Suunto Vyper Pros and Cons

[leadweight]

There are a few other computers that are as conservative as the Suunto. thosw would be the Mares M1 and Cressi Archimede. There may be a few others. There are also computers that are more liberal than the Oceanic/Aeris series. The most common of these would be the round computers manuractured by Benemec, They sell under different names such as the Zeagle Status.

As for drift dives, you can always come up to 30 feet, or so, and your computer will clear if not already in the deco stop mode. It is just that the Oceanic/Aeris series will clear somewhat deeper. In actual diving it all works out.

There was a thread about variations in computers in the Dr. Deco forum, something like NDL limits. the bottom line is you can dive a conservative computer as it is, or you can dive a liberal computer and "back off" by using the bar graph. I presently have an older Uwatec computer which is somewhere in between. When it dies, I will probably buy a liberal computer. But, let me make this clear, there is nothing wrong with the Suunto line of computers, so far as I know.

 

[jimisurf]

Thank you for all of the good information! I will be checking out the Suunto's a little closer If anyone has any other personal experiences with them, let me know.

Jimi

 

[jamiei]

first of all, I trust numbers a lot more than I trust a bar graph with 5 bars. The difference between one bar and the other just leaves too much room for problems as I see it. Ascent rate is very important and many people fail to see the severity of blowing your ascent rate. Also, repetative dives and how they affect the chances of getting DS isn't an exact science by far. There's just not enough known about them to take too many unneccesary chances. There's plenty of time in the day to get all the diving in you can handle and at most places we dive, I don't think anyone minds the surface intervals.

Good luck on your selection and by the way, I think uwatec makes great computers too. Suunto is just my personal choice. I'm not a big fan of other manufacturer's computers just because I have more confidence in company's like suunto and scubapro/uwatec as well as a few other companies that specialize more in dive computers (or instruments/guages like suunto).

 

[Doof]

Another area that the Suunto's are conservative is in Nitrox mode. They will limit your MOD for any given O2 percentage to the level above. For instance, if you're diving EAN32 at a PPO2 of 1.4, the Suunto will limit your MOD to the equivalent of diving EAN33 at 1.4 (I'm comparing this to the TDI table I have).

 

[MakoSince70]

My wife and I have both dived with the Viper since 99. I have over 200 dives on mine with no problems. Statements previously posted about the unit having a conservative program and not really affecting the practical botton time seems to be true.
In one 5 day period we dove 25 dives to depths of 90 feet. While at that depth we would hit the no deco limits, there was no problem in accending to 50-60 ft and continueing the dive. Since we are used to the sceens, I expect we will stay with the Suunto for years.