I did some diving last weekend. I was on a boat with 3 divers with new Suunto Eon Core computers and one Huish employee who had a prototype of a new Suunto wrist watch style computer.
After the first or second dive, the family with Eon Cores (parents and their 38-year old son), were talking to each other about their computers. Dad was complaining that he could not read his Core very well in the water. I watched Son compare it to his own (they looked the same as far as brightness/readability went) and then go into the settings to turn up the Brightness, where he found that they were already on Max brightness. Holding my Teric up next to their Cores (on the boat, under the main deck canopy), the Teric screen was HUGELY brighter and easier to read.
Later, I was talking to the Huish guy. I loaned him one of my Terics for a dive. He'd never dived one before and was happy for a chance to compare it to his watch in the water. We talked after he got out. His watch had a Transflective LCD display. On the back deck of the boat, out in direct sunlight, his Suunto was actually a little bit easier to read (than the Teric). Yes, I was surprised. He said that, in the water, he thought they were about the same, regarding ease of reading.
I note that we were doing shallow diving (50 - 60 feet or less) on a reasonably sunny day, with visibility of at least 50' (in the water, duh). I didn't compare his Suunto watch to a Teric in the water myself. I do feel confident that the Huish guy was shooting straight with me on the in-water comparison. But, I am left wondering how the readability would have compared if the water was deep and dark.
Anyway, I just thought I would share...
After the first or second dive, the family with Eon Cores (parents and their 38-year old son), were talking to each other about their computers. Dad was complaining that he could not read his Core very well in the water. I watched Son compare it to his own (they looked the same as far as brightness/readability went) and then go into the settings to turn up the Brightness, where he found that they were already on Max brightness. Holding my Teric up next to their Cores (on the boat, under the main deck canopy), the Teric screen was HUGELY brighter and easier to read.
Later, I was talking to the Huish guy. I loaned him one of my Terics for a dive. He'd never dived one before and was happy for a chance to compare it to his watch in the water. We talked after he got out. His watch had a Transflective LCD display. On the back deck of the boat, out in direct sunlight, his Suunto was actually a little bit easier to read (than the Teric). Yes, I was surprised. He said that, in the water, he thought they were about the same, regarding ease of reading.
I note that we were doing shallow diving (50 - 60 feet or less) on a reasonably sunny day, with visibility of at least 50' (in the water, duh). I didn't compare his Suunto watch to a Teric in the water myself. I do feel confident that the Huish guy was shooting straight with me on the in-water comparison. But, I am left wondering how the readability would have compared if the water was deep and dark.
Anyway, I just thought I would share...