Suunto DM4??????

[fraserj]

This below from Suunto UK. While I admire his response, I have no doubt that Suunto Finland have made their minds up, and we will never get a decent piece of software to support thier excellent diving computers. What company has done more to lose cutomers than Suunto?

I suspect that they have never done a proper requirements capture from their customers ( I am an IT consultant for BT and have sen many projects fail due to this!)

Hi John,

Thank you for your feedback email and facebook post. As requested, I have passed your comments to the relevant department in Finland.

I have read all the comments on the Scubaboard website and I can understand your and other divers frustrations with DM4.

I see that Pia Talja has been responding to the posts and has already noted that we are still working on DM4 to get it up to a level where it has more functionality than DM3.

I am sorry you are so unhappy with DM4 and I hope that you stick with us using 3.1 until a time where you feel happy to move over to an improved version of DM4.

Again, thanks for taking the time to contact us as we do listen to our customers and appreciate all feedback (Good and Bad).

Yours sincerely,

Ryan

Ryan Crawford
Business Manager

Suunto Diving UK
Unit H Farringdon Business Park, Lower Farringdon, Alton, Hampshire, GU34 3DZ, England
Tel. +44 (0)1420 587272, fax +44 (0)1420 587225
ryan.crawford@suuntodm.co.uk, Products | Suunto, Amer Sports - Performance products for active sports
Suunto Diving UK | Facebook, Suunto Diving UK (@SuuntoDivingUK) on Twitter

 

[greatlakeswreckdiver]

Agree with you fraser. I have given up with Suunto and switched to Diving Log 5.0. Only thing it doesn't give me is some of the warning symbols like fast ascent. Since gaining some experience I seldom do that now anyway.

Sorry Suunto, you have lost me as a software user and now that I am using a piece of software that support over 25 manufacturers...when it comes time to choose a new dive computer I may look elsewhere.

 

[allysmith]

Like you guys I'm amazed the company that makes such great kit for us comes up with DM4

I puddled away happily with DM3 and my old trusty Vyper until I got a D6.
I made the biiig mistake of downloading DM4 and Movescount............i wont repaeat all that has gone before but my opinion...............what the guys said

However I aint running away from Suunto gear just coz the new software is crap...that would be a real numb-nutts idea.
Surely we buy Suunto because of the quality and functionality???
It sure as hell is not the cheapest.
I have been in the position of using their help-desk a few times and they are courteous and helpful always (thanks Pia and team).

I related the problems I had (first off DM4 would not talk to my D6) and pointed me to DM3............hey you cant knock them for not realising there is a problem.
The speed of reaction to the problem or even the lack of a ''sorry were trying our best'' is frustrating.

Bottom line is the more of us voice our complaint on this thread the more Suunto will get the message

Suns out in Scotland...................Good diving weekend everyone

 

[Vicxy69]

I am not sure if it is the software or not but I bought a D4i recently and got the cable with it too. I have installed thhe DM4 but when i plug in my D4i the software is not finding it. Anyone else have this?
Thanks

 

[donaldsa]

Version: 1.1.0.1384

1) Still no print button.
2) I just transferred dives from my computer into DM4 and it automatically uploaded them to MovesCount without my permission. There needs to be a way to only upload dives that I choose to upload. My private diving experiences are not for public consumption unless I say so.
3) There is a "Depth" button at the top of the dive graph that does nothing when clicked.
4) The order of dives in the "My Dive" list is reversed from what was in DM3. DM3 went from oldest to newest, DM4 goes from newest to oldest.
5) Hours - Minutes - Seconds notation is listed as H:MM'SS. I believe the ISO standard (ISO 8601). is H:MM:SS. Not a big deal, but should be fixed or at least settable to local conventions.
6) Tissue saturation graph is wrong. It doesn’t take into account, from what I can tell, residual saturation from previous dives.
7) If you use the mouse button to zoom in on the dive graph, the time axis doesn’t always update correctly. Sometimes it seems to be the right scale and other times it doesn’t update at all even though you have zoomed in.
8) The last data point in my dives always seems to be a depth other than 0 even though I’ve obviously surfaced. The dive graph automatically changes this to 0 and draws the graph correctly, but the dive profile still shows this as a depth. For instance, the last data point in the dive profile says 0:35’30 9ft Surfaced. If you click on the last line in the profile, this causes the “marker” on the dive graph to drawn at the 9ft level even though the graph is at 0ft. It’s just odd behavior.

 

[Deefstes]

People are still using this piece of rubbish? I've given up on it 10 minutes after I installed it. Suunto can go and fix their pile of manure at their own pace if they want to but I am not using it in the mean while. I will not be suckered into this "no it will be great... one day... just keep on using it, we'll fix it in little increments" bull.

And if the time comes for me to buy a new computer before they've fixed it you can bet your bottom dollar I won't be buying Suunto.

 

[DuboisP]

And if the time comes for me to buy a new computer before they've fixed it you can bet your bottom dollar I won't be buying Suunto.

are you buying a diving computer to dive, or to see some pictures on your PC ?

 

[Deefstes]

are you buying a diving computer to dive, or to see some pictures on your PC ?

What kind of a question is that? Of course I'm buying a computer to dive but I want to also keep a log of my dives and this DM4 doesn't even allow for that.

More importantly, I want to buy my computer from a company who is seen to value their customers. This whole DM4 debacle has made it clear to me that Suunto doesn't give a rat's arse for their customers. They had perfectly functioning software and replaced it with something that doesn't have 10% of the functionality but includes all sorts of functionality that no-one seem to be interested in. Complaints have been met with "no, trust us, you will love it" rather than "oops, we made a mistake, this is why we did it but this is how we're going to fix it".

Finally, I'm not even convinced anymore that Suunto computers are all that great. The third strap on my D4 has perished now. Why? Because it's a nonsensical design. The holes for the buckle are so big that there's really just a thin strip of rubber on the sides that's supposed to give structural integrity to the strap. Then, to add insult to injury, replacing the strap costs an arm and a leg. It's just a strap for goodness sakes! I can understand that you pay more for a Mercedes than for a Volkswagen, one is better quality than the other. But why exactly does a Suunto D4 strap cost four times as much as a Cressi Edy strap or twice as much as a Uwatec strap? It's not better quality, in fact, quite the opposite. It's crap quality, three of mine have broken in the course of little over a year.

On a recent dive trip, my wife's D4 pressed against her wetsuit sleeve which put it into free dive mode. Once the dive is underway you can't change the mode back to SCUBA mode. So after the dive the computer went into a stupor and was unusable for SCUBA for the rest of the trip. How does that make sense? This computer was so concerned about her doing a 1 hour freedive that it wouldn't allow her to dive for the remainder of the trip.

So, to answer your question, I buy a computer to dive. I would expect it to allow me to do at least that (which means that it doesn't bomb on day one of a dive because of an accidental button press). On top of that basic requirement, I would like some of the additional features that just about all manufacturers offer (such as keeping a log on the PC). If Suunto is not competitive in this regard, I see no good reason why I should buy Suunto.

Any other questions?

 

[DuboisP]

What kind of a question is that? Of course I'm buying a computer to dive but I want to also keep a log of my dives and this DM4 doesn't even allow for that.

Suntoo Dive Manager 3.1 is usable with a D4 (not a D4i), and can be found on the weB.
other softwares exist.

On a recent dive trip, my wife's D4 pressed against her wetsuit sleeve which put it into free dive mode. Once the dive is underway you can't change the mode back to SCUBA mode. So after the dive the computer went into a stupor and was unusable for SCUBA for the rest of the trip. How does that make sense? This computer was so concerned about her doing a 1 hour freedive that it wouldn't allow her to dive for the remainder of the trip.

security reason.
even in a free dive, you accumulate nitrogen in your tissues.
sometimes, enough to have an accident. already seen with professional free divers or competitors.
so, as the computer doesn't know how much nitrogen you stored and cannot compute the following dive, it forbids to swap to Scuba mode during 24 or 48 hours.

 

[Pia Talja]

Hello again,

thank you for all the comments and feedback. To everyone who has issues or troubles with our products (such as straps, usability), I sincerely encourage you to contact our highly efficient and professional Suunto Helpdesk (Contact Us | Suunto). Why? You get answers quicker and we can actually do something about them when we know who you are. Complaining on anonymous discussion boards doesn't really give us a chance to help you to get e.g., a replacement strap. :blinking:

Regarding DM4 - as promised earlier we've delivered crisper graphics, tissue sats, dive info view, pdf prints for logs and dive plan (Windows), zooming, real gas calculation.... and we're constantly developing more features. Also we've just delivered the Mac compatible version of DM4 (Suunto DM4 with Movescount | Suunto). Like I mentioned in my earlier posts the work continues and we welcome all improvement suggestions.

Enough said - but I'd just like to add that Suunto attends DEMA next week and if you're coming too, let's go and have a cold beverage and discuss good diving. You can find us at the AQL booth.

\Pia from Suunto