Atomic Aquatics Cobalt Dive Computer

[Gbud]

First let me say thanks to Ashley from Atomic Aquatics for brining all the cool Atomic gear out to Catalina for the Demo Day. She brought masks, fins, snorkels and many, many regs, but the star of the show was the new (not yet released) Cobalt dive computer.

I didn't actually dive with it as I am still trying to figure out my own new computer (Oceanic Pro Plus), but my dive buddy was using it and I got to play with it on shore.

The first thing you notice is the OLED screen. It is the most legible and easy to read screen I have ever seen. It is so colorful and bright it looks like reading an ipod under water. The vis was pretty poor at between 15-20 ft and I could read my buddy's Cobalt from 3 feet away! That was impressive, as I usually need my reading glasses to read a menu in a restaurant.

The four buttons are easy to use even wearing gloves and the menu system is intuitive and easy to use by scrolling through drop down menus. It has so many fuctions I could have played with it for hours. I particularly liked the dive profiles that are kept in memory and can be downloaded onto your pc.

This is an amazing dive computer and I feel privileged to be one of the first people to see it in action. Thanks Ashley and Atomic Aquatics.

 

[drrich2]

Please tell me that to set it for EAN 32 you have intuitive menus with real words and simply programming that can be done without a manual, and that you don't, for example, need to:

Hold down buttons 2 & 3 of 3 for a set # of seconds, then get some mode represented by a weird abbreviation, then hit a particular button a # of times to cycle through different modes, then hit the other button to get into the mode to set gas...

Make it idiot-class easy. Did they do that?

Richard.

 

[Gbud]

In a word, yes.

You program the computer with very intuitive drop down menus using left/right and up/down buttons reading real words until you find what you want and press enter (the right button). I was navigating the menus after playing with it for about five minutes. This thing is just fantastic.

 

[Liquivision]

In a word, yes.

You program the computer with very intuitive drop down menus using left/right and up/down buttons reading real words until you find what you want and press enter (the right button). I was navigating the menus after playing with it for about five minutes. This thing is just fantastic.

This type of user interface & menu navigation has been available in certain dive computers for 5 years or more. Similarly with the OLED displays. Amazing how people still somehow think they are novel ideas.


Eric Fattah
Liquivision Products

 

[Rhone Man]

This type of user interface & menu navigation has been available in certain dive computers for 5 years or more. Similarly with the OLED displays. Amazing how people still somehow think they are novel ideas.


Eric Fattah
Liquivision Products

I think the Cobalt is to other dive computers what the iPhone was to other telephones when it came out.

It doesn't do anything new, it just does the same things in a sensible and user friendly way.

I suspect it will be very successful for the same reason as the iPhone. Usability is the number one feature that customers appreciate.

 

[DiveNav]

...This type of user interface & menu navigation has been available in certain dive computers for 5 years or more. Similarly with the OLED displays. Amazing how people still somehow think they are novel ideas....

yes indeed

 

[BDSC]

I suspect it will be very successful for the same reason as the iPhone. Usability is the number one feature that customers appreciate.

I think it will be very successful also because of their reputation with their other products. I have been told there is already a waiting list for the new computers. Get in line I guess.

 

[RJP]

This type of user interface & menu navigation has been available in certain dive computers for 5 years or more. Similarly with the OLED displays. Amazing how people still somehow think they are novel ideas.


Eric Fattah
Liquivision Products

You just oughta be thankful they're not coming out with a slightly smaller wrist mount version!

 

[BDSC]

You just oughta be thankful they're not coming out with a slightly smaller wrist mount version!

I'll bet that will eventually come as well.

 

[RJP]

I'll bet that will eventually come as well.

No plans to do so from what I hear...