Dive computer

My wife and I recently completed our PADI certification and are now looking to buy dive computers. Does anyone have suggestions or recommendations regarding purchasing computers? We aren't looking to spend a ton of money, but obviously we want something that is dependable and user friendly. Thanks!

Scuba Rookie:

My wife and I recently completed our PADI certification and are now looking to buy dive computers. Does anyone have suggestions or recommendations regarding purchasing computers? We aren't looking to spend a ton of money, but obviously we want something that is dependable and user friendly. Thanks!

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I use a Sherwood Wisdom II dive computer with a quick release. I think it is pretty good. It has a very large display. I find it very easy to read. It is very conservative. It supports altitude, nitrox. It has temperature, time and turns on the moment it gets wet.

It has audible alarms for various things (half tank, 500 PSI, etc.) but I find I cannot hear the alarm. Other than that I'm pretty happy with it.

I partial to Oceanic computers. I own an Atom 2.0 and a VT3 I have used a Veo 250 and an Atom 1.0
My first DC was a Mares M2 and I really had no complaints about it.

There's a lot of great computers out there across a wide range of prices. If you've got a favorite shop (online or off) you may want to ask them about their specials and their recommendations as many will have a preference and since they service the devices, they tend to know what's coming back and what's not.

Personally I'm a big Suunto user and have an air-integrated Vyper complete with SPG and Compass as well as a D9 wireless wrist watch. The d9 transmitter doesn't always stay synced up but I like the functionality of both. I've also been very impressed by a few of the Oceanic computers which I've had the chance to both dive and admire on others.

Just about any of the mainstream brands will provide something you can functionally use unless you pick something with a ton of extra technical features which would likely price it out of your consideration set anyways. So the real question is finding the right set of core features, the right feel and type (wireless vs integrated, big font vs lots of data at once, larger vs smaller) and feeling the unit is dependable and well backed.

Take your time and review as many as you can -

Features to consider in order of importance for me -
Nitrox capability.
User replaceable battery.
Wrist mount or retractor mount.
Air Integrated.
Computer interface/software.

I use the Wisdom II which I like - If I get into more technical diving/multi gas dive I will likely move to a VR3 or similar computer.

A friend who is a lobster diver does not like wrist mounted as his computer gets beat up when he is sticking his hand in holes.

I am not going to suggest what brand...but I will give you a bit of advice as to what style. Go with wrist mount versus console mount. If you ever decide you are going to go into more serious diving, which at this point you may or may not have thought of, you are going to find wrist mounted units are a heck of a lot better to deal with.

It maybe that you never get to a point where you consider things like decompression diving...but if you do, you are going to find out pretty quickly that hose mounted computers are a pain to deal with. Also agree (and this is a personal opinion) that user replaceable battery models are definitely the way to go. Nitrox capable is pretty much the norm, so having that feature is desirable as well. Air integrated? Personal choice there.

Thanks for all the input so far. I really appreciate it! Just in the few dives we've made, I can see that we both prefer the wrist mounted dc's. I have seen several Oceanic Veo 100's for sale around $150.00, but it doesn't specifically mention nitrox mode. I saw that they also have an"NX" model that handles nitrox for about $320.00. Anybody have an opinion about these? What about the Zeagle N2ition?

The Oceanic 100 is a very basic computer that does not handle NITROX. You are correct that the 100NX is NITROX capable, but the 250 is really more of the computer I think most people imagine they are going to get when they purchase the 100. If you do a side-by-side comparison of the features, most people end up choosing the 250.

Thanks for the info. Assessments like that along with the other info above are why I joined the site. I've been told that Dive Rite makes the Zeagle dc's, and that they are very good. Any truth to this?

My wife have a Suunto Mosquito and she love it... it's a very good computer.

I'm now looking the ZEagle N2ition, it's the same computer as the DiveRite Nitek, Tusa IQ700, Cressi Archimedes, etc etc... it's a computer made by Seiko and the reviews are great.