav course I have not used my compass for anything but a general idea of where I was heading.

Having air and computer, the 2 things I look at almost constantly in the same convenient location is what I'm looking for. Which may not be what you're looking for.

Sent from my SGH-T959V using Tapatalk

I don't have air integration, but that's what I see as the big value of it, to show the tank pressure in the same display as the depth and time.

Adam

 

[lawtyger]

There goes my thread. . . Please keep the battle short as I'm finding the information very helpful and don't want thread to take a wrong turn.

 

[tstafford]

I am sure you have already bought your computer by now but I just found this thread. So here is my 2 cents worth. I purchased a new Wisdom 2 with quick disconnect and a compass in July of 2010. In January of 2011 it quick working after 47 dives had been logged and had to be sent back to Sherwood and they replaced it with a referb. I happened to be on a trip in the Keys when it quit. I replaced it with an extra set of gauges and hose that I had as a backup to finish out the weeks worth of diving. Since that happen I called Sherwood and had them send me a quick disconnect to screw into my old Sherwood gauges. Now I can switch them out anytime I need to. I help my son teach and when I'm in the pool I use the gauges instead of my computer. I know the wisdom has a gauge mode but it's easier for me to just unhook one and connect the other. I also like been able to disconnect the computer and take it inside to my laptop and download all my dives. As my eyesight gets worse with age the wisdom's large Air Supply display is easier for me to read than a regular console gauge. The console is not a problem with me as I keep it tight to my BC via a clip and retractor. Bear in mind that any computer you buy takes batteries and are software driven. Therefore at some point and time it may let you down.

 

[Insta-Gator]

OP, I purchased an Oceanic Pro Plus last year because the screen is easy for my older eyes to see. Has all the function I need as a rec diver. I've been diving 20+ years and always used a console. If you're not going cave or wreck, why not use a console? The price is good, menu easy to understand and work through, screen large enough to be seen easily. There's my 2 psi.

 

[asha]

If i could do it all again I would have bought a shearwater right away instead of 4 other dive computers and then finally a shearwater.

+1, though it's obviously way out of the OP's budget and may offer more features than he will ever need, and I wouldn't have listened to me either, when I was in his situation a few years ago

Features I would look for if I were shopping a recreational computer: nitrox, gas switching, audible alarms, and a backlight. I would avoid console computers and air integration of any kind.

 

[gurnie]

Like a lot of folks here I started out on brass and glass, then switched to a computer with AI, now 20 years later I am back to brass and glass. I am firm believer in new divers being taught tables and using analog gauges, but computers are a valuable tool and a great learning aid. Honestly unless you own your own regs, AI is not all that practicial with rental gear. My only consern with SDI is that students are required to dive with a computer during open water. I admit this is very safe but when they head to the islands and rent gear they may not have a computer and in most cases follow the DM. This makes it a "trust me dive" and as a tech diver, I never submit to a "trust me" situation. Heck, as a cave diver, all three members of our team mark the line. So, I know this does not answer your question, but makes you think about what you need at your point in your diving career.. So as it stand I dive brass and glass with a shearwater, and I love it. It matches my tables I generate with v-planner.. So is every dive a tech deco dive? NO.. So what did I use getting to the point of buying redundent computers. My first computer was the cobra, and I still love it for rec level diving. I put it on my wifes rig, why? Easy to read, the info is very easy absorb, yes if the information is confusing it does not have any value. Also the software used to record the logs rock. It can graphically show youa dive by dive comparison of SAC rates, something every new diver should learn.. In the water I like that you get "air" time as well as NDL, so as new diver it instantly shows youthat decending or ascending 10ft can make a big difference in that $80 you paid for that dive, is it going to be a 40 minute dive or a 1 hour dive, in that 20 extra minutes did you miss out on seeing something cool.. The weakness of the cobra is that the surface menus suck, without the software reading logs is a pain in the arse... Also configuring and switching nitrox is not very streamlined. I also have sherwood wisdom, very nice screen, much of the same info but it only shows "air" or ndl which ever is shorter and the software is not as nice.. Now for a backup computer I have a wrist mounted Zeagle N2ition. Ok, not fancy and most of it's life it is in gauge mode but it is very straight forward in its in water presentation of info.. My complaint is that is beeps too much and it does not keep you nitrox mix between dives if you have a long SI.

So what not to buy? Anything with a transmitter.. Too much of point of failure for me. Also anything Liquivision, they have a good looking screen but quality control seems to a problem. I have one and it rarely ready to dive when I am..