Uwatec Aladin Tec or Suunto Gekko

[arman68]

I found a great offer on the Suunto Gekko, for £125. I was about to order it, when I noticed the clearance section had some Uwatec Aladin Tec at half price! After a bit of bargaining, I can now get the Tec for £160!

Only problem is, I am bit confused and not sure which one I should go for.

What I like about the Gekko is its simplicity, easy to read display, safe conservativeness, lack of backlight (!, I think it's more than compensated by a great phosphorescent display)

What I like about the Tec is the gauge mode, accurate to seconds for freediving, supposedly calibrated for saltwater (as opposed to the suunto calibrated for fresh water), safe adjustable conservativeness, more advanced settings which I do not need know, but might in the future.

What I dislike about the gekko: no gauge mode

What I dislike about the tek: possibly a less well layout display

What should I do?

 

[goodeatsfan]

aladdin... no contest... but that's just my opinion. MUCH more bang for the buck and I never did like the gekkos... sorry.

 

[CompuDude]

I've always felt the Suunto's were overly conservative. The Aladdin will let you dive normal, or crank up the conservatism. I prefer having the option, not being forced by the manufacturer.

If Suunto could point to a safety record that was superior to Uwatec's, I might revise this opinion, but the fact is (from what I have read) their safety record is no better or worse than anyone else's, so why limit your bottom time?

 

[xiSkiGuy]

Definitely go for the Tec. As noted above, it can be adjusted to be more conservative (and thus more in line with the Suunto). It also adds a backlight, gauge mode, nitrox from 21-100%, and the dive data is down-loadable (dive manager software included).