Why all the features? I want a simple piece of equipment.

[peege]

All I want is a watch sized dive computer that only displays 3 things:
My depth, my no decompression limit, and my tank pressure.
On the surface, just display the time of day and date for me like any old watch.
Has a button for backlighting, is user changeable batteries.

I dont want, nor need;
a log book (nor do I download), the dive time, the ascent rate (I can watch the depth)
I dont need more than one gas (air is just fine, even when diving on nitrox). I dont need color, maps, compass
I dont need planner, I dont need most all of the things that are on todays computers. Dive watch numerals are too small for the mature diver.

Being small, having a simply 3 item display will help as I age for the size of fonts. Keep it in black with a urethane strap so I can wear it as a watch.
Keep it solid, easy platform, wont eat batteries without all the nonsense inside, and I'm pretty much the world's happiest diver.

Now, why is that so hard?

Anyone know of just what I'm looking for?
Remember, cant display all the other nonsense, has to be clean.
Cant be larger than a regular watch.
Has to have ndl, and large enough numerals (im not seeing that in dive watches)

Its a pipe-dream, I know...
and I'd be the only one who'd buy it

 

[redacted]

That is going to cost extra - a lot extra.

Have you tried duct tape?

 

[RonR]

This is not an unreasonable question. As a designer, I can maybe give a partial answer, though probably not the one you want.

If you display depth, calculate NDL, and have a hoseless tank pressure reading, you have- from a product manufacturing cost standpoint- designed a computer that is as expensive as any other hoseless computer. Apart for the compass, which is pretty inexpensive nowadays, and color, the features you don't want are mostly in software, and add essentially nothing to the unit cost (though there is an up-front cost in development, of course). These features also (apart from some color displays) don't really cause the computer to consume more power. So, you end up with a very simple computer that does only a few things, but costs just as much and uses power just as rapidly as a computer with more features. And then customers say- "I'd buy it if it just did____" . Hence long feature lists.

Which is often a source of- though not an excuse for- clumsy interface design and computers that are hard to use or see.

The solution we pursued with the Cobalt was to work to make the interface as clear and simple to use as possible, and make functions that some would not want to use- like multi-gas capability or the compass- disappear unless they were specifically enabled by the user. Cobalt has a lot of features, but divers still ask for new ones- and we have to weigh that against wanting to keep the interface clean. Of course, we're at the opposite end of the spectrum from what you are looking for- a hosed console as opposed to a small wrist unit.

I expect that what you are really asking for is the option to chose an interface that doesn't give you what you don't want, and is easy to use and easy to see. And that should certainly be possible to achieve by making the interface more customizable. Stay tuned- I doubt you are alone.

 

[NAUIwowee]

They're no longer in production, but the Scubapro Xtender may work for what you're looking for.

XTENDER BLACK - SCUBAPRO-UWATEC

I believe they stopped producing them after the '07 season, so you may still be able to dig one up without too many miles on it.

 

[aquaregia]

Hang on, you want a computer that shows an NDL but no dive planner? So you'll just hop in without having any idea how long you'll stay down for until you're down? How is that a good idea?

 

[knowone]

For your representation, in court.

 

[Brendon]

Hang on, you want a computer that shows an NDL but no dive planner? So you'll just hop in without having any idea how long you'll stay down for until you're down? How is that a good idea?

PDC's are not far off from dive tables, one could use the tables along with a dumbed down PDC. I don't think that is what the OP is intending but you could do that... With that said, not many divers plan their dive and dive their plan... Most use their PDC's as a crutch, and yes just jump and dive their PDC riding the NDL. It makes no sense to me why people do this but I see it all the time. I also see the boat captains down here in south Florida setting the depths and max time alot to. So divers often use that as a reference before jumping in then they go back to diving their PDC... So given that, a PDC like the OP is talking about would work well for the type of diving I just explained. I'm not saying the OP is doing this, that was just an example. I use all my bells and whistles on my PDC, I wouldn't buy what the OP has described.

 

[NAUIwowee]

All I want is a watch sized dive computer that only displays 3 things:
My depth, my no decompression limit, and my tank pressure.
(

Oops, never mind. I didn't notice the tank pressure requirement. The Xtender isn't AI.

 

[DiveNav]

...Have you tried duct tape?

Good idea .... cut out small pieces and use them to mask out things you don't want to see

Of course the high tech version of the duct tape is a fully customizable user interface .... soon or later dive computers will have it (some have it already) .... and then most of the users will end up using the "default" screens anyway

BTW, we have designed our own tool that allows us to create "custom" interfaces faster than you can think them

Alberto (aka eDiver)

 

[rongoodman]

If your interested in larger fonts for older eyes, check out the Liquivision X1 or the soon to arrive Xeo. Expensive, no doubt, but the OLED display is bright enough to use as a back-up light in a cave dive, and you can set a large font for the underwater display on the X1. Now I'm to the point of using the mixed gas deco software on the X1, but I originally got it because it's so easy to read under water.