Planning the dive

Let me just say that I am one of the last holdouts having not yet purchased a computer. I have always planned my dives using tables or the wheel and I keep a navy deco table with me on the dive.

The idea of having a computer that can moniter my dive in case the plan changes under water intriques me. However, my question is whether a computer can be used to plan the dive as well or must one continue to resort to using the table or wheel to plan one's dive?

I suspect that that computers can be used to plan the dive as I never notice anyone using tables on the boat on the way to the dive except students. Or maybe they work the dive plan before they get to the boat. Or maybe they know it by heart. Or maybe they just dive until they run out of air like I used to do--thank God I dove with a single Al 80.

I am assuming that in Rodale's recent computer review where they are measuring the conservative/liberal nature of the computers, they are actually going in the water with them. They are not specific about this in the article. Because if they are not going down with them, then how do they know they really work according to plan?

I dont have computer either, not because I dont want to but because I promised myself that I will get some dives under my belt (50 sounds like a good number) at different depths, times and sequences before getting extra help.

Its just a personal decision, I have seen a lot of people fairly new to diving already using computers and also people that have been diving for ages that dont want to get near one.

I think is a good aid and simplifies some things but also dont want to depend 100% on it (it might be running windows xp...)

bye
ivan

Has a planning function. I use it before the dive.

I imagine that most other computers do as well. A lot of computer (and table for that matter) users don't plan well and really rely on the DM/others to do the planning for them. Or for the computer to tell them when to ascend.

I was on a boat this weekend where a couple divers asked me about turn times and etc. I had them break out their tables and check.

It seemed to be the first time that they had ever done that.

So I got them sorted out.

Computers are like any other tool. The user determines the outcome.

Peter

I have almost 400 dives, and I have the opportunity to have an Aladin Air-X Nitrox from Aladin, and VR3 from Delta P.
If you want to dive with a computer, always do it with two computer or one computer and one depth/air pressure gauge.
Computer are the best friend, but they can screw up at any time, they are computer, they are like your PC... how many times do you have to restart your PC? a lot....... and you don't know when it will happens. Of course that this kind of computer are more accurate, but are computers.... think about it.
Each time that I have to dive in a cave, I go down with two computers and my deco table!!!!

I've mentioned this before in another thread, but...

There is a huge difference between a dive computer and a PC.

The reason PC's (historically - it's getting much much better) lock up so much is due in part to the nearly infinite number of different hardware configurations out there that the operating system needs to run on. It's really a wonder that Windows runs as well as it does when you take into account all of the different hardware AND software components it needs to handle. Plus, when it comes to PC's, you really do get what you pay for. A $500 PC from HP is using really cheap parts, while a $2500 PC that I could build using hand picked parts will run much more reliably.

Dive computers don't have this problem. It's one piece of software running on one piece of hardware. There are no variables. Every Suunto Viper is the same piece of hardware, and there's no chance that the user will end up installing 200 different llittle pieces of software that are of questionable quality.

And that's really just scratching the tip of the iceberg.

And let's not forget that your bottom timer \ digital watch are computers as well. In fact they're more closely related to your dive computer than your PC is. Face it. Even when using a bottom timer, you're trusting your life to a computer.

My Uwatec Smart Pro has a planning function as well. However i haven't figured out how to use it yet becuase i haven't tried it on a dive yet.