D_O_H:
When I looked at the Atom a few months ago, I didn't have any problem with the size, though if I were among the older bifocal wearing crowd, I might have. The feature I did not like about it is you have to push a button to make it tell you your remaining tank pressure (I believe the default is the computer's calculation of how much bottom time you have left). I'm not sure if this is still the case, but I would be pretty annoyed to have to push a tiny little button every time I want to know what's left in my tank.
I was also wondering about the size, by the way, and Larry at Scubatoys let me look at the computers I was considering side-by-side via his nifty webcam. If you haven't decided where to purchase yet, I definitely recommend calling Larry - he'll help you figure out which one you want and give you a great price to boot.
Thanks for the plug D O H!
And let me just give another angle on the pushing the button for the remaining tank pressure. I'm sure most of you know that the Atom 2, and Aeris Epic are coming soon - and these will show pressure on the front screen - without having to push a button. For me... I'd rather have the Atom 1.
The Atom has the biggest number being my available time - based on what I'm going to run out of first, either nitrogen time, or air. I want that number to be big. To pack the air pressure on the front, all the numbers will be a bit smaller.
I got talking to a customer that got an Atom 1 from me, was upset it didn't show pressure without pushing a button, and he wanted to send it back. I explained - "no problem... but a quick question. If you are at a depth of 105 feet in cozumel, kicking against a current, and you want to hit the surface with 400 psi, and you have 1250 in the tank, how long can you swim before you have to start an ascent if you want to do a 3 minute safety stop and still get up with 400 in the tank?"
He responded... "Oh, I don't know..."
Knowing your Sac rate under varying conditions and then doing the math to calculate your depth consumption is something I don't want to do during a dive... when a computer can do it for me.
My best analogy is probably my car. At any given time it tells me how long I have until I run out of gas... It doesn't tell me how many gallons I have left. What does it matter if it's 6 or 13 gallons... I have 145 miles before I need to find a gas station.
Same with my air. Let the computer do the calculations - and let me know when I have to start going up. If that is 5 minutes, or 7 minutes... handy info. But whether I have 1150 or 975... I really don't care. I care how much time I have left based on the conditions I'm under at that point.
Keep in mind - this is simply an opinion, and I know a lot of folks are waiting for the Atom 2 - I have a ton coming in and a lot of people are on the waiting list... but if I was to purchase a computer today, I'd save the money and the the Atom 1, put the other few hundred in my pocket, and if I ever care how many PSI I have... I'll push the button!