xDeep Black BT - anyone own one yet? post reviews & feedback here...

[lindenbruce]

Yeah, they do have a good price point. But if you can't get one they could be free and it wouldn't matter. It definitely sounds like they beat themselves up with premature advertising. Maybe once production gets ramped up and they get out there things will improve for them. Only time will tell. B.

 

[dive_more]

Hi, some people did some reviews, and the black bt have problems to give you the right temperature because of the computer shell and also the CPU who causes a temperature difference,

They will patch it with an software update....
TapaTalk 2

 

[TSandM]

I got to look at and play with the unit at DEMA. It's a little smaller than the Xen, with a very slightly bigger screen. Despite looking rather solid, it's quite light (made of Delrin). The user interface is through two buttons that protrude from either side of the bottom of the unit. I didn't get to play with the menus, really, but found it interesting that the salesman who was talking to me could not find the function he was looking for after several minutes of playing with it. (One of the things I love about my X1 is that the menus are absolutely intuitive.)

The display was very bright. They are claiming 40 hours of use before you have exhausted the charge. The unit is sealed and rechargeable; if the battery fails, it will have to be sent somewhere to be replaced. I didn't get a chance to ask whether the US distributor will be able to do repairs on the unit, or whether it will have to be sent to Europe to get them done, but that's another thing to think about.

It can be bought as a bottom timer, and then software can be purchased to convert it to a Nitrox computer or a Trimix computer. IIRC, the price for the full loaded device was about $800.

My reaction was to be curious to see what the reports are as people purchase it -- the guy said they have been overwhelmed with orders, so folks should be writing some reviews pretty soon.

 

[Nasser]

I got to look at and play with the unit at DEMA. It's a little smaller than the Xen, with a very slightly bigger screen. Despite looking rather solid, it's quite light (made of Delrin). The user interface is through two buttons that protrude from either side of the bottom of the unit. I didn't get to play with the menus, really, but found it interesting that the salesman who was talking to me could not find the function he was looking for after several minutes of playing with it. (One of the things I love about my X1 is that the menus are absolutely intuitive.)

The display was very bright. They are claiming 40 hours of use before you have exhausted the charge. The unit is sealed and rechargeable; if the battery fails, it will have to be sent somewhere to be replaced. I didn't get a chance to ask whether the US distributor will be able to do repairs on the unit, or whether it will have to be sent to Europe to get them done, but that's another thing to think about.

It can be bought as a bottom timer, and then software can be purchased to convert it to a Nitrox computer or a Trimix computer. IIRC, the price for the full loaded device was about $800.

My reaction was to be curious to see what the reports are as people purchase it -- the guy said they have been overwhelmed with orders, so folks should be writing some reviews pretty soon.

Wow - Finally!! After 5 pages of speculation and rants we have a semi-hands on assessment/review of the unit. Thanks for the feedback TSandM, hopefully as you mentioned we should start to see some more in-depth reviews with how it actually performs during a dive, it's durability, and user friendliness. Hope we can keep this thread informative and helpful to those seriously considering purchasing the unit and keep speculation and rumors to a minimum.

Thanks,
Nasser

 

[JamesK]

I played with one of these at DEMA for about 20 minutes. I think this will be one of my next computers. Without the manual I was able to negotiate all the menus and change settings in the computer. Running it through simulated dives the display was very easy to read and understand. The Delrin case makes it an extremely lightweight computer but yet very durable. Those who are not familiar with Delrin will probably actually think it is cheap.

For those of you trying to assassinate the company for not paying attention to this thread, holy crap get over it. Small companies do not always have the time to sit online answer questions on every single dive forum about their product.

 

[Pullmyfinger]

Well said.

 

[ScubaAl]

Any information on logbook software?
Al

I played with one of these at DEMA for about 20 minutes. I think this will be one of my next computers. Without the manual I was able to negotiate all the menus and change settings in the computer. Running it through simulated dives the display was very easy to read and understand. The Delrin case makes it an extremely lightweight computer but yet very durable. Those who are not familiar with Delrin will probably actually think it is cheap.

For those of you trying to assassinate the company for not paying attention to this thread, holy crap get over it. Small companies do not always have the time to sit online answer questions on every single dive forum about their product.

 

[divinglog]

Any information on logbook software?
Al

The logbook data is stored as UDDF files on the device and as far as I know it connects as USB mass storage device. So every software that can read UDDF is supported.

 

[the_shadow]

For those of you trying to assassinate the company for not paying attention to this thread, holy crap get over it. Small companies do not always have the time to sit online answer questions on every single dive forum about their product.

The prime reason for critique wasn't not paying attention to this thread, it was the lack of overall communication. When asking for concrete times and dates, they were not given, and delivery times were pushed back (due to CE re-certification, I give the that, but still a date other than "a few weeks" should be a possibility to give). When you're new in a market (and xDeep is new with regard to computers), you have to communicate with your prospective buyers.

They're want to compete in the high-end tech market, taking it up against established companies like Sheartwater and Liquivision. If you're going to postpone, either say "we don't know" and be honest about it, or give a concrete date and stick with it. Don't introduce something, then push the delivery date back and back and back, not letting distributors know about the details, postpone some more, and then be surprised people get fed up. It was announced for (I think) March this year. Then, "in a couple of weeks" (times plenty).

I really want to buy this computer, I do, I've had my eyes on it for a long long time now. If they started selling them when they had planned, I'd been diving a fully upgraded one by now. However, as of now, I'm still waiting for the reviews. If those take too long, I'm going for one of the established brands/computers (SW Petrel).

 

[TSandM]

Oh -- I forgot to mention that the device recharges through a fairly thin plate of plastic that attaches to a USB connector. Although I didn't get to plug and unplug it myself, it looked like something awfully easy to lose or damage. I know I have enough trouble keeping track of the cradle/connector for my Liquivision, which is quite a lot bigger.