Suunto Vyper or Oceanic Geo 2

[scubatigre]

Hello,

I don't have much experience with dive computers but will need to buy one for courses.

Would you go with Suunto Vyper or Oceanic Geo 2? I have received many positive recommendations for the Oceanic Geo 2.

Suggestions/thoughts? Pros/cons?

Thanks for helping me out!

 

[pt40fathoms]

Both are nearly identical. However, Oceanic and Aeris have just merged. Will the Geo 2 survive the culling of the equipment list that always happens when similar companies, who were competitors, merge?

At this point I may lean towards the Suunto, because of the uncertainty of support of the Geo 2 in the near future.

If anyone tells you that the Geo 2 will be here for a long time, considering the merger that just happened, they are either wishing it that way, or are knowingly making a false statement. Even the manufacturer can not give you a 100% guarantee.

When Mares purchased Daycor, everyone said the full line of Daycor will be supported. Not even two years later, the Daycor line was nearly non-existent, as was any support.

 

[keyshunter]

Both are nearly identical. However, Oceanic and Aeris have just merged. Will the Geo 2 survive the culling of the equipment list that always happens when similar companies, who were competitors, merge?

At this point I may lean towards the Suunto, because of the uncertainty of support of the Geo 2 in the near future.

If anyone tells you that the Geo 2 will be here for a long time, considering the merger that just happened, they are either wishing it that way, or are knowingly making a false statement. Even the manufacturer can not give you a 100% guarantee.

When Mares purchased Daycor, everyone said the full line of Daycor will be supported. Not even two years later, the Daycor line was nearly non-existent, as was any support.

In this case, Aeris and Oceanic were divisions of the same company with many of the same items wearing different badges. Dacor and Mares were different companies.

 

[PRO-FOUND]

+1 for the Vyper

 

[victorzamora]

Both are nearly identical.

That's absolutely untrue. They're different sizes, different feature sets, and different algorithms.

However, Oceanic and Aeris have just merged. Will the Geo 2 survive the culling of the equipment list that always happens when similar companies, who were competitors, merge?

They did not. Oceanic and Aeris are both owned by AUP, and they just did away with Aeris. They weren't competitors.

At this point I may lean towards the Suunto, because of the uncertainty of support of the Geo 2 in the near future.

Uncertainty? No reason why you should think that.

If anyone tells you that the Geo 2 will be here for a long time, considering the merger that just happened, they are either wishing it that way, or are knowingly making a false statement. Even the manufacturer can not give you a 100% guarantee.

No merger. Easy to give a guarantee.

When Mares purchased Daycor, everyone said the full line of Daycor will be supported. Not even two years later, the Daycor line was nearly non-existent, as was any support.

Yeah, but they were competitors.

Long story short: Go with the Geo2. It has two algorithms so you can decided what you like, and both algorithms are mathematically pure models that are based on research. Pelagic Z is based on Buhlmann and is great for mild deco and mildly conservative NDLs. DSAT is a more liberal algorithm for NDLs but punishes mild transgressions. The screen is phenomenal, the UI is a piece of cake, and it's pretty. It outperforms the Vyper in every way.

Suunto's algorithm is a mess. It's based off of an algorithm that is quickly losing favor, it's simplified it drastically, and Suunto has added a bunch of arbitrary "punishments" for things like repetitive dives, reverse profiles, sawtooth profiles, etc. I wouldn't dive a Suunto again if you paid me to. I know they're popular amongst many, but I will never for the life of me understand why. Ignorance, I guess? I don't mean that insultingly....I just mean most people don't know any better.

 

[Hatul]

I would avoid the Vyper and Suunto. I had one of those experiences with my Vyper, following a slightly short surface interval (47 mins), the Vyper gave me a punishing short NDL forcing an unreasonable deco and then locking out for 48 hours.

Why do I say it was unreasonable? I dove with two computers: the Galileo and the Vyper, and the whole dive was well within NDL of the Galileo but caused the lockout in the Vyper.

 

[pt40fathoms]

A quick check of the Oceanic web site, will clear up your error on your post. They have in fact merged, and when you go to the site, a popup greets you telling you that as well.

Cheers.

 

[victorzamora]

Call it what you want to call it, they didn't "merge" as they were never really two separate companies to begin with. There was no error in my post. AUP/Bob Hollis decided that the Aeris name was no longer worth keeping (for whatever reason) and so they made it go away. They kept the one thing Aeris had that Oceanic didn't (overpriced color computer) and called it the VTX instead of A300CS.

 

[scubadada]

I've been diving a Geo2 as a backup for my primary VT3 since Sept 2011. I have 320 dives on it in the 3 1/3 years and just put in the 3rd battery. Battery change is a cinch. It's a very good, reliable computer. I dive it in DSAT to match my VT3 but appreciate the dual algorithm. I agree with victorzamora's brief summary above. Personally, I would be unable to deal with the Suunto decompression algorithm.

Through today, it has been on authorized sale for $300, looks like the Geo2 price will go back up to $400 tomorrow.

-----------------------------

I may have been wrong about the sale date though I thought it ended yesterday. Price still seems to be $300 on Scuba.com, Scuba Toys, and on the Oceanic website. The download cable does cost an additional $80-90.

 

[diver2005]

ive had the geo2 since mid last year. i had around 20 dives on it and worked perfectly. really like it and its a nice compact wrist style DC that goes well under and over water. the algorithm isnt to conservative that it spoils the diving experience but also isnt to liberal that gets you in a dangerous situation. you'll might read on some posts that the manual is really difficult to understand. which is correct it makes out the computer to be more confusing then it is. but actually the interface isnt confusing and it gets really easy to use after a while.

the downside ive faced is that when i went for a swim in the lake it just leaked. i dont know what caused it? i hadnt jumped in with it that the crash would have caused it. although it should be able to withstand this as its just like doing a backward roll entry. the positive side was that after sending it back to oceanic they sent me a replacement. however the replacement acted really funny. in warm weather the dc would switch off and in cold temperature it would switch back on. this is the first time ive come accross something like this and have no idea what caused that. again i sent it back to Oceanic and now they're sending me another replacement.

all in all, the DC performed really well during dives and I really like it. Maybe its not very tough and on the other hand the customer service is ACE!! they've replaced my DC Twice now (ofcourse after confirming that its not my fault)

---------- Post added January 24th, 2015 at 12:39 PM ----------

also forgot to add that one of the things that changed my mind from suunto to oceanic is that for oceanic the batteries are user replaceable where as for suunto you have to send it back to them!!