Scared I Missed Safety Stop

[Basking Ridge Diver]

I dive very infrequently and have a dive trip coming up this summer. Would a dive computer be a worthy investment, or would it be okay to study dive charts and bring my PADI dive calculator? I will be diving consistently with a group for a week so I'm leaning towards no dive computer.

If you dive infrequently - in my opinion - just rent the computer. Assuming you can get someone from the shop to show you how it works - most are straight forward and most shops these days in vacation destinations rent a computer for a nominal fee ($10 to $20).
If I was diving on vacation - I would want to know if I was shore diving or boat diving. These days most captains want you to have a computer so you may be locked in anyway - but call your destination and see. Otherwise for me - under 60 foot dives I would chose a watch and tables as you suggested - over 60 feet I personally would want a dive computer.

BTW - you are in the Basic forum - folks are pretty much understanding here and don't flame you when you ask a question.

 

[scubadada]

For us older guys, it was not that long ago that very few divers had computers and nobody dived nitrox (late 90s). I've been diving a computer and nitrox since 2001 and have not looked back. My advice, buy, or at least rent, a computer. There are many advantages to owning your own, familiarity of use, ability to choose a decompression algorithm, immediately come to mind

 

[boulderjohn]

You need some sort of timing and depth measurement even if you dive tables, so why not take a computer that does both and keeps track of your nitrogen load for you. Getting a cheap (or second hand) divecomputer is a good idea IMHO as long as you understand what it is trying to tell you.

I just spent a little over 30 seconds searching dive computers via Google. I found one being sold brand new for $159.

I found depth gauges for $80. People who like to use cheap dive watches frequently cite the Casio G-Shock, which I found online for about $100. Now, this is officially not a dive watch and it is not rated for scuba, but some people use it for that purpose successfully. So if you already have tables or the eRDPml, you can dive with a watch and depth gauge for only about $20 more than a cheap computer.

 

[Freewillow]

get a computor