Do I Change From Suunto

Hi, basically i had been using a mosquito but it was always on the edge of deco way before other suunto (stinger's ghecko's d6/9's) users in my group, this happened doing 2 dive days and it spat the dummy on a liveabord. consequently i scraped it and i am coming up to my next trip and holy cow its time to find £300-£400 for a new computer. (You guys in the US please ignore price when giving your opinions as things are different over there)

The things i am mainly looking for are:-

good, easy to use software to log my dives on pc
nitrox, dont currently switch gases but who knows what the future brings
a good display is very important

For me and everyone else out there suunto's are very pleasing on the eye and yes if you pick the right one it can be the only watch you need take on holiday, but i think i have to get over this and pick whats best for diving otherwise i would go out and buy a stinger with ss bracelet. i will be doing most of my vacation in asia and working near to red sea Saudi) so service is a big factor here.

So here are the contenders:-

OCEANIC GEO- i havnt heard to much about this comp but it does what i want, my main concern is service in asia.

MARES NEMO/NEMO WIDE- no prob with service, ticks the boxes just not many reports.

APEKS PULSE-ticks boxes i think but again not to much user info.

SUUNTO STINGER-say no more but is display bic/clear enough

SUUNTO VYPER 2- i think my favourite for a very nice display, 2 gases, but does the compass which i believe to be rubbish affect the use of a conventional compass if used on same arm?

ALADIN TEC 2G- again ticks the boxes, but how are you finding yours.

any and all coments are very welcome, i have searched through the posts on SB but just want 1st hand user coments to save me buying another in 6mnths time. i actually have a feeling that anyone of these will do just fine for what i want, but the problem is that there are only 2 dive shops close to me and i cant poss see them all.

Thanks again for any comments. . .andshand

If you want a more bottom time, the oceanic is the most liberal. You can also adjust the algorithm to be more conservative if you want, a feature I really like. My wife has a oceanic VT3 and I have an Aeris T3 same computer, and it works great. They use the same adjustable algorithm as the Geo. We tend to have a bit more bottom time then divers with suunto when we go diving. The Suunto seem not to like shorter surface intervals compare to the oceanic. The Geo is a little to small for my taste though.

I like the Mares nemo sport over the wide, I prefer the round face of the sport. They have the same features. It is a nice small unit like the geo. The Nemo excel is really an nicer looking computer with a little bit more bells and whistle then the sport, it is along the lines of the D6. Not to sure how conservative it is compare to the oceanic.

I use a Stinger and a Vyper. I like them both. They are VERY easy to read underwater and extremely easy to use. Very intuitive. You can figure out all never reading the manual and the Stinger can handle Nitrox. As to bottom time, I won't say I sip gas, but I'm far from an air hog and I've never had to bail on a dive because my Suunto was putting me into deco.

I believe the Stinger has been discontinued by Suunto and replaced with the D6. I like my Stinger very much.

I use Suunto's Vyper together with my NitekHE. This way, I have 2 computers telling me what they are calculating, and so I would be alerted to a malfunction in either. I normally go with the most conservative of the two, which ever one tells me to stay longer on my safety stop.

I would caution you about shopping for easier conservatism.

Regarding the SUUNTO compass, which I love, I have found that if you wear it on your lower wrist, next to your hand, it is not interfered with, by the computer on the same arm, as long as you wear the computer higher up on your forearm, which is how I wear mine anyway.

I like to keep the right arm and wrist free of any gauges, and completely unincumbered. This is the hand that I also hold my cannister light with, as well as my DPV steering handle.

And I like to put everything else onto my left arm and wrist, computer(s) on the forearm, and compass on the wrist.

Then I can shine the light over to the others at any time. And then the light does not interfere with the compass needle either.

am i right in saying that when you purchase a vyper /2 you dont get the sotware or cable?

Check out this SUUNTO VYPER 2 review:

http://www.scubaboard.com/forums/co...s-analyzers/212052-suunto-vyper-2-review.html

also I have a SUUNTO D9 and it is everything I would ever need in a dive computer. As long as you keep it away from the compass, it should be fine. One was to test it, is to calibrate it when it is next to the compass, if it is too close and the compass interferes, it will Error.

According to the Suunto website, the mosquito has been discontinued. However, the Stinger continues to be manufactured, alongside the D series computers. Hope that's up to date - I love my Stingers.