Mares Puck/M2 vs Suunto Vyper

Does anyone have any opinion about one of these 3 computers?

-Mares M2 (only 180$)
-Mares Puck
-Suunto Vyper

Thanks a lot for your help!

Hi Ko,
I have an M2 and love it! It's inexpensive and does all that you could want in a non Air integrated computer for most recreational diving (Nitrox up to 50%, bottom timer mode, dive simulation feature, keeps 50 dives in memory, etc...). Plus, it has a few features that most other computers do not have. User replaceable AA batteries! The battery compartment is fully sealed from the main computer, so flooding the batteries does not mean toasting your computer! And my personal favorite, the permanent backlite! For nite dives, having your computer backlite constantly on is wonderfull! I love mine and it's a killer deal! Only down side, for some, are the buttons which can be hard to push. But to me, this just means no accidental changing of parameters or screens...

The puck uses the same conservative algorythm as the M2 (modified RGBM). The Suunto also uses a RGBM based algorythm, so is very conservative. Which is something I personally like in a computer.

Hope this helps a bit!

...help.
Thanks. This is actually what I was hoping to hear, because of the price.

I dont know for how long now you have been using your M2, or how often you dive, but if you do night dives and keep the light on, how often do you change the batteries then?

kolopua:

...help.
Thanks. This is actually what I was hoping to hear, because of the price.

I dont know for how long now you have been using your M2, or how often you dive, but if you do night dives and keep the light on, how often do you change the batteries then?

Click to expand...

Ko, I've almost all my dive experience with this computer (over 100 dives), several of which are night dives (probably 10 to 15 I'd say).

In general, I've been able to do about 30 dives (aprox 25 day, 5 night) on a set of batteries without getting a low signal. If exclusively night diving, you could probably get away with 10 dives with the backlight on with a fresh set of batteries... If your batteries get too low during a night dive, the computer turns off the light (you can still access it by pressing a button), but the computer keeps on working. According to Mares, when the low battery light goes on, you have enough to still finnish your dive plus a few more dives. So no worries of your batteries dying on you during a dive.

Personally, I've always recharged the batteries way before getting low, so it's just basic maintenance.

Oh, by the way, I made a mistake before: it uses 2 AAA batteries!

The puck seems to do pretty much the same, without the AAA batteries and permanent backlight. Plus the button and navigation in the menu seem to be improved. But is this worth the price difference? That's up to you to decide!

Cheers!

Did all my training and a week in Cozumel with a Viper. Very nice computer. easy to use, large numbers. Looked hard at the Gekko but bought an M2. It was just to good of a value.

I'm a vacation diver and love the AAA batteries. I leave them out of the computer when storing and pop in a fresh set when I spend a week diving.

Here's a little story I was witness too:
http://www.scubaboard.com/forums/mares-just-add-water/249614-new-found-mr1.html

Bought a Mares Puck down in South Florida back in April. I've been pretty happy with it, dove the Keys for a few days (figured to buy a cheap computer was better than renting!).

It does everything I want, and nothing I don't. Used it in Grand Cayman last month, still quite happy with it (want to replace the wrist mount with a different type though).

I'd considered a Vyper, but was told the model I had wanted was discontinued, and the new version in stock was quite a bit more. Overall, very happy with The Puck.