Does anyone have real world experience with the newer X1 computer compared to the VR3

I'm a tech diver with certs upto Deco, planning to get Trimix in the future. I finally saved up the cash to get a more appropiate tech computer. I am torn between the Liquivision X1 dive computer and the tried and true VR3. I am looking for opinions on divers using the X1 in real world compared to the VR3 and any recommendations you might have.

I looked at the X1 and saw it when it first came out. It's too small for my eyes. Waited a few years and kept looking and researching. Then last year I ran into a friend at DEMA who was a Shearwater dealer. We met again this year in March at another show and I got the chance to spend some time playing with it. In about 15 minutes I was scrolling thru all the screens, planning dives, setting mixes, and configuring it the way I would dive it.

Then she took hers and banged it on a table, against a steel post, and when I asked what a couple scratches were it turned out those were from tossing it across a parking lot to demo how tough it was.

My Predator arrived a few weeks later after my tax refund and the profits from some sales came in. I have since put around 60 dives on it, upgraded the firmware myself via it's blue tooth connection, and personalized the display.

In short if I were able to I'd buy another one tomorrow as a back up. As far as I'm concerned Shearwater sets the standard I will now measure all other dive computers by.

I have a friend who has a Predator and he likes it as well. I will check it out. Thanks for the tip and opinion on X1.

You should be able to get a VR3 dirt cheap, assuming one of their users finally got out of the water... You might call them tried and true, another term is "antiquated".

What Jim said about Predator's is worth listening to...

I haven't dived with an x-1, but I've had two VR3s. One's a paperweight - there's only so many times I'm prepared to pay for a new motherboard. The other I actually took off my wrist and dropped into the abyss off the edge of the shelf at 50m when, for the umpteenth time, it decided to stop tracking the dive I was actually doing and invented its own see-saw dive going between 10m and 90m (I was only wearing it to see how it behaved, since I suspected it was about to start playing up). Apparently plenty of other people have done perfectly well with VR3s, but I've had nothing but problems. Two different units have proved repeatedly unreliable, and the manufacturer seemed to have little interest in the problem beyond replacing the motherboard (which didn't fix the problems with either computer) and sending me an invoice. You might have a completely different experience with the VR3 if you buy one, but it's a lot of money to throw down the drain if you have the same problems I did.

Bottom timers and pre-cut tables. Laminated paper doesn't crash. Just saying.

Added: On the other hand, there's a free VR3 sitting somewhere around 260 feet down (unless it bounced and fell further) on a wall in the Solomons if you want it...

I have a Cochrans, Shearwaters, and dive with buddies who have VR3's, and a few DR variants

I you plan on moving to a sentinel, prism, or any Hollis variant ccr I'd consider the VR3 so you'll have a backup and the algorithms will match. The newer ones now do air integration, but you have to pay for the transmitters and fiddle with that. The VR3 is likely the closest competition to the shearwater, but its just not for me. The guy that designed it is a wiz and I'd trust anything from him.. its just not my bag and it seems some units are hit/miss.

X1.. yea, they exist.

Shearwater.. it works, will work tomorrow, and then when you replace the battery it will keep on working. In the event a transducer goes south, or an asteroid lands on it.. shearwater will fix/replace it for you.

I was playing with a SW Petrel yesterday... and its smaller and packed with all the features I want.. its at the top of my list.

Cochran (another genius guy who loves diving).. I've come to the conclusion that nobody but me and a few old school techies here like them. Your scuba shop probably can't get or know anything about them. If you have a relationship with Cochran its great... else there may be pain is you need service. IMO its still on of the most feature packed units available and the same one special ops and seals use. I dive with it always as a backup.

many folks love their vr3s. i could never figure it out. it was totally not user friendly or intuitive. i even had to ask someone not on my team to switch gases for me once while on a stop when i couldn't figure the m#$% f#$%er out. of course, everyone is different and i think for some they make sense...just not me.

i wanted an x1 when they came out. i recently got a used xeo and...wish i loved it. it has been eating batteries like popcorn. when it has power, though, it's nice.

larry had a cochran. he liked the computer part except for cave diving. it was the one that switches gas automatically, so if the cave came shallow then went deeper, it would switch to the deco gas and think he was dead for the rest of the dive. the beeping drove him nutso. but if you don't cave dive, then that's not a drawback. very few ow dives have profiles like that.

love my predator. love it. it makes sense, it has very few quirks and the company listens to complaints about the ones that are annoying, i'd get another in a heartbeat. that being said, i think petrels are cheaper. i'd look for the price of used predators to fall as petrels aren't so hard to get, and get a used predator.

I have a Predator and an X1 and have had many students using VR3 and VRx computers, all of whom agreed they are best described as a useless piece of sh*te by the end of their respective courses.

I think most of the comments above tell you how highly the VR range is regarded, basically, if someone tells you a VR3 is the best computer out there just stop listening and find better advice. Any computer which gets confused and say ‘Use Table’ if you miss a single deep stop is not good for anything except ditchable weight. The VR3 units and Inspiration rebreathers are something I can never figure out why anyone would want to use other than having already bought one and living in denial they basically bought a polished turd on a string.

For the Predator vs X1 issue I actually prefer the X1, it runs V-Planner live so is the same software I use to plan dives and also works on the VPM model which is far tend to be superior to the Buhlmann/GF models used in the standard Predator model (although a VPM upgrade is now available for the Predator/Petrel, I haven’t purchased this yet though!).

The X1 display is much easier to read, the Predator display is bigger, but can’t be read unless it is view straight on, the main screen seems highly reflective, while the X1 can be read from any angle making it much easier to see.

The X1 size is also much more compact, the Predator feels huge, although the Petrel sizes look a good middle ground. The interface in the X1 is superb, I find the predator menu’s very sluggish in comparison as you need to cycle back through menus is you press advance one time too many – the X1 is much easier to navigate.

The biggest down side of the X1 is probably the battery, it’s not replaceable and needs to be recharged. If you charge it it’ll have not problems at all as it has a long life and will normally last for several days of diving, but, if you forget for a week, then you can guess what happens. The X1 battery is practically bomb proof, although having just flooded my unit I may retract that, on the bright side it did still work even when flooded (but it did crackle when charging and the battery life was much shorter!) but it did still work. Credit to Liquivision though they are changing the battery right now with no problems what so ever.

The predator battery life is pretty good, although my unit seems to have a problem with battery warning signals whenever it gets cold (by tropical warm water standards) so I’m never sure what status the battery life is – the battery is only really used when it’s in dive mode which is when I get the warnings. I’ve probably changed the battery more often than I need to but as I generally use this unit as my main readings from a manual CCR head I don’t want it to fail suddenly for the sake of extending battery life.

If I had a choice between the X1 and a Predator I’d go for the X1 again, however I’d also be more than happy with a Predator too. If I had an option between a free brand new VR3 or a free used bottom timer and slate I’d seriously take the bottom timer and slate, the VR3 does make a good paper weight but also acts as a permanent reminder I bought the chocolate teapot of diving.

I have a VR3 and a VRx OLED they use a modify algorithm (VGM) which makes them hard to use if your buddies use an algorithm other than VPM. As stated before if you miss a stop for more than a minute it will ask you to use your tables and will not recalculate your dive.
Make a small research on different forums, mainly tech (The Deco Stop or Cave Diver's Forum), and you will find a lot, and I mean, a lot of complains with the X1.
I never got to buy one, because I found to many posts stating several failures and what seems to be the worst support from the manufacturer. Too many angry owners and former owners.
At the end of the day, you will be making a big investment, do some research.
Good luck with your buy.

skankpile:

I you plan on moving to a sentinel, prism, or any Hollis variant ccr I'd consider the VR3 so you'll have a backup and the algorithms will match. The newer ones now do air integration, but you have to pay for the transmitters and fiddle with that. The VR3 is likely the closest competition to the shearwater, but its just not for me. The guy that designed it is a wiz and I'd trust anything from him.. its just not my bag and it seems some units are hit/miss.

Click to expand...

The Prism 2 uses Shearwater electronics. I've had a couple of issues with my X1 and Xen and had no problems with Liquvision's support, although shipping the units back and forth to Canada is a bit of a pain. I'd avoid the VR3 because of its proprietary algorithm and older display technology.