Liquivision X1
Likes:
1. The display. It rocks. 'Nuff said. Readable without backlighting or illuminating, and bright enough to use as a backup light on a cave exit. I know.
2. Very customizable -- I can set it up to make the information I want readily accessible.
3. The display prioritized the information I need, even when I allow the decompression software to run. Depth and time are what I want to see -- I'm quite happy to have to peer to read anything else.
4. The unit is small, fits on my arm, and is easy to get through a harness.
5. It's darned near bombproof. I have seen someone throw one on concrete; I myself have dropped mine on asphalt.
6. The battery is rechargeable, so I don't have to check it before a dive trip to see if I need to go in to the dive shop and have the battery changed.
7. The tap interface is intuitive, and I don't have to remember which button to hold and for how long, to access the functions I want. Even underwater, where I tend to be stupid.
8. No buttons means nothing that leaks.
9. It downloads into my computer, with profiles. (And the dive profile is accessible as a graphic on the unit itself, which means I can show it to people at the site. That's pretty cool.)
10. There's a DSS boot for it. That's a deal-breaker on a computer, for me.
Things I don't like:
1. It's rechargeable, which means if I don't remember to put it on the charger, I can end up with a dead computer at the dive site.
2. The tap interface can be temperamental, and my dive buddies, who don't like me running the decompression software anyway, REALLY don't like watching me sit at the gas switch depth and bang on the thing to get it to gas switch.
3. The logging software is pretty primitive. For an expensive device with expensive software, I would expect better.
I'd agree totally on these, plus add a new dislike:
1. The two companies involved in the product.
What you're buying when you buy a Liquivision is a general purpose computer with no software. You license the software separately from a different company and load it into the computer yourself. The most popular (and best) software, and the only choice if you want to run VPM/B, is MultiDeco-X1 from Ross Hemingway/HSS Software. The license agreement says that the software is a license which permits me to "(3)(a) use the program on a single dive computer, and (3)(b) copy the program into ANY compatible dive computer for your own use of the program on the single compatible dive computer. This program, however, may include mechanisms to limit or inhibit copying OTHERWISE. (Emphasis mine)". When you purchase the software license, the email they send you with the key says "If you should need to replace your dive computer, a revised key is available free of charge". I subsequently lost my Liquivision "at sea" and when I asked Ross for a new software key for the new Liquivision unit that I purchased, Ross responded that "We don't normally give free replacements for reasons of miss-fortune (sic).". In later correspondence, he claimed that the license term permitted me to run the installer software on a different PC in the event that I lost my PC and needed to reinstall the software on the same computer (which makes no sense given the language). Despite numerous emails between us, he has been steadfast in both his refusal to issue me a replacement key and his refusal to explain how this license agreement language could have means something other than that the customer has a right to transfer the software license if they "should need to replace your dive computer". I subsequently had to purchase a replacement copy of the software to get a new key.
Oh, and the other company...
My wife's Liquivision's "beeper" doesn't beep. Well it does, but you have to put the unit up against your ear to hear it (extremely faint). For that matter, since she didn't enable any alarms, she didn't even know that it was supposed to beep (it has been this way since new, about six months ago) until she heard my new unit doing it loud and clear. No problem, I think, I've heard excellent things about Liquivision's support of their product (and hopefully, Ross won't make me buy a new license a second time if they replace the unit). I emailed Liquivision and received back email from Emilie Hiob that "every unit is unique, some have louder buzzers than others" and in subsequent email they declined to fix the problem because "the buzz is not a function that is covered by the warranty". Sure enough, if you read their warranty, there are a lot of exclusions, including the buzzer.
If you buy one of these computers, be sure you read the software license from HSS Software ahead of time (actually, on the second thought, don't bother, since THEY won't honor it) and the warranty from Liquivision (to be sure you will be happy with a computer where the parts which aren't under warranty aren't functioning).
Great computer; at least the one of the two that we have that fully works. I will never buy another product from either of these companies again.
Kenneth Adelman
