Any feedback on Liquivision Xeo for a GUE diver?

[Hepcat62]

Hi all,

I've been looking to get a smaller, more easily bungeed, more readable gauge for my dives. Since I've got some non-GUE-trained friends who do their deco dives with computers (and cut tables as a backup), and since I prefer to be generally on the same page with whatever team I'm diving with, I've been considering getting a trimix capable computer (instead of just buying a Tec2g) that can also be a nice gauge for my regular dives.

NOTE: Please do NOT recommend a Shearwater to me. I've got one "large format" computer already which I currently use in gauge mode. I'm not buying anything similarly sized or larger. Smaller is a hard requirement.

To that end, I've been looking at the Xeo pretty heavily. Things I like...

• Cost, relative to other options (although I'm open to the X1 as well)
• Small form factor
• High readability
• A deco algorithm that's familiar, suitable for GUE R3/T1-type dives, and (hopefully) lines up with DecoPlanner's implementation

Things I'm concerned about...

• Battery life
  
  • Has anybody gotten any real-world experience with the rechargeable setup yet? How problematic is it to open up the case to recharge "in the field", since there's a critical o-ring involved?
• Possible annoying deco schedule conflicts with the pragmatic schedules I'd usually use during my normal dives
  
  • This is certainly solvable with gauge mode coming soon, but it'd be nice if the schedules were such that I I wouldn't piss off the computer even if it was computing deco

Random Question

• There seem to be some discrepancies between the manual and some images I've seen online. Does the Xeo use the same "smiley deco" display as the X1 during ascents with stops? It appears to use a similar "ascend to next stop" display in certain images I've seen, like this one:

Thanks to everybody for any feedback you can offer.

[TSandM]

Well, of the four things you listed, the X1 meets three of them handily and is arguable on the fourth. It's small, rechargeable, and you can easily find used ones for about what a new Xeo runs. I think the X1 is very readable; there is a small increment of improvement with the colors, but it's not that big a deal. VPM +3 doesn't generate exactly the same profiles as RD, but has been happy and satisfied with the RD profiles I run. (In other words, I don't dive the computer's schedule, but by the time I surface, it is happy that I have done enough deco.)

I haven't played with a Xeo, though, only with the Xen. It's also small (although a little bigger than the X1) and it's lighter than the X1. I haven't seen the setup with the rechargeable batteries yet.

[Liquivision]

Just to clarify, the Xeo (ZHL-16C) matches very closely to GUE Decoplanner (ZHL-16B) and to GAP (ZHL-16C). The ZHL 'C' version is marginally more conservative than the 'B' version. This means that the runtime on the Xeo is typically a couple of minutes longer than with Decoplanner, but the match is very close.


Eric Fattah
Liquivision Products

[Kevrumbo]

Why not just keep on doing your GUE R3/T1 dives, memorize your deco schedules simply by rote repetition of those type of dives --and save money & buy a Xen Bottom Timer instead? If you plan your dive and dive your plan per GUE protocol, what other value-added feature can an expensive Xeo computer tell you about the dive that you don't know???

Other than egregious changes in bottom time & deco schedules on-the-fly real time, you really don't need a computer. . .

[Hepcat62]

Thanks for the feedback everybody. I'm definitely not closed off to the idea of the X1 at all, but the cost of the Xeo is attractive. It's good to know that its implementation lines up well with DecoPlanner, as that will help me judge generated profiles. Anybody able to address the question re: the display during ascents with mandatory stops? Does it use the "smiley deco" type display that the X1 does?

Why not just keep on doing your GUE R3/T1 dives, memorize your deco schedules simply by rote repetition of those type of dives --and save money & buy a Xen Bottom Timer instead? If you plan your dive and dive your plan per GUE protocol, what other value-added feature can an expensive Xeo computer tell you about the dive that you don't know???

Other than egregious changes in bottom time & deco schedules on-the-fly real time, you really don't need a computer. . .

For dives done with my GUE-trained buddies, this is exactly what I currently do (and will continue to do). I've got some non-GUE/UTD/DIR buddies though, and they fly computers (I'm not judging right now). If there's one thing from my GUE training that I definitely believe in, it's making sure that a team is on the same page and knows intuitively what to expect of each other. While I'll always plan dives in advance (and know what my schedule would normally be, to make sure I'm comfortable with the computer's schedule), I'd like to make sure that the team is as aligned as possible. That makes me consider picking up a computer.

If I can't find a unit that fits both my cost and feature wants/needs, a Xen probably IS in my immediate future.