Novice Buyer - Dive Computers/Watches

Please register or login

Welcome to ScubaBoard, the world's largest scuba diving community. Registration is not required to read the forums, but we encourage you to join. Joining has its benefits and enables you to participate in the discussions.

Benefits of registering include

  • Ability to post and comment on topics and discussions.
  • A Free photo gallery to share your dive photos with the world.
  • You can make this box go away

Joining is quick and easy. Log in or Register now!

S

Stocks

New
Messages
2
Reaction score
0
Hi, My husband and I recently qualified as Open Water Divers and I would like to buy him a Dive Computer as a birthday gift. I wanted some help to find out which were some of the best watches/computers but without having to take out a second mortgage to buy one. Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thanks, Sara. :confused::confused::confused::confused::confused::confused:
 
Computers....you are going to get lots of opinions, but I would (personal recommendation) stay with something that has a user changeable battery...but that is a personal bias on my part. Suunto seems to get a lot play here along with DiveRite.

Watches - Luminox, Seiko, and Citizen are all reasonably priced and all make good solid dive watches that are not budget breakers.
 
I agree with slow rain about the user replacable batteries. I believe that actually rules out Suunto. I also would stay away from Suunto for two other reasons: they seem to be a little over priced compared to other brands, and I have heard of them having problems with their depth sensors recently.

My personal preference is wrist mounted. If you stay away from air integrated, you should be able to spend under $400 for good quality computer. I personally think oceanic has some good computers at reasonable prices. Uwatec is fairly popular, but again I think you're paying a little extra for the name. Most everybody is a fan of whichever computer they own which leads me to believe they are mostly all pretty good. Do some shopping around, because prices vary quite a bit. Once you find one you like at a good price, either go to you local dive store and ask them to match the price, or call Scubatoys if your LDS refuses to price match. Scubatoys will price match and they are an authorised retailer of everything they sell.
 
As Slow Rain says, you are going to get a lot of recommendations....I would strongly recommend you to buy a good and reliable easy to use computer and one that allows you to do airand nitrox because you will probably be encountering nitrox very soon in your diving experience. Personally, therefore, I would recommend an Aladdin Prime (probably your best bet for now) which incorporates a full watch function.

Go for a wrist mount, it is more practical.

One last thing, if you get your husband a dive computer for his birthday, what are you going to do without one of your own?
 
I agree with Jefffalcone about wrist mount but not about Suunto...

I have a Suunto Mosquito; it isn't pricey, has a user changeable battery, is Nitrox compatible, computer downloadable, and I know many people love them. Agree about Scubatoys as a great dealer too, although they don't sell Suunto. (not that it matters).

SlowRain said you'll get lots of opinions. Well, here's another one. A computer as a birthday gift ? My opinion is that your husband chose a great wife. :)
 
I sell Oceanic so I may be biased that way, but I do think Suunto, and Uwatec are overpriced. I dive an Atom wrist watch, but that being Air Integrated (AI) runs about $959 MAP.

If you don't have Regulators yet, AI is prob not for you because you'll need to install the transmitter every time you dive and may run the risk of leaving it.

That said I reccomend a Geo. New ones run around $399, but you can prob find last year's model for $50- $100 bucks cheaper. (colors are all that changed)

All Oceanic/ Aeris (same owners) have User Replaceable Batteries.
 
UncleJoes:
I sell Oceanic so I may be biased that way, but I do think Suunto, and Uwatec are overpriced. I dive an Atom wrist watch, but that being Air Integrated (AI) runs about $959 MAP.

If you don't have Regulators yet, AI is prob not for you because you'll need to install the transmitter every time you dive and may run the risk of leaving it.

That said I reccomend a Geo. New ones run around $399, but you can prob find last year's model for $50- $100 bucks cheaper. (colors are all that changed)

All Oceanic/ Aeris (same owners) have User Replaceable Batteries.
Click to expand...

Hi Uncle Joe. I am having major s*** with an Aeris Epic. Maybe you could help me out?
 
UncleJoes:
I sell Oceanic so I may be biased that way, but I do think Suunto, and Uwatec are overpriced. I dive an Atom wrist watch, but that being Air Integrated (AI) runs about $959 MAP.

If you don't have Regulators yet, AI is prob not for you because you'll need to install the transmitter every time you dive and may run the risk of leaving it.

That said I reccomend a Geo. New ones run around $399, but you can prob find last year's model for $50- $100 bucks cheaper. (colors are all that changed)

All Oceanic/ Aeris (same owners) have User Replaceable Batteries.
Click to expand...

A second here on an Oceanic(& I don't sell them).....
 
I dive with 2 Oceanic computers a VT3 and an Atom.
The Atom is watch sized and they are both wireless AI
Either could be used without the transmiter until you purchase your own regulators.
LP sells the original model Atom complete with for $550 complete with transmitter and download cable. It is likely to be the best deal you can find in a new wireless AI computer.
It is certainly has far more features than you'll need as new divers but is likely to be a computer that will take you a long time to outgrow if you ever do. It can monitor 3 bottles and is Nitrox ready.
The question to ask yourself is if you are likely to dive regularly, will use nitrox and is this the only equipment you are likely to buy or just the first piece toward having all your own gear.
If you feel you are heading into diving as a regularly practiced part of your life then purchasing more advanced gear up front will keep you from needing to upgrade and in the long run save you time and money.
 
Nobody has mentioned one important factor yet - some computers are very conservative (such as Suunto) and some are very liberal (such as Aeris and Oceanic). My preference is conservative, and as such, I'd recommend a Suunto Gekko for each of you. Others feel completely comfortable with liberal computers, thinking conservative computers are too limiting. Since I've never felt limited with mine, I can't recommend anything more liberal. Most importantly - whatever you decide, make sure you both get the same brand. Different models within a brand are OK - trying to coordinate no-deco times with different brands can be confusing at least, and potentially dangerous.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Similar threads

S
Bought an Oceanic Dive Computer at an estate sale. What model is this, and is it worth what I paid?
4 5 6
Replies
56
Views
2,750
BRT
B
T
Kudos for Oceanic Computers
Replies
0
Views
399
Tyler. Henry
T
S
Suunto Vyper conks out
2 3
Replies
21
Views
1,136
scubazerg
S
K
Question Only Instructor wears dive computer (extra charge if I want one)
7 8 9
Replies
85
Views
4,028
ScubaWithTurk
ScubaWithTurk
A
Maldives Liveaboard Review with Apple watch ultra and Oceanic+
2 3
Replies
23
Views
5,360
eelnoraa
eelnoraa
https://www.shearwater.com/products/perdix-ai/

Back
Top Bottom