frothchild
Contributor
I have just found my new favorite bottom timer. Liquivision Xen, after years of being asked to make a bottom timer only, they finally done it.
I picked mine up yesterday from my LDS, and going through the very simple registering (rules, safety, user agreement, etc...) you receive via email your access code to unlock the computer.
"One beer learning curve" Sit down on your sofa for half an hour with a beer, and tap through the XEN menus to familiarize yourself with the tapping interaction and the general menu layouts. It truly was that simple.
After playing with the Xen out of the water, it was time to finish the dressing process. It is recommended that you get the ZAGG protective shield for the Xen. It actually took me longer to get the protective shell and bungy on then get comfortable utilizing the tap system. Finally, the folks at Liquivision thought about those who would be using this, and included shock cord as well. One paper clip later (to pop out the wrist strap pins), and the I was ready to bungy. Personally I found the included shock cord to be a bit on the light side, I opted for 3/16" shock cord, so that was installed instead.
One thing to be aware of, BATTERY LIFE!
(from the owners manual) Optimizing Battery Life!!!!!
"The battery life is significantly affected by the brightness setting of your display and the display colors you select.
Brightness – choose low or medium brightness for longest battery life.
Colors – your display is an RGB display which means that it has red, green and blue pixels. It shows other colors by lighting up combinations of red, green and blue pixels. Using the red, green and blue colors uses the least battery power. Using white (which requires red, blue and green pixels to all turn on at once) will use much more battery power. The Liquivision standard color scheme is selected to optimize readability and battery consumption."
Having just come back from my first dive with it, I have to say, in the water, the lowest brightness level was truly more than enough. I configured my system with using Greens, Reds, and Blues, and with the solid black contrast, the display was brilliantly legible.
~edit: Also have dived it in doors, fully lit pool, and the entire practicing team (diamond formation drills) could read my Xen without issue. And that was at the lowest brightness setting~
The only nit picking thing is that it comes only with 3 layout options. They all work, but the standard layout is more then effective, but I would have liked to be able to enlarge some of the secondary labeling and details, i.e. Ave Depth, time of day.
I realize these are very small issues, and I am looking forward to further putting this new bottom time though its paces. Tomorrow, Key Largo here I come.
In the mean time, the Xen is looking good so far. Pictures to follow shortly.
And for the ney sayers out there, yes, having the visual contrast in a easy to use wrist mount bottom time is worth the price.
I picked mine up yesterday from my LDS, and going through the very simple registering (rules, safety, user agreement, etc...) you receive via email your access code to unlock the computer.
"One beer learning curve" Sit down on your sofa for half an hour with a beer, and tap through the XEN menus to familiarize yourself with the tapping interaction and the general menu layouts. It truly was that simple.
After playing with the Xen out of the water, it was time to finish the dressing process. It is recommended that you get the ZAGG protective shield for the Xen. It actually took me longer to get the protective shell and bungy on then get comfortable utilizing the tap system. Finally, the folks at Liquivision thought about those who would be using this, and included shock cord as well. One paper clip later (to pop out the wrist strap pins), and the I was ready to bungy. Personally I found the included shock cord to be a bit on the light side, I opted for 3/16" shock cord, so that was installed instead.
One thing to be aware of, BATTERY LIFE!
(from the owners manual) Optimizing Battery Life!!!!!
"The battery life is significantly affected by the brightness setting of your display and the display colors you select.
Brightness – choose low or medium brightness for longest battery life.
Colors – your display is an RGB display which means that it has red, green and blue pixels. It shows other colors by lighting up combinations of red, green and blue pixels. Using the red, green and blue colors uses the least battery power. Using white (which requires red, blue and green pixels to all turn on at once) will use much more battery power. The Liquivision standard color scheme is selected to optimize readability and battery consumption."
Having just come back from my first dive with it, I have to say, in the water, the lowest brightness level was truly more than enough. I configured my system with using Greens, Reds, and Blues, and with the solid black contrast, the display was brilliantly legible.
~edit: Also have dived it in doors, fully lit pool, and the entire practicing team (diamond formation drills) could read my Xen without issue. And that was at the lowest brightness setting~
The only nit picking thing is that it comes only with 3 layout options. They all work, but the standard layout is more then effective, but I would have liked to be able to enlarge some of the secondary labeling and details, i.e. Ave Depth, time of day.
I realize these are very small issues, and I am looking forward to further putting this new bottom time though its paces. Tomorrow, Key Largo here I come.
In the mean time, the Xen is looking good so far. Pictures to follow shortly.
And for the ney sayers out there, yes, having the visual contrast in a easy to use wrist mount bottom time is worth the price.
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