What makes dive computers expensive?

[supergaijin]

Most consumers buy high ended products thinking they will use the features sometime in the future. Some people simply have more dollars than sense.

 

[localhost]

Historically speaking, they've gone down massively in price. My instructor showed me his first computer (an Orca) the other day. It was one of the front runners of the time. It only stored about 3 dives & worked off a very basic Buhlman algorithm, no real bells & whistles other than a hose integrated air pressure reading. That computer cost him nearly $1800 back in the late '80's, I believe he said.

Very interesting to hear that! I wonder if the trend is continuing today, much like other electronics.

The scuba market is rather limited, so there is not the mass demand for the products, as there may be with other ordinary products. Less demand= less production= higher costs.

From the other posts too, it sounds like the level of demand is a major attribute to high cost.
I would be interested to find out how diver population has changed over time, too.

 

[t-mac]

Product liability insurance for anything dive related is probably a pretty big contributor to the high price too.

Got me wondering. In all my perusing of Incidents and Accidents, I don't think I've ever seen the blame go to the computer. In fact, one of the things at the top of the investigation list is download the profile, if available. Perhaps they are charged huge premiums, but it seems to me the computer manufacturer will generally be pretty far down the list of people to sue (unless there is a complete freak-out and it spits out completely wrong information that causes and accident -- never heard of that). I'm in the wrong business.

 

[tstormdiver]

Very interesting to hear that! I wonder if the trend is continuing today, much like other electronics.

I wouldn't get your hopes up too high for a $99 dive computer, any time soon.

From the other posts too, it sounds like the level of demand is a major attribute to high cost.
I would be interested to find out how diver population has changed over time, too.

Right now, because of the general economy, diver population is dropping (at least here in the mid west, it is).

---------- Post added April 10th, 2013 at 03:56 PM ----------

Got me wondering. In all my perusing of Incidents and Accidents, I don't think I've ever seen the blame go to the computer. In fact, one of the things at the top of the investigation list is download the profile, if available. Perhaps they are charged huge premiums, but it seems to me the computer manufacturer will generally be pretty far down the list of people to sue (unless there is a complete freak-out and it spits out completely wrong information that causes and accident -- never heard of that). I'm in the wrong business.

A vast majority of computer related accidents is user error. You would not believe the number of people that do not know how to read or operate their computers or don't change or get changed their batteries before diving. Many lock themselves out by missing a decompression obligation, because they couldn't read the computer & didn't know they were in decompression. Yes, there are computer problems & electronic fail,... I had a Suunto HelO2 that put me at a depth of 473 ft on a dive, when I was in a quarry that gets no deeper than 115 ft & I was teaching an OW class, so there was absolutely no way I would have been any deeper than 40 ft. If divers would educate themselves on how to use & read their computers, it would solve a great many of these accidents, They would be able to recognize whether they are going beyond recreational limits or if there is a malfunction.

 

[boulderjohn]

The prices really have plummeted, but I disagree with the contention that they are not changing much, especially at the high end. I think they are changing a whole lot. There are many bells and whistles being put into computers that don't need to be there, but especially at the tech level there are a lot of improvements coming along rapidly. I am not sure I want all of them, but ....

I was on a boat last year in which there was a team that was part of a computer R&D department. They were checking out one they were developing. They went into the dive carrying multiple tanks with different gas mixtures in each. They switched from mix to mix throughout the dive, and the computer switched automatically to the appropriate tank, reading the appropriate mix ad computing their decompression obligations accordingly. Normally you have to do all that manually. I then learned there are already computers on the market that will do all that and tell you how much gas you have in each of the tanks. I would not feel safe using such technology now because I don't have faith in it yet, but it is pretty impressive that it can do that.

 

[chrpai]

Plummeted since the 80's I suppose, but certainly not plummeted in the last 10-12 years. MSRP on the Suunto Mosquito was $400 back in 2000 and it's about the same for the Gekko today. It certainly doesn't have any additional features and is bigger.

The Hollis DG03 is really neat @ $250 assuming I'll ever use the gas switch features. I'd never spend the $$$ for one or more air sensors. That's expensive and prone to fail when a simple brass and glass SPG is all you really need.

 

[boulderjohn]

Plummeted since the 80's I suppose, but certainly not plummeted in the last 10-12 years. MSRP on the Suunto Mosquito was $400 back in 2000 and it's about the same for the Gekko today. It certainly doesn't have any additional features and is bigger.

The Suunto Zoop is a superior computer to the Mosquito and sells for $250. The shop where I work sells a computer for under $200. I own three dive watches, none of them spectacular like a Rolex, and they all cost more than a decent computer.

 

[chrpai]

In what way is the zoop superior? Best I could tell its the same product in a bigger package and lacking a backlight. People complain about the phosphor feature.

And that $250 is from leisure pro who aqualung calls out as you are on your own.

 

[boulderjohn]

In what way is the zoop superior? Best I could tell its the same product in a bigger package and lacking a backlight. People complain about the phosphor feature.

And that $250 is from leisure pro who aqualung calls out as you are on your own.

Yep, buying it with a full warranty takes you all the way to $300.

You can get an Aeris starting at $189 if you are looking for a cheaper option.

 

[buddhasummer]

In what way is the zoop superior? Best I could tell its the same product in a bigger package and lacking a backlight. People complain about the phosphor feature.

And that $250 is from leisure pro who aqualung calls out as you are on your own.

its easier to operate and easier to read, not sure if that makes it superior or not though...it does/did make my life easier especially with thick gloves and aging eyes lol...