First Dive with Uwatec SmartPro Wrist

I got my computer about 3 weeks ago from LeisurePro. I made my first dive with it last sunday. We did a shallow dive off a black sand beach in Makena (Maui) and wrapped around the top side of Little Beach. The dive went great. I didn't make it deep enough for my Uwatec Smart Pro Wrist computer to limit my no-deco bottom time. One thing I did notice is that it was a bit sensative on the ascent. This is probably a good thing for me because I'm a bit to quick on my ascents, and the more I read, the more this makes me happy that my computer is looking out for me. Due to the computer being strapped to my wrist, it seemed to alert me more than necessary because I would lift my wrist up and the computer would rise two feet and tell me I was going up to fast, when in fact, my body was staying level or rising at a reasonable rate. But I'm glad it's there to keep me aware. It is much more accurate than looking at your depth gauge and trying to judge your depth between the 20ft and 15ft. tick marks on the dial. Our dive wrapped up and I was told by my computer that I was not to go back up to the peak of haleakala for some time. This warning is especially nice for me as I work at the summit of this 10,000 ft Volcano. I don't know if this feature exists on the Suuntos, but I find it very necessary for someone who frequents high altitudes. If you live in a mountainous area and have to drive up and down some climbs on your way home from a dive, you should really consider this computer as it gives you a picture of a mountain that lets you know how high you can go without risking DCS.

If you have any questions about the operation or alerts that this computer gives, or questions regarding my experience with LeisurePro, feel free to write me.

Happy Diver,
James

Congrats on the computer. I dive with UWATEC Air Z Nitrox and absolutely love it. As far as the ascent alarm going off when you move you wrist, try wearing it on your forearm close to your elbow. I wear mine there due to the fact it keeps it safe since I primarily hunt, and I haven't had any false ascent alarms. If you ever carry the computer into deco, you have to maintain your deco stop depth or it penalizes you due to the fact it stops counting down. But I know you won't be doing any deco dives without the proper training. That being said, it does penalize you for yo-yo diving, i.e. up and down, up and down.

Some say it's to conservative but I don't mind. I do like the audible alarms, because I now know what each tone means and what I'm doing wrong, mainly ascent rate.
http://www.uwatec.com has an excellent site that shows all the screens and audibles, its a good supplement to the owners manual.

Enjoy

Thanks for the review. I am considering this computer and a few others, and you helped me to narrow my search. The Uwatec is at the top of the list now.

One thing I really like about the Uwatec is that you can use your Palm Pilot or Pocket PC to download your dive data through the IrDa interface. This saves you from buying their data download adaptor and also lets you leave your laptop at home. If you go to their site, you can download both the PC and the Palm or Pocket PC software.

Swan1172:

Thanks for the review. I am considering this computer and a few others, and you helped me to narrow my search. The Uwatec is at the top of the list now.

One thing I really like about the Uwatec is that you can use your Palm Pilot or Pocket PC to download your dive data through the IrDa interface. This saves you from buying their data download adaptor and also lets you leave your laptop at home. If you go to their site, you can download both the PC and the Palm or Pocket PC software.

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Swan,

I totally agree. I was looking at the Mares M1 or Dacor Darwin, but the fact that it was an extra $100+ at the time for the PC download hardware/software made me not pick that computer. I always liked Uwatec but it wasn't until the price dropped to $350 on LeisurePro that I was able to reasonably think about it. Suunto makes you purchase the pc-downloading hardware/software, but if you feel confident you can build your own and people have written software that will access it. I'm not sure about all their computers though, they might have a few that have IR interface.

Good luck,
James

osujamesc:

Swan,

I totally agree. I was looking at the Mares M1 or Dacor Darwin, but the fact that it was an extra $100+ at the time for the PC download hardware/software made me not pick that computer. I always liked Uwatec but it wasn't until the price dropped to $350 on LeisurePro that I was able to reasonably think about it. Suunto makes you purchase the pc-downloading hardware/software, but if you feel confident you can build your own and people have written software that will access it. I'm not sure about all their computers though, they might have a few that have IR interface.

Good luck,
James

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The Mares M1 RGBM was the other computer that was in serious contention for my next purchase, but the Uwatec is the way to go if you already have some of the equipment I described above. I plan on using it with my Dell Axim while diving, and then downloading and syncing with my laptop upon returning home.

Dear

Thanks for you review, First of all, “Yes,” Suunto D9 also has option to adjust altitude mode in three ranges;

Altitude Mode Altitude Range

A0 0~1k ft
A1 1k~5k ft
A2 5k ~ 10k ft.


I agree that Uwatec SmartPro Wrist has a big advantage of a data transfer by using PDA. That made me to hesitate on the decision of whether I go with Uwatec or Suunto, but most recent computer can hold dive logs up to 999 or 999 hours. You can transfer the dive logs after the trips.

hoosier:

Dear

Thanks for you review, First of all, “Yes,” Suunto D9 also has option to adjust altitude mode in three ranges;

Altitude Mode Altitude Range

A0 0~1k ft
A1 1k~5k ft
A2 5k ~ 10k ft.


I agree that Uwatec SmartPro Wrist has a big advantage of a data transfer by using PDA. That made me to hesitate on the decision of whether I go with Uwatec or Suunto, but most recent computer can hold dive logs up to 999 or 999 hours. You can transfer the dive logs after the trips.

Click to expand...

Hoosier,

I don't do much diving at altitude. The Uwatec SmartPro automatically adjusts to the altitude you are diving in. The feature that I was talking about was a post-dive alert built into the computer. There is a small picture of a mountain and after a dive it will color in a bar at the top of the mountain. If you have one bar at the top of the mountain picture, that means you can't go above 10,000 ft or something like that. If you have two bars at the top of the mountain picture, then you shouldn't go above 8,000ft or something like that. The idea is it tells you when it is safe to drive or fly up to a certain altitude. Being as I work at 10,000 ft., this is quite useful, I will know after a dive if I have indeed spent enough time at sea level to properly de-saturate the Nitrogen.
The extra log time on the Suunto sounds like a great advantage if you don't use a PC to download your dive data. I know many people really love the Suunto, and I have found more dive shops that carry Suunto products than Uwatec computers. It was probably one of the tougher decisions I've had to make as far as Dive gear goes. I made the decision to go with the Uwatec for a couple of reasons. First was price, the second was the large LCD screen that goes with this wrist computer. I found the readout very intuitive. As we have talked about, the IR PC-Download built in is easily the nicest feature on this computer. The post-dive altitude warning is a nice feature because of the altitude I work at.
As far as complaints go, I do have a couple that people might want to consider. I have found it very difficult to turn on the backlight. The switch is hidden beneath the case and you have to push it at a certain spot that is not marked on the computer in order to turn it on. The controls themselves are not buttons either, they are simply electrodes that you touch. By touching them you create some kind of electronic connection between them. They are not as intuitive as I thought they should be, they are quite advanced though, perhaps I'm just not used to them yet. The battery is not user replaceable but it lasts long enough that it's probably not an issue. Apparently it will simply lock itself out if you violate too many warnings. It will take 24 hours before you can use it as a dive computer again. I would hope that would never happen to me, I will be sure to post an updated review if it ever does. I have heard of it happening to people, but who knows how they were diving. Perhaps they needed to take a break for 24 hours if they were ignoring their dive computer. So I can't really speak to that.

Have fun,
James

I dive a Smart-Com. I can't say enough how much I like it. They are extremely powerful, 32 bit machines and the adaptive algorhithym is very impressive. They did drop substantially in 2005, which is nice. It looks like I'll be breaking 600 dives on this battery. The free batteries for life thing is pretty sweeet too, if you dive alot.

James,


I see. I was confused. You are right. D9 doesn't have any “ranged” post-dive alert. It has only “Do Not Flying Symbol” that required at least 12 hours to 48 hours depending on the mode diver selected. The manual only mentions about DAN’s recommendation on no flying time.



The altitude mode should be manually adjusted on D9. SmartPro must have a good unique feature for the frequent flying divers.



Like you pointed out, I am also troubled with turning on backlight on D9. I am not sure if there is a manual switch or mode that I can control. I hope someone inputs some ways how to turn it on manually.



The computer is getting more complicated so that it is much easier to violate many warnings. While I am reading the manual (believe me, it took a few hours to non previous Suunto users), I think that it will take for a while to get used to this new computers.



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osujamesc:

Hoosier,


I don't do much diving at altitude. The Uwatec SmartPro automatically adjusts to the altitude you are diving in. The feature that I was talking about was a post-dive alert built into the computer. There is a small picture of a mountain and after a dive it will color in a bar at the top of the mountain. If you have one bar at the top of the mountain picture, that means you can't go above 10,000 ft or something like that. If you have two bars at the top of the mountain picture, then you shouldn't go above 8,000ft or something like that. The idea is it tells you when it is safe to drive or fly up to a certain altitude. Being as I work at 10,000 ft., this is quite useful, I will know after a dive if I have indeed spent enough time at sea level to properly de-saturate the Nitrogen.
The extra log time on the Suunto sounds like a great advantage if you don't use a PC to download your dive data. I know many people really love the Suunto, and I have found more dive shops that carry Suunto products than Uwatec computers. It was probably one of the tougher decisions I've had to make as far as Dive gear goes. I made the decision to go with the Uwatec for a couple of reasons. First was price, the second was the large LCD screen that goes with this wrist computer. I found the readout very intuitive. As we have talked about, the IR PC-Download built in is easily the nicest feature on this computer. The post-dive altitude warning is a nice feature because of the altitude I work at.
As far as complaints go, I do have a couple that people might want to consider. I have found it very difficult to turn on the backlight. The switch is hidden beneath the case and you have to push it at a certain spot that is not marked on the computer in order to turn it on. The controls themselves are not buttons either, they are simply electrodes that you touch. By touching them you create some kind of electronic connection between them. They are not as intuitive as I thought they should be, they are quite advanced though, perhaps I'm just not used to them yet. The battery is not user replaceable but it lasts long enough that it's probably not an issue. Apparently it will simply lock itself out if you violate too many warnings. It will take 24 hours before you can use it as a dive computer again. I would hope that would never happen to me, I will be sure to post an updated review if it ever does. I have heard of it happening to people, but who knows how they were diving. Perhaps they needed to take a break for 24 hours if they were ignoring their dive computer. So I can't really speak to that.

Have fun,
James

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I have a Uwatec Smart Pro, and I absolutely love it too. I experienced the same ascent problems with it strapped to my wrist. When I dive this weekend, I'll put it up closer to my elbow and note the differences.

I also have a Mac computer, and had to buy Virtual PC to allow my dive computer to talk to the computer (couldn't go through my PDA IR either), and it took me a while to configure the connection to work, but I must say, I love the computer and I can't see myself straying from the brand.