So, really, whats wrong with the Mares Puck Pro?

[MX5Racer]

I'm the type of guy who WON'T buy a Ford F350 quad cab pickup truck to go to the dump twice a year, when a small trailer hooked to my Kia does the job. So why would I need anything more than the Puck Pro for my annual 2 week dive vacations? I've been using a Veo 100 without any issues for the past 8 years and want to move to NITROX, so I'm looking at the Mares. Or the i300.
Thoughts? Comments? Suggestions?

 

[2airishuman]

It uses the RGBM algorithm, which is thought to unnecessarily penalize certain diving patterns.

 

[diversteve]

No comment on the Puck but the I300 is made for Aqualung by Pelagic Pressure who still make Oceanic computers and probably made your Veo100 so they may use the algorithm you're used to diving.

IIRC an I300 may be one of the Oceanic models they rebadged during the transfer of ownership. Not sure though.

Do you race your Miata? SCCA?

 

[JamesBon92007]

It uses the RGBM algorithm, which is thought to unnecessarily penalize certain diving patterns.

Could that be the reason why I've seen so many divers who are hanging out at 15 feet when everyone else is still down there diving with 15-20 minutes of air left?

 

[scubadada]

Your Oceanic Veo 100 runs the DSAT deco algorithm, one of the most liberal. The Mares Puck Pro is single button, running Mares RGBM, one of the most conservative. The Aqua Lung i300 is 2 button, runs PZ+, a middle of the road deco algorithm. The Puck Pro can be had for $145, the i300 $175 (AL now has the i300C, $299). If I were choosing between the 2, would opt for the Aqua Lung. Either would require a download cable to download to your computer, $50 and $85 respectively.

 

[scubadada]

No comment on the Puck but the I300 is made for Aqualung by Pelagic Pressure who still make Oceanic computers and probably made your Veo100 so they may use the algorithm you're used to diving.

IIRC an I300 may be one of the Oceanic models they rebadged during the transfer of ownership. Not sure though...

Oceanic Veo 100 runs only DSAT

Oceanic Veo 2 runs both DSAT and PZ+, Aqua Lung i300 is the equivalent, runs only PZ+

All current Oceanic computers are dual algorithm, all Aqua Lung computers run just PZ+

 

[MX5Racer]

Do you race your Miata? SCCA?

I use to, but I traded in (up?) for a Mustang GT Convertible and I just drag race now.

 

[dmaziuk]

So why would I need anything more than the Puck Pro for my annual 2 week dive vacations? I've been using a Veo 100 without any issues for the past 8 years and want to move to NITROX, so I'm looking at the Mares. Or the i300.

It depends on your typical dive profiles and operators. One issue if what happens if your computer's no-stop time goes to 0: if your op is going to throw a hissy fit, you may want a computer that doesn't count to 0 quite so fast. The other issue is what makes a given computer count down slower or faster. Anecdotally at least, "recreational RGBM" dislikes short safety stops and short surface intervals. So if you normally hang as SS for 5 minutes+ and take a good hour between the dives, Mares should probably be happy enough. (My Cressi is, but there's a lot of things you can tweak when implementing a decompression algorithm, so I'm sure "Mares RGBM" is not entirely the same as "Cressi RGBM". Should be close though.)

 

[Bowers]

my wife has the mares puck pro and loves it. for simple recreational dives it does its job well. I was surprised how easy it was to navigate and use with only one button. Im reading above that it is more conservative, but you have to ask youself if that is a "make it or break it". Still better than the square profile of dive tables

 

[JamesBon92007]

I was reading the instructions for the i300 and you can turn off the Conservative Factor (CF) and the Deep Stop (DS) but it says it won't penalize you if you miss the stop. Whatever that is worth. The conservative factor behaves as if you are diving at an altitude of 3000 feet.

I bought the Puck Pro for my girlfriend because she is recently OW certified and freaks out when the DM says "the deepest part of the dive will be 90 feet" and she's supposedly only certified to 60 feet (but has been down to about 80). I'm not quite sure what she's afraid of but at least now she'll be able to see that she won't get bent on a typical dive in such a place as Cozumel. I also just got a brand new, used i300. A friend traded me for one but it crapped out and it was replaced under warranty. We have not used either computer yet so hopefully some day soon I'll have an opinion on these things. From what I have seen so far it appears that the i300 has a few more features but I'm not certain if they are features I need.

LeisurePro is currently selling the i300 for $175 and the Puck Pro for $145. I bought the Puck Pro a few months ago for $129. The replacement model for the i300 is the i300C and it uses BlueTooth to log onto your home computer instead of a cable. I don't think my computers even have BlueTooth.

Edit: Next Day

I took both of them to the bottom of the pool. I think the Mares is a bit easier to read but I'm 65 years old but rarely use reading glasses. The i300 comes with a plastic scratch cover which probably reduces the readability a bit. The Temperature display is always visible on the Mares but you have to push the left button on the i300 to see the temp. The Mares said it's 88F and the i300 said 92F. My pool thermometer says 90F. The Mares says my pool is 6' deep and the i300 says 5'. I think 6' is more accurate.

According to the instructions the Mares has a conservative mode you can switch to but from everything I've read here on SB it's already very conservative so I'm guessing you'll probably get more bottom time following the i300, as long as you have good vision
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