Uwatec Aladin Air Z Nitrox

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karlos

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Thinking of buying an Aladin Air Z Nitrox. If there is anyone outhere who owns one, I'd love to here some feed back on it. Are you impressed with it or do you wish you'd gone for something else?
 
karlos:
Thinking of buying an Aladin Air Z Nitrox. If there is anyone outhere who owns one, I'd love to here some feed back on it. Are you impressed with it or do you wish you'd gone for something else?
I got the Aladin AirZ Nitrox Hoseless last year and feel that it was a great move. I had the oceanic data max and it was very good but losing the extra hose and having the computer on my wrist is much nicer. The only thing I miss is the temp. reading during the dive.

chuckrt
 
thanks for your input. I was also thinking about going for an Oceanic, but think the Aladin would be better. Do you find the transmitter to be as accurate as the hose style computers?
 
I also have the Uwatec Air Z Nitrox air integrated computer. I love it!!!! I have had no problems with the transmitter and found it to be accurate and reliable. You should also buy the memo mouse to download the dives to your computer to see your dive profile and ascent and breathing warnings. It gives warnings when your low on air and ascending to quickly and many other features. The computer memory will hold 2-3 dives (depending on the length of the dives), then you would need to download to memo mouse to store the data. When you return from the dive trip, connect the memo mouse to your computer to analyze all your dives. I do wish it would give the temperature during the dive. It only gives temperature after downloading to your computer, but this is a minor issue compared to all the other benefits.
 
before you buy a UWATEC computer do a search on the net for articles about the company and the pending lawsuits from crippled divers who trusted their products. you may be suprised to find out the company hid a computer glitch for years due to the cost of a recall.... only to recall them after divers started getting bent using them and filing lawsuits.
I used to have a uwatec computer and it was ok... but after a friend was permanantly disabled by a uwatec computer and I found out about the coverup, I got rid of it. there are better computer on the market with better features for the same price range. look a little more before buying.

just MHO..
 
I personally own several computers, a Oceanic Versa Pro, a Suunto Cobra, as well as the Uwatez Air Z 02. I have been very pleased with all of them. (the Uwatec is my favorite)

The Atom 1.0, Oceanics new computer will be coming out soon. The computer will enable the user to change gas mixes during the dive. (WITH air integration...obviously multiple transmitters) This would greatly facilitate doing deco stops at 50% or whatever....I've already got one on my wish list.

http://www.oceanicworldwide.com/2004/p_computers_atom.html


Adam
 
Something else to check into is battery replacement of the Uwatec units. I just saw a memo from Scubapro/Uwatec calling out the costs of battery replacement for the entire line. Now, I know the batteries tend to last quite a while, the costs can be very expensive. In fact, either the Air X or Air Z series (I can't remember which) does not have a replaceable battery - they claim it's sealed permanently. You get a new unit for a replacement cost of $200. There's also one unit (I need to get a copy of the memo from the shop) that is no longer supported and requires a full $400 upgrade to one of the SmartPro units.

nyresq:
before you buy a UWATEC computer do a search on the net for articles about the company and the pending lawsuits from crippled divers who trusted their products. you may be suprised to find out the company hid a computer glitch for years due to the cost of a recall.... only to recall them after divers started getting bent using them and filing lawsuits.
I used to have a uwatec computer and it was ok... but after a friend was permanantly disabled by a uwatec computer and I found out about the coverup, I got rid of it. there are better computer on the market with better features for the same price range. look a little more before buying.

just MHO..
 
Zaphod:
Something else to check into is battery replacement of the Uwatec units. I just saw a memo from Scubapro/Uwatec calling out the costs of battery replacement for the entire line. Now, I know the batteries tend to last quite a while, the costs can be very expensive. In fact, either the Air X or Air Z series (I can't remember which) does not have a replaceable battery - they claim it's sealed permanently. You get a new unit for a replacement cost of $200. There's also one unit (I need to get a copy of the memo from the shop) that is no longer supported and requires a full $400 upgrade to one of the SmartPro units.

My Air Z Nitrox came with free "lifetime" battery replacement from Uwatec (it was a replacement under the SmartCom recall). If I remember correctly all new Uwatec computers come with free battery replacement for the original owner.
 
Must be the Air X that is sealed and can't be replaced. Ah, yes. I remember now, the list included the Air X O2 - the one that I was considering buying. Anyway, it's $200 to get a replacement unit if the battery dies.
 
I have been using the Uwatec Air Z Nitrox for about 20 dives now. I had previously used the Oceanic Pro Plus 2. I also have several buddies that dive with the VT Pro. I am really pleased with the Air Z. The things I like about the Air Z are as follows. I like the ascent rate indicator as it displays a percentage of maximum allowable ascent rate instead of a color coded bar graph display. I like the algorithm, it is not terribly liberal (Oceanic) or conservative(Suunto) I feel like this algorithm fits me best. Your diving preferences may be different. I like the way the screen displays just the necessary numbers and not all the color indicators. I like that in the log mode it will tell you how much air you used on a particular dive. (mine stores 19 dives in the onboard log mode). The transmission reliablility has been a non issue as it has performed flawlessly (all of my friends have had no problems with their VT Pro computers in this regard). The download kit has been more dependable than my Oceanic. I have batteries for life. I also feel more confident with a computer that has been out on the market for a while so the manufacturers can get all of the kinks worked out of it(I would stay away from the first year release of any dive computer but thats just me).

My dislikes are as follows. No temp display on screen(you can get a temp display when you download the dives into the PC). Not as user friendly as my Oceanic. I do not like all the audible alarms and you have to have a PC interface (memo mouse)to turn them off. With the Oceanic you can turn them off by using the dive computer. If a diver really wants to get everything out of this computer the memo mouse is the only way to go(extra $$$ though). The computer only stores up to (don't quote me on this) 3 hours of downloads at a time so you have to hook up to the memo mouse after everydays diving to get all your dives on the PC. This sounds crazy but it takes no time and I have lost numerous dives with the Oceanic and zero with the Uwatec.

I feel like most divers would be happier with the Oceanic VT Pro but I am happy with the Air Z.

Happy Shopping

Gillty
 

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