Whats the difference in Dive computers?

I just started diving this summer and am starting to buy my own equipment instead of renting it from my dive instructors shop, I want to get a Dive computer watch and the more I research the more I don’t know what I want. Right now I am looking at the Oceanic Atom 3.0 Oceanic Veo3.0 or the Aeris Elite
And was wondering if any one had an preference or thoughts

Aeris and Oceanic both use a model that is slightly less conservative than say Suunto. They are more alike than different as I dive with a buddy and when we are pushing NDLs he has about 2 minutes less than I do diving a Mares, so not much. I dive an Aeris Epic and highly recommend Aeris. Just make sure you get one that allows user replaceable batteries. Sending a puter to the manufacture to change out a battery is a pain. You can have a LDS change the battery, they just can do it while you wait vs having to mail it to the factory. If you have more questions ask.

Generally speaking, as a new diver get something that will grow with your interests ... nowadays that means get a computer that's nitrox compatible. You can get some pretty good features without spending a great deal of money.

Oceanic and Aeris computers are both made by the same company ... Pelagic ... and use similar algorithms. Generally speaking, their algorithms are what divers would consider "liberal" ... meaning that they'll allow you more bottom time relative to your no-decompression limit than more "conservative" computers like Suunto or Uwatec.

Without going into the complexities of the math, or why different computers choose different algorithms, all that really means to you is to decide which is more important to you as a diver ... getting more bottom time or giving yourself more of a safety margin against potential decompression illness. Although all dive computers are relatively safe in that respect, it's up to you to decide how safe is safe enough.

Other features that may be important to you ...

- user replaceable battery
- average depth readout
- downloadable to your home PC
- size ... both physically and of the critical numbers displayed on the computer
- wrist or console (most computers will accomodate either form factor)
- price

With respect to that last, I'd recommend looking at some of the smaller companies. They can often provide equal value for smaller cost. Hollis, for example, makes a very nice recreational computer for about $250.

The choices are many ... and the best place to start is to spend some time thinking about where you want your diving to go in the next year or two, and buying a computer that will accommodate those goals ...

... Bob (Grateful Diver)

As far as the liberal vs conservative algorithms, it is relatively easy to be more conservative with a liberal computer but very difficult to be more liberal with a conservative computer.

I have Aeris Elite T3 with transmitter for sale if it intrest you, it's a hoseless Air Integrated (air or nitrox) dive computer.

http://www.scubaboard.com/forums/cl...3327-aeris-elite-t3-computer-transmitter.html

For a wrist computer, you have the option of air-integrated via a wireless transmitter with its own battery, or not. To see the difference in price, compare the Oceanic Worldwide Geo 2.0 and the Atom 3.0. Same company, it's my understanding otherwise very similar models, air integration is the key difference.

Richard.

I'm in the same boat (pun) as you. I'm new (hell, I don't even have my certification card yet; I've passed the eLearning and endurance tests) and getting my own gear together. I did a bit of research, went out and did the physical holding of each device, looked at the displays, compared sizes and weight, etc.

I went with the Suunto Vyper Air. This can be adjusted for EAN (which I plan on getting certified later) as I believe most comps do. The dive model Suunto uses can be adjusted to be less conservative but I can't really say anything about that...PADI sez to be conservative. The size isn't too big (like the Galileo) or too small (like the D9)...perfect size for me.

The nice thing about air integrated models is that they analyze your tank pressure and can calculate your oxygen intake and adjust it accordingly on the fly. The better you breathe, your dive times will adjust automatically. You can set the watch to poll every 1, 10, 30, 60 secs. Some of the older models (according to divers I spoke with) only poll at 1 rate (mostly 60 seconds) but I think most of those models are now discontinued. The battery in the "christmas tree" transmitter only gets used when pressure is applied to your first stage so that battery should last awhile. The watch battery (according to Suunto's site) should last for ~200 dives. But when it does lose power, it's user replaceable.

Only downside: Suunto (as it's distributed thru AquaLung) is not authorized for sale online (as is my understanding) so you will need to go to a LDS that is authorized to sale these products if you want the warranty to remain intact.

Plus the LDS I now shop at was offering it with a 10% discount so I got it today. This included the data cable so I can upload my dives to Suunto's DM4 dive app or to third party websites like diveboard.com.

Now I'm looking for a cheap backup...

I use an oceanic veo computer. It is a very simple to use, great starter computer that is applicable to a wide range of applications. From previous posts and suggestions it does have user replaceable batteries and nitrox capabilities. It is overall a very good starter computer. Mine is actually in my instrument console but figure that if I later decide to upgrade to a different wrist computer it will make a very good backup. From my experience it is fairly liberal but I have forced it pretty closed to NDL but that was more my fault for not watching my computer while diving. The price for this computer also made it rather attractive as a first computer for me.

I was in the same place 8 years ago. Bought an Aeris Atmos 2 Nitrox wrist computer. Still diving it. If I were doing it now, I would buy the Aeris XR 1 NX Wrist Dive Computer. Nitrox-compatible. Good user interface. Not too conservative. Good price point. User changeable battery.Aeris XR 1 NX Wrist Dive Computer discounts on sale Aeris

One feature I like a lot in the Epic/Atom is the Air Integrated feature that shows the diver how much air is left in the tank. This can be expressed in many different ways but one of the more useful is expressed as time at depth before running out of air. This is based on you actual air consumption at depth. The values can be expressed as a margin so you can indicate time at depth before X, where X = safety margin. So if you want it to be time at depth until you hit 750 psi that can be done.

The ATOM is very similar to the Epic, and this thing is powerful. It can do everything except Helium including deco and monitoring up to three tanks wireless. It does more than I care to write about, read the specs on the manufactures website. IMO one of the best computers on the market and I have been diving mine for 5+ years.