Mares Matrix or Suunto D4i?

[jdelin86]

Hi there,

I'm new to the forum so apologies if this has been discussed before.

My wife and I will be diving Sipadan in a few months so I thought I might treat myself to a dive computer.

i have pretty small wrists, and would like something I could wear on land too so therefore looking at watch sized computers. I also like the idea of a dot matrix display.

I am therefore looking at either the Mares Matrix or the Suunto D4i and would appreciate some opinions / advice!

From reading online it seems that...

Mares: cheaper, full dot matrix display, rechargeable battery, compass
Suunto: nicer looking, supposedly more reliable, smaller (?)

So both watches have their advantages & disadvantages. Can anyone please help me decide!?

Cheers

Joel

 

[DuboisP]

Suunto

 

[Goodtime Adventures]

Yep, Suunto all the way imo, I'd vote on the d4i too. Great computer with easy to use - and easy to read - features. Does everything you need/want it to do for recreational diving, and also doubles up as regular watch should you wish to leave it on. I have one myself, as do many of our instructors.

 

[jdelin86]

Ok cool. My only concern with the Suunto is about the battery life - how do you find it?

 

[Goodtime Adventures]

I've had mine for over a year now. I wear it as a watch when not diving, and its done in excess of 200 dives with no battery problems so far. They've got pretty good warranty's on them too.

 

[betaorion]

Been there and I've chosen the matrix instead. Main consideration being I like the menu system and the matrix display much better than the D4i. For me its much more intuitive and clear. I also like the concept of rechargeable battery. And happy with my choice so far.

 

[Kharon]

I would be leary of any Mares product. They have abandoned models (computers, regulators) as soon as the newer model was released. Happened to me and I won't buy Mares equipment ever again.

 

[Incident]

Ok cool. My only concern with the Suunto is about the battery life - how do you find it?

Batteries are cheap to purchase and easy to replace. Don't let that make or break your decision.

Full disclosure, I have an Oceanic Geo 2.0, so really cannot assist you with your specific question on these two watches. I did however look at the Suunto D4i and finally went with the Oceanic. For me, I liked the idea of having an option to use one of two different algorithms, which Oceanic offers, but Suunto does not.

I see the Suunto's on lots of wrists, so they must be doing something right with the watch/computer.

 

[DuboisP]

Been there and I've chosen the matrix instead. Main consideration being I like the menu system and the matrix display much better than the D4i. For me its much more intuitive and clear. I also like the concept of rechargeable battery. And happy with my choice so far.

sure.
2 weeks of autonomy, or 15 hours diving.
not a lot for a watch.

and the Mares algorithm is poor when deco. diving.
you have to do your stops between 2.5 and 3.5 m.

 

[Gary_Ward]

My wife has (had) a matrix. She loved it. Particularly the intuitive menu system, the display and the fact it showed surface interval information on the screen in watch mode. Quality was the issue which eventually killed it. One by one the buttons would pop off. She read that this is a fairly common problem and you can buy replacement stronger o-clips to hold them on. That was fine until on of the buttons came off underwater and flooded the computer. If we lived in a city somewhere, this would probably not be too much of an issue to take back to a dealer and get replaced under warranty, but we don't (small island in the Caribbean). Mares will take it back if we Fedex it to them (our cost) and the replacement will also be Fedex'd back to us (our cost) if its found to be a warranty issue. The cost of the 2 x fedex's is more than the cost of buying a new one.

She had a D4 before (and I use a faithful D6) and they're awesome. Battery life for us was about 18 months (500+ dives), and if you're careful you can replace these yourself for a few $$$. The issue with Suunto's is that the straps are rubbish. Seriously, if you buy your computer and plan on using it buy a couple of extra straps - particularly on the D4. The 2-3mm of rubberised plastic that holds the whole thing together is just not up to the job. My wife wove herself a new strap to over-come the issue!