Run out and buy a Cobra?

I did my pool training yesterday and next month my wife and I will do our open water.

I have a quote for a new Cobra air integrated computer for $450 counting the $200 trade up discount that is also available to new divers. But, it ends at the end of this month.

My initial plan was to buy regs, computer, and wetsuits and get the rest later when we have some extra money again. That said, I hadn't planned on making the reg/computer purchase for a little bit since we just got done paying for courses, masks, fins, and snorkels.

So, should I run out and get these computers for this price? Is it THAT good? Or am I fine waiting a while and finding something comparable a few months from now when I am really ready to buy?

IMHO having a computer right now is a "nice to have" but not a necessity. I'm in the same boat as you (including my wife as well) and went ahead and invested in regulators first as I knew my wife was uncomfortable with the older metal regs they used for the pool sessions. Our next purchase would probably be a BCD for her so she can get used to her own stuff and trim out nicely and not have to re-adjust every time with rented equipment. Once we get the hang of things and really get some dives under our belts then we can probably make the investment into dive computers. Right now the dive table, my gauges and my watch are my best friends.

The most money you will waste in this sport is the money you spend on the gear you got "instead of the gear you really should have gotten."

It's a great deal on a Cobra if that is for sure the computer you know you want and will dive with for years. I had a similar deal offered to me on my Cobra, and the person who really benefitted from THAT deal was the guy I sold it to after about a dozen dives, when I realized it wasn't really the computer that I wanted.

If I hadn't rushed to save $200 I wouldn't have lost $400 on the purchase/sale of the Cobra and subsequent purchase of the next one.

While I don't dive a computer, I recommend them as one of the most practical first purchases to my students who plan on doing more than one dive a day. If your plan is just one a day, table 1 will get you by.

But..... your bottom time will be limited using the tables when compared to diving a computer. Consider a dive where you hit 100' for one minute and spend the rest of the dive @50'. Diving the tables, your BT would be figured for 100', while a computer would give you credit for time spent shallow.

I owned a Cobra and never really liked it. The PC software is pretty poor and the computer itself is a tad convoluted in its navigation. As I recall, the computer sells for about $900 at full retail.

If you return to the shop after their "sale", I would bet they will give you the same price if it means making a sale vs. losing one. If they aren't willing to bend, find another shop.

We used them in the pool and they seemed to do everything I could think of. We will be using them again tonight when we do the SDI Computer Nitrox class. I want to get all the classes I plan to done this year before classes start back up again in September and this fits our schedule. I would have liked to have a few more dives under my belt first, but that's how the schedule works.

The price is not from the LDS where I took my class but a different one. Their regular price is $650 but Suunto is running a rebate right now.

I guess my question could be rephrased to: as far as I can tell, at this point, I would buy this computer, but I wasn't planning to buy it right now. Is this a good enough price that I should consider rearranging my purchase planning to get it before the rebate expires. I don't know how these things work - if this is a once a year thing or if they are perpetually running rebates.

I just replaced my tried and true Suunto Eon with the Cobra 2 a lot sooner than planned because of the $200 instant rebate. After 10 dives, I like it, but I think I like my old Eon better or I could be just more familar wit it. As previously posted, the software is just okay, but it does work. Take a hard look at your budget and the dive computers that might fit within your range. If the Suunto works for you, great, it is a good time to buy one. My daughter was a first time diver like you, and for her first open water dive, I gave the Cobra to her. I wanted to make sure that we have a graphical record of dives for the neat factor as well as looking at her dives with a critical eye from dive 1. Printing out the dive on paper is a great tool and helps you with your dive log. I also believe it is a "safer" or easier way to dive to be able to look at the computer and have it help your determine your proper safety stops if needed. However, it should not replace the dive tables, but work with them. So, should you buy a computer before you buy a reg or wetsuit? The Regulator normaly would be my first purchase. With the $200 rebate from Suunto and you will continue to dive, it is pretty hard to say no and I can't remember seeing a rebate like this for sometime.

I thought I would jump in here as I am also considering the cobra as a possible computer purchase. The other contender is the pro plus 2. Does anyone know anything about how it compares?

Ernest

I have dove a Cobra and think it is a fine computer that will certainly grow with your diving. By grow I mean it does air and nitrox as well as having a gauge mode. The menus are easy to traverse and set as needed. I can typically can do this without consulting the manual. I hear the Suunto PC software sucks, I do not use it but use Dive Log for macs.

That said some cons - the algorithm used is more conservative than other algorithms. I have not found this to affect me albeit for a few dives during a week of multiple deep 100+ dives.

Now does a computer have to part of your purchases. No, but it does make life easier if you use it as tool and not as a guide.

Have you not thought about maybe getting a wrist mounted computer instead of hose mounted. Yes, it calculates your consumption etc, but if the computer dies during a dive, you have no info at all, whereas a wrist mounted computer will give you most of the same information while you still have analogue backups on the hose.

I wouldn't run out to get a computer just yet.