Uemis SDA dead again

[mintakax]

I haven't posted on this board in some time and actually forgot my username and had to re-register. At any rate, I was the first person in the USA to buy an SDA. I had probably 50 dives before my SDA died and had to be sent to Switzerland for replacement. I then had another 50 before it failed again and had another round trip to Switzerland. Then they went bankrupt, and my transmitter failed. Now they are back and I have purchased a new transmitter, but now my SDA won't turn on. I'm done with this sending to Switzerland stuff. In two weeks I'm going to Raja Ampat so I don't have time for a repair anyways.
I loved my SDA. Best computer I've ever used, I'm hooked on the display and the user friendly UI.
What is the best replacement if I want Air Integration? The Lynx isn't shipping yet. I don't trust the Mares Icon. Would the Luna do it for me or should I forgo the AI and go with the Liquid Vision Kaon? I don't do tech and I don't mind spending $$ on a computer.
Thanks !!

 

[lindenbruce]

Atomic's Cobalt. It has a lot of great features and seems to be popular. Bruce

 

[Johanan]

I don't trust the Mares Icon.

Sorry to hear about the problems with your SDA. Is there a special reason or bad experience why you don't trust the Mares Icon? I have an Icon HD without AI. Apart from the somewhat jumpy compass function I am really happy with it. I even thought of getting a new one with AI. Is it the computer itself that you don't like or are you suspicious about the AI? If there is a problem, it would be good to know before I upgrade. Thanks! BTW, I have never tried a Sol or Luna but read here on SB that they had a complicated UI.

 

[buddhasummer]

As far as to AI or not to AI that's your decision to make. The Galileo and/or Luna are very nice computers with a very good track record can't imagine you'd go wrong with either. But it is a large computer on my skinny arms looked like an iPad. With my fading eye sight and love of night diving was looking for a colour computer.

Ah the mysterious Lynx, I too was interested in it but the release date kept getting pushed back so eventually gave up.

FWIW I ended up with Heinrichs Weikamp Frog, not AI, from a German manufacturer, I have around 100 dives on it and love it. Full colour LCD screen, runs on AA batteries, is small, Bluetooth download and can use bungee cord to mount, very simple to use and very easy to see. Can't recommend it highly enough. Added bonus they deduct 19.5% VAT if you live out of he EU. Landed here in Japan cost me just under 600USD.

Good luck with your search.

(Might be more than you're looking for but the Shearwater Petrel, not AI, looks like a very nice computer albeit a little spendy).

 

[Hatul]

How about calling Liquivision to see if you can buy the Lynx wrist unit, which may be out without AI for now?

 

[mintakax]

All great ideas thanks. I always dive with an SPG
i want AI for : 1) to have a redundant measure of air supply and 2) help me manage air consumption.
But what I really want is a bright readable screen!
How does the Luna illuminate , I assume a backlight ? Is it pretty bright ?

Im not sure why I don't trust the Mares Icon. I think I read a couple of bad reviews. I've just started researching and read a lot of stuff in a short time !

 

[RonR]

...
But what I really want is a bright readable screen!

Atomic Cobalt uses exactly the same AMOLED display that Uemis used. Cobalt Guide: Home These are emissive displays, so no need for backlighting and excellent battery life. I think it's an even easier interface than the Uemis, but then I'm biased .

Ron

 

[mintakax]

I was hoping for a wrist unit but the Cobalt is sounding better and better. Is its track record pretty good ?
As far as the non AI wrist, bright displays go (liquidvision, shearwater,etc), is there one that is hands down more reliable than another ? It sucks having your primary comp crap out in a remote destination !

---------- Post added January 27th, 2013 at 03:00 PM ----------

Actually I just read the Cobalt thread. I know you don't hear much about units that are working fine, but Cobalts seem to have a lot of failures and issues, although its difficult to know if the failure ratios are any higher than other comps.

 

[RonR]

I was hoping for a wrist unit but the Cobalt is sounding better and better. Is its track record pretty good ?
As far as the non AI wrist, bright displays go (liquidvision, shearwater,etc), is there one that is hands down more reliable than another ? It sucks having your primary comp crap out in a remote destination !

---------- Post added January 27th, 2013 at 03:00 PM ----------

Actually I just read the Cobalt thread. I know you don't hear much about units that are working fine, but Cobalts seem to have a lot of failures and issues, although its difficult to know if the failure ratios are any higher than other comps.

There were some issues with early (2010, 2011) Cobalt production, battery sealing, buttons, and the late arrival of Windows software being the biggest. Some of those are still turning up, since many computers don't get used all that often. Based on 30 or so years in the business, i don't think the overall rate of problems is greatly different from other new products. Most new products, particularly complex ones, have some teething issues- we wanted to be the exception, but we weren't. However Atomic is still going strong, still has a great reputation, and they have superb customer service.

What does create something of a misleading impression, particularly in that thread, is that we decided to be very open about issues that did exist- it turned into a default support forum, particularly true early on when Atomic didn't have full time email support (they do now). So you hear from users with problems or questions, not from the thousands who just have something that works. That's a risk, but I still believe it's the right thing to do. And user feedback has helped us to develop a better computer.

I see very positive reviews for both Shearwater and Liquivision, there are several threads here devoted to those. The Cobalt is a console aimed more squarely at a recreational market, while both of these are wrist mount and provide more tech features. Cobalt charges in the case, they have removable batteries. The interfaces are different. The best thing is to investigate the user interface in relation to the diving you will do. Play with them if you can. I believe these are all good products put out by small, focused companies who really care about what they do. The companies have been around for a while. Hard to go wrong.

Ron

 

[Hatul]

All great ideas thanks. I always dive with an SPG
i want AI for : 1) to have a redundant measure of air supply and 2) help me manage air consumption.
But what I really want is a bright readable screen!
How does the Luna illuminate , I assume a backlight ? Is it pretty bright ?

Im not sure why I don't trust the Mares Icon. I think I read a couple of bad reviews. I've just started researching and read a lot of stuff in a short time !

The Sol backlight is only useful in very dark conditions. For night diving I set to push on/off and it does help, but it's nothing like an active LED display display.

I had the Mares Icon AI for about a month and can concur that it was too problem prone with poor support. I sent the brick back and never looked back.