To compute or not to compute??

The misses and I are looking at regs and consoles. We have most everything else. BC, Wet suit, mask, fins etc. We just completed our 20th dive last weekend and will be doing 8 more in about a month. This will include our first deep dive (and it will be with an instructor) and this will be with nitrox , maybe. We will be working towards our AOW as well.

It hurts a little ($$$) to always get 2 of everything. We started this addiction together. I was thinking about getting regs and then trying to find a used console and go with that setup for a while. And maybe adding a wrist computer later on or maybe replace the depth guage with a computer. By not getting the computers it would also force us to understand and calculate our dives as well. We do have eRDP's. Did any of you start out this way? with guages and later to the computer. I do not ever see us doing any cold water dives.

Is there a brand of console that most computers will replace (fit) the guages?
How much better is a $500 dollar reg vs. a $200 assuming you can gets parts and get it serviced.
There is almost to much info about all of this.

thanks

Personally...I prefer a wrist computer. I wear it on my left wrist and that allows me to hold up my corrogated hose and vent air as I ascend, see my computer at the same time....and leaves my right hand free for whatever. You may also find them a little cheaper that way as well....yet still very good functionally.

To each his ...or her....own.

Whatever way you go....you def want to make sure you can change the battery in it yourself.

Starting with gauges is a very common practice. I got my computer in time for a dive trip after I had over 80 dives. The fact is that your air usage and appropriate dives should keep you in comfortable table range for a while.

I went with a console mounted computer so I would not need to deal with another item when gearing up or down. It also keeps me from forgeting it. The console/wrist depate is lengthly (I burned too many brain cells considering my own decision) and either option is good. Hose mount and retractor moutings are also an option. I do like having all of my info in one handful. If wrist mount is appealing to you consider what else you may want on your wrists, compass, depth gauge etc. ??

Pete

I tried different set ups including no computer like most of us did when we first started diving, computer and now a computer that is air integrated. One can still dive without a computer but honestly speaking, a computer just makes things so much nicer. I love my air integrated computer by Oceanic. It's the only 'gauge' I carry. Everything including how much air I have, decompression points, temps, times, depths, whether I am ascending too fast or not, etc., is in one unit. No need for other gauges. Back on the surface, it tells me how long surface interval I have and even records the temp, time and depths of dives as info for my log book. So maybe computers are not necessarily a 'need to have' but they are certainly a real 'nice to have'.

When i was buying gear i was doing it on a budget. I got an Aeris wrist computer pretty early on because Scubatoys had them on sale for a good price. Either way I can't see spending tons of money on a fancy computer unless you need additional features.

And as for your reg question. I got my regs (first stage, primary second stage, octo, gauges) for ~$125 used on scubaboard. They are Aqualung Titan regs and they are a few years old but anyone will service them and they are total workhorses. Again i don't see any reason for fancier regs and have never wanted to upgrade mine...maybe if you're doing very deep or very cold dives, but it doesn't sound like that's your bag so i would say any reputable brand is gonna make a reg that will work fine.

Chris

Call Larry at ScubaToys. I'll bet he can put together a great reg/computer package for you that you could afford two of.