Atomic Aquatics Cobalt Dive Computer

[Downing]

Looks like fun and if I lived in So Cal I'd definitely go. I'm a huge Atomics fan as their quality and design are second to none--as are their prices!

 

[jimpeachey]

I did my first dive with the atomic today in UK at 44 degrees (f obviously). I was very impressed and even with 5mm 'armoured' gloves on it was easy to operate. the display is amazing and is very easy to read. If i wanted one thing it would be for the safety stop indication to be a little larger but hey its no problem and counting down by the second is very useful. The log book is excellent and gives all the info needed in one place. I love the profile view too, seems it wasn't that bad a dive after all. This is good kit and wasn't to hard too adapt from a wrist mount to this. Very pleased with my new toy! It would have been even nicer if i could have used the software for my logbook but I'll wait......................

 

[ITGuy]

I finally had a chance to get my hands on the Cobalt this past weekend at my local dive shop. It's pretty amazing. It definitely raises the bar from an ease of use and user interface perspective. It makes you wonder why on earth someone didn't come up with this before, LOL. I would bet that other manufacturers have been playing it in their offices and are now scrambling to come up with a competitive response. It seems to be flying off the shelves at the full $1200 MSRP, and rightfully so.

@RonR - Please put me down for a wrist version of the Cobalt, along with wireless air integration and MacDive compatibility. Please keep us updated on the progress of these requests. Am I being too optimistic by hoping for Summer availability, or will Santa be leaving it under my Christmas tree? Thanks!

-ITG

 

[audission]

I did my first dive with the atomic today in UK at 44 degrees (f obviously). I was very impressed and even with 5mm 'armoured' gloves on it was easy to operate. the display is amazing and is very easy to read. If i wanted one thing it would be for the safety stop indication to be a little larger but hey its no problem and counting down by the second is very useful. The log book is excellent and gives all the info needed in one place. I love the profile view too, seems it wasn't that bad a dive after all. This is good kit and wasn't to hard too adapt from a wrist mount to this. Very pleased with my new toy! It would have been even nicer if i could have used the software for my logbook but I'll wait......................

Where did you buy your computer Jim? Is it on general sale in the UK now?

 

[Liquivision]

I I would bet that other manufacturers have been playing it in their offices and are now scrambling to come up with a competitive response.
-ITG

The Cobalt IS Atomics' competitive response to other intuitive OLED products on the market, such as the OSTC MkII, DR5, Predator, X1, Uemis SDA, etc, etc....



Eric

 

[RonR]

I finally had a chance to get my hands on the Cobalt this past weekend at my local dive shop. It's pretty amazing. It definitely raises the bar from an ease of use and user interface perspective. It makes you wonder why on earth someone didn't come up with this before, LOL. I would bet that other manufacturers have been playing it in their offices and are now scrambling to come up with a competitive response. It seems to be flying off the shelves at the full $1200 MSRP, and rightfully so.-ITG

Thanks for the positive comments. The interface was always our major focus, and as I've said elsewhere, it's very hard to make something simple. Many engineers don't "get" the interface details, and end up making things that- while they work properly and have many of the same features- are hard for users to understand. Our desire was to make a recreational computer that was sufficiently easy to use, logical, and consistent that it could be used without a manual. We certainly intend to keep improving it. We have already received many excellent suggestions.

To give an idea of the history, we actually had functional Cobalt prototypes (with grayscale but fairly high resolution screens and AA batteries and no digital compass, but the same basic interface) over ten years ago. At that time there were no pixel based display dive computers, only segment based displays. Later, after we hooked up with Atomic, the full color active matrix OLED screens became available. Since they were clearly so superior Atomic decided to revise the entire case design- which they were well into by then- to incorporate the new screens. This is consistent with what we have seen in Atomic's commitment to produce the best product they possibly can- we feel very fortunate to be working with them. Their reputation for quality is well deserved.

@RonR - Please put me down for a wrist version of the Cobalt, along with wireless air integration and MacDive compatibility. Please keep us updated on the progress of these requests. Am I being too optimistic by hoping for Summer availability, or will Santa be leaving it under my Christmas tree? Thanks!
-ITG

I'll put you on the list. I know MacDive folks are working on the Mac software.
I can't comment on the time frame, except to say is is a very high priority for us.

 

[berick]

I just got back from a week of liveaboard diving in Belize with my new Cobalt. I really like diving with this computer. The screen is really easy to read -- especially at depth which is really apreciated by a 50 something diver. I also appreciated the very intuitive interface.

I would like to see an average depth calc in the dive log and I was curious how the temperature was calculated -- is it an average temperature over a time period? The Cobalt seemed to read 2-3 degrees F higher than my Aeris Manta and a degree or two higher than my wife's Tusa.

Great product.

 

[RonR]

I would like to see an average depth calc in the dive log and I was curious how the temperature was calculated -- is it an average temperature over a time period? The Cobalt seemed to read 2-3 degrees F higher than my Aeris Manta and a degree or two higher than my wife's Tusa.

Great product.

Berick, thanks. The average depth in the dive log is coming in the first firmware update, already out in field testing. It will display both max and average where now it displays only max. That feature was requested by quite a few on SB and elsewhere.
The temperature sensor is in the depth sensor, and is buried fairly deep in the unit, so it might respond slowly to changes, since the unit itself is fairly massive. It's not an average. We have had reports of it differing from other computers by a few degrees, but when we have then tested them the readings were quite accurate. If it really is off from the actual temperature that would be a warranty issue.
Ron

 

[farsidefan1]

My wife will get one for her birthday, sigh, may be a bit longer before I get mine.

 

[audission]

Berick, thanks. The average depth in the dive log is coming in the first firmware update, already out in field testing. It will display both max and average where now it displays only max. That feature was requested by quite a few on SB and elsewhere.
The temperature sensor is in the depth sensor, and is buried fairly deep in the unit, so it might respond slowly to changes, since the unit itself is fairly massive. It's not an average. We have had reports of it differing from other computers by a few degrees, but when we have then tested them the readings were quite accurate. If it really is off from the actual temperature that would be a warranty issue.
Ron

I have another question Ron - can it be configured with Metric measurements too?

I'd prefer it to display pressure in Bar / temp in Celsius than PSI/ degrees f.