Stu,
I have 3 of them for my family. I originally wanted the non-qd but ended up getting the qd and happy that I did.
The Good:
The screen is very large, the information is presented very well.
The air integration is welcomed. I also like that it calculates the SAC rate.
I love the NDL and ATR (Air Time Remaining) indications.
The Bar graphs are usable (N2 indications) again due to the size.
The logging is excellent, I use a 2sec sample rate and am very happy about the graph on the Oceanic logbook.
Configuration is very easy and intuitive. My 14 year old can easily set it up for the Nitrox mixtures.
I like the audible alarms when diving with my family. I know their air status from them.
I love the ATR when planning our dive to arrive back on the boat with a specific amount of air remaining.
In deco mode, it is very intuitive and easy to understand for a rec level computer. I do not recommend using it for deco though.
2 dive algorithms to chose from. (DSAT, Z+)
The Bad:
They are very chatty with alarms. Even turning most of them off, they still chat a lot.
Expensive cable to connect to computer for reading logs. Kind of bad that such a pricey computer does not come with one. It is ~$90.
The compass is usable but not ideal, not sure any console can be though.
I wish I could set the backlight to always be on or at least a very long duration (yes I know it will quickly drain the batteries).
I find that switching between gas mixes is cumbersome and prone to user error.
I do not like that if you set the gas and have a long boat ride, the gas will reset back to the last used. This caused me to dive while set on air even though I had set it to nitrox while setting up my gear. (3hr boat ride)
My wife's screen turned off during a long dive (80 minutes). She just needed to press a button for it to continue. It tracked the entire dive so there were no worries other than seeing it off.
I am not a big fan of the Oceanic Log book (OceanLog). Seeing the dive profile displayed is nice but I do not like the overall log program.
The Faults:
My daughter's computer temperature is off my more than it should be.
My wife's had a funny error where it turned on during an airplane flight. It thought that we were still diving while on the island (about 1200' up). I had to buy a screw driver and remove the battery to reset.
I had my daughter's computer alarm for no reason during a dive, when reviewing the log, it had lost some of the samples. This only happened like this once.
I have lost some samples of logs on several dives from several of the computers. No worries as the dive was tracked normal. I think the log was not written properly and causes logging corruption.
Impression with Oceanic Support:
I have put in 3 calls to Oceanic about the computer. One because I was sold the wrong cable by a LDS and needed to verify it, another for the temperature issue, the last for information on the storage capabilities at 2sec sampling. They talked me through several checks to verify the cable and quickly isolated the issue. The LDS swapped without issue, Both other times, Oceanic responded quickly and for the temperature, offered to service it (I decided not to) and for the information, they sent me detailed data that gave me what I required.
Overall, I really like the computer. It is usable, easy to read and overall well constructed. I think Oceanic has put together a good package albeit a little on the pricey side. When we are diving, we will bring the computers back to the hotel with us which is the nice thing about the qd. My problems with the computer are limited and minor. I feel that it is very easy to recommend this computer to anyone and will be sure that they will enjoy them also. I trust them and I am comfortable having my family use them.
