Atomic Aquatics Cobalt Dive Computer
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RonR
Contributor
This just should not be- there would have to be a bad crystal or perhaps processor, at any rate a basic fault that means this particular Cobalt should be replaced. We have not seen this in any other units, and I'd definitely want to check it out. I have quite a pile of demos here that all had their clock set about six weeks ago, they are all still right on.
In early production there were a few units with a faulty battery door seal- a problem quickly rectified. That made Atomic very proactive about having customers send back any Cobalts that seemed to be not holding a charge- the majority were fine, but often they replaced the battery just to be sure. Since this was a production issue it hit a few dealers in batches. The battery in standby (sleep) mode should go down 1% per day or so, and it should be good for six months or more on standby. I have seen a very few batteries that had a high rate of internal discharge, these just need to be replaced. I had the same problem with my first iPhone.
If the Cobalt does run completely down, USB will charge the battery but won't provide a reset signal to restart the program- only the AC adapter (or removing and reinserting the battery) will do that. Of course, no memory will be lost if it does run down completely.
Buttons were another early production issue- most were fine, but there were enough that didn't work well to be the #1 reason for returns. Adjusting the magnet strengths fixes the issue in older units. In newer production, the switch locations have been moved slightly, and we have worked with the switch manufacturer to get tighter tolerances on sensitivity- we are no longer seeing problems reported with the buttons.
As far as full-sun visibility, it's hard to see why Uemis would have been any different- they used exactly the same display- the identical part- as the Cobalt. They used a flat lens, but we tried that and the consensus was that it made no difference as to visibility, and the curved lens is of course stronger. Liquivision uses a passive matrix OLED and their display may well be brighter. The basic issue is that with any emissive display- even a light bulb- the brighter the ambient light, the lower the contrast. But it's the same emissive nature that makes it easier to see in less than full sunlight. And of course the brighter you crank up the display, the faster you use up your battery- why we provide both default and while-diving brightness adjustment.
Well, the black Cobalt case does get warmer topside, and retains heat from hands or light. I can get it to raise a few degrees just by picking it up. But it sounds as if you may have a sensor that is off. The temperature reading on the Cobalt comes directly from the low pressure (depth) sensor, which is the identical part used on many other (possibly most other) high end dive computers, and it contains its own internal calibration. When we have tested them they are consistently within a degree or two, which is about as good as you can expect. I'd be curious if a replacement Cobalt would read differently.
Some of the issues you describe- particularly the clock- are not at all normal and concern me. The buttons and the battery seal were early issues that turned up in production that Atomic has dealt with. The low alert volume and the display are basic elements of the design. If I had to guess, I'd guess that yours should be replaced, as I'm not sure whatever is causing the clock problem is practically repairable. I would sure like to see it, though.
If you PM me with contact info I will arrange for return and replacement.
RonR
Contributor
Because of some recent messages here and some private messages I've received, I feel I need to offer a little perspective on the Cobalt computer.
This thread can give a somewhat misleading impression, because with Atomic not having direct email support, it became a default (and very public) support forum. Atomic has shipped to date thousands of Cobalt computers, and the Cobalt has been in production almost a year. The vast majority of users have had no problems- and many are buying a second or third Cobalt for family members. But a heathy percentage of those that did have problems ended up being discussed here. If the overall return rate were anything close to what some here have reported, Atomic would have a disaster on its hands. It doesn't. Right now, Atomic's biggest challenge is trying to produce more Cobalts to fill the backorders. That said, any new, complex device will inevitably have issues that don't turn up until there are many users, as early adopters well know.
For the Cobalt, these were in two areas: buttons and batteries.
With the early production, there were a few bad battery door seals that resulted in leaking- and therefore Atomic has been very proactive in getting back any computer that we even suspect might be showing signs of a possible leak or battery failure. When investigated, most have in fact had no problem, though often the battery was replaced just to be sure. The production issue was addressed and the problem disappeared.
The other issue that hit a lot of computers were buttons that didn't work as well as they should. Atomic took a lot of these back for adjustment. We have since modified the switch position on the board, and worked with the switch manufacturer to get tighter tolerance on the sensitivity of the reeds. This issue took longer to effectively address, but I'm quite confident this problem is now fixed.
Both of these problems did not come up as big issues until we had many production Cobalts in the field, as they were not common. A few dealers got a number of these computers though, that could explain why some report a high return rate. These two issues account for the large majority of all returns to Atomic.
There was one problem that turned up with an electronic component that was out of its published spec- we were able to eliminate the issue with a firmware change, but until that was released there were a very few computers that shut down after charging and would not wake without a hard reset. It was just too rare and intermittent an event to have come up in testing.
Apart from the three problems listed above, I don't believe the problem incidence with the Cobalt itself is any higher than other sophisticated computers.
The other major complaint here has been the shortcomings (and especially the late-coming) of the Atomic dive logging software, and these are legitimate. However, to their credit, Atomic has given complete and eager support to anyone who is interested in developing dive log applications that download from the Cobalt, and has directly supported the libdivelog open source drivers project- to my knowledge the only significant equipment manufacturer to do so. As a consequence, both MacDive and Diving Log (for Windows) were compatible with Cobalt before Atomic released their own software. The door is still wide open for anyone else interested in developing an application. As I've said here before, I believe third party developers are always going to produce dive software that is better than anything manufacturers come up with. Nikon and Canon may make great cameras, but most of their customers are not using their photo software- I believe the same principle applies here.
On the plus side, if you are someone who cares about user interface design, the Cobalt has some real strengths. There are other computers that have menus, and colors, and comparable feature lists, but in themselves those features don't make for a good interface. It's very hard to make something easy to use, and a lot of effort went into the interface design of the Cobalt. People really can use it out of the box, without the manual, without specialty classes. Some people (like me) really care deeply about user interfaces, and are driven crazy by bad or indifferent design. But others (including many engineers) have this aspect go right past them and don't care. The interface design is the Cobalt's strength, and this doesn't show up in feature lists.
Atomic has also demonstrated extreme responsiveness to user requests (ahem, case excepted...
). Quite a few firmware features were initiated on this thread that are now in the shipping product. People have been waiting years for announced features from other manufacturers, so I think Atomic deserves credit there as well.
I'll continue to provide as much support here as possible, but I'm pushing Atomic to set up a dedicated support service on their website- I believe that will be a better place for carrying out this function.
This thread can give a somewhat misleading impression, because with Atomic not having direct email support, it became a default (and very public) support forum. Atomic has shipped to date thousands of Cobalt computers, and the Cobalt has been in production almost a year. The vast majority of users have had no problems- and many are buying a second or third Cobalt for family members. But a heathy percentage of those that did have problems ended up being discussed here. If the overall return rate were anything close to what some here have reported, Atomic would have a disaster on its hands. It doesn't. Right now, Atomic's biggest challenge is trying to produce more Cobalts to fill the backorders. That said, any new, complex device will inevitably have issues that don't turn up until there are many users, as early adopters well know.
For the Cobalt, these were in two areas: buttons and batteries.
With the early production, there were a few bad battery door seals that resulted in leaking- and therefore Atomic has been very proactive in getting back any computer that we even suspect might be showing signs of a possible leak or battery failure. When investigated, most have in fact had no problem, though often the battery was replaced just to be sure. The production issue was addressed and the problem disappeared.
The other issue that hit a lot of computers were buttons that didn't work as well as they should. Atomic took a lot of these back for adjustment. We have since modified the switch position on the board, and worked with the switch manufacturer to get tighter tolerance on the sensitivity of the reeds. This issue took longer to effectively address, but I'm quite confident this problem is now fixed.
Both of these problems did not come up as big issues until we had many production Cobalts in the field, as they were not common. A few dealers got a number of these computers though, that could explain why some report a high return rate. These two issues account for the large majority of all returns to Atomic.
There was one problem that turned up with an electronic component that was out of its published spec- we were able to eliminate the issue with a firmware change, but until that was released there were a very few computers that shut down after charging and would not wake without a hard reset. It was just too rare and intermittent an event to have come up in testing.
Apart from the three problems listed above, I don't believe the problem incidence with the Cobalt itself is any higher than other sophisticated computers.
The other major complaint here has been the shortcomings (and especially the late-coming) of the Atomic dive logging software, and these are legitimate. However, to their credit, Atomic has given complete and eager support to anyone who is interested in developing dive log applications that download from the Cobalt, and has directly supported the libdivelog open source drivers project- to my knowledge the only significant equipment manufacturer to do so. As a consequence, both MacDive and Diving Log (for Windows) were compatible with Cobalt before Atomic released their own software. The door is still wide open for anyone else interested in developing an application. As I've said here before, I believe third party developers are always going to produce dive software that is better than anything manufacturers come up with. Nikon and Canon may make great cameras, but most of their customers are not using their photo software- I believe the same principle applies here.
On the plus side, if you are someone who cares about user interface design, the Cobalt has some real strengths. There are other computers that have menus, and colors, and comparable feature lists, but in themselves those features don't make for a good interface. It's very hard to make something easy to use, and a lot of effort went into the interface design of the Cobalt. People really can use it out of the box, without the manual, without specialty classes. Some people (like me) really care deeply about user interfaces, and are driven crazy by bad or indifferent design. But others (including many engineers) have this aspect go right past them and don't care. The interface design is the Cobalt's strength, and this doesn't show up in feature lists.
Atomic has also demonstrated extreme responsiveness to user requests (ahem, case excepted...
). Quite a few firmware features were initiated on this thread that are now in the shipping product. People have been waiting years for announced features from other manufacturers, so I think Atomic deserves credit there as well. I'll continue to provide as much support here as possible, but I'm pushing Atomic to set up a dedicated support service on their website- I believe that will be a better place for carrying out this function.
fdarden
Contributor
I love my new Cobalt and will be buying a second one for my wife.
Downing
Contributor
Wow, I haven't dropped by this thread in a while and was surprised to read it took somewhat of an ugly turn since I've been gone.
I agree with Ron that often internet forums can by their nature exaggerate issues with a particular product. I see this on Mac forums as well. Apple releases a new laptop, desktop, tablet etc. A few customers who have issues post their problems in search of a solution. Similar issues start appearing and soon it appears the gizmo's in crisis when in reality there are literally thousands, or in Apple's case usually millions, of presumably satisfied customers who aren't showing up on the net to say "This thing works great!" but who are quietly keeping and using the device to their satisfaction.
Regarding the battery, I haven't used my two Cobalts since I returned home from two weeks of diving in Belize almost two months ago. I was charging them religiously during the trip of course, but they were probably around 80 to 90% capacity when I got home. I pulled them out last night to check the battery status: one was at 47% and the other was 48%. From Ron's description, that sounds about right.
How's that sleeve/case coming? :cool2:
I agree with Ron that often internet forums can by their nature exaggerate issues with a particular product. I see this on Mac forums as well. Apple releases a new laptop, desktop, tablet etc. A few customers who have issues post their problems in search of a solution. Similar issues start appearing and soon it appears the gizmo's in crisis when in reality there are literally thousands, or in Apple's case usually millions, of presumably satisfied customers who aren't showing up on the net to say "This thing works great!" but who are quietly keeping and using the device to their satisfaction.
Regarding the battery, I haven't used my two Cobalts since I returned home from two weeks of diving in Belize almost two months ago. I was charging them religiously during the trip of course, but they were probably around 80 to 90% capacity when I got home. I pulled them out last night to check the battery status: one was at 47% and the other was 48%. From Ron's description, that sounds about right.
How's that sleeve/case coming? :cool2:
FWIW...
I use a beer coozy as a soft case for my Cobalt. Works great!
When I told someone from our dive shop about it, they went one step further and use one of those zippered bottle coozies. The hose goes right down the neck of the coozy when attached and the whole thing fits nicely in there when it's disconnected.
BTW - I also had some of the 'growing pain' issues explained by Ron, but Atomic was very quick and accommodating in getting the Cobalt fixed & turned around in short order for me. I am VERY pleased with the computer and would buy another one again in a heartbeat. (And yes, my temp reading reads high by about 3 degrees, but I'm aware of that and choose not to dwell on it.) It's a good product. Scratch that. It's a GREAT product!
Cheers!!
I use a beer coozy as a soft case for my Cobalt. Works great!
When I told someone from our dive shop about it, they went one step further and use one of those zippered bottle coozies. The hose goes right down the neck of the coozy when attached and the whole thing fits nicely in there when it's disconnected.
BTW - I also had some of the 'growing pain' issues explained by Ron, but Atomic was very quick and accommodating in getting the Cobalt fixed & turned around in short order for me. I am VERY pleased with the computer and would buy another one again in a heartbeat. (And yes, my temp reading reads high by about 3 degrees, but I'm aware of that and choose not to dwell on it.) It's a good product. Scratch that. It's a GREAT product!
Cheers!!
Mud Guppy
Guest
After the battery problem was corrected on my Cobalt (in a reasonable turn around time) I have had NO problems with it and can say that it operates very well as designed. Sure I have a wish list but don't expect Atomic to provide surface scuba bi focals for me or do a custom design for me or others. I love the computer, have no interest in any other on the market, would recommend it to a friend and am impressed with the support by Ron here on this site. I don't believe there is a manufacturer on this site that provides as much info about their products as Ron Cobalt has provided here. I won't even mention the lack of a nice pouch here. 
I received a battery replacement procedure update from Suunto today. In short, place the puck face up on a hard surface securely. Be sure that you are wearing shop safety glasses. Use either a claw hammer or similar (can be ordered part "hitithard") and with considerable strength impale the face of the secured puck with the hammer exposing the battery. Now free from cranial bondage go out and buy a nice Cobalt.
Now I sure wish I could get reliable use out of my Sealife camera strobes.
I received a battery replacement procedure update from Suunto today. In short, place the puck face up on a hard surface securely. Be sure that you are wearing shop safety glasses. Use either a claw hammer or similar (can be ordered part "hitithard") and with considerable strength impale the face of the secured puck with the hammer exposing the battery. Now free from cranial bondage go out and buy a nice Cobalt.
Now I sure wish I could get reliable use out of my Sealife camera strobes.
CajunJosh
Registered
Ron I would just like to say that your quick responses in this topic are appreciated. I made the decision to purchase a Cobalt based on the initial spec sheet and despite a few production problems I think Atomic's customer service has been above and beyond that of just about any other company I've seen. Two of the biggest complaints I've seen have been the carrying sleeve and the dive log software. Despite this being a $1200 piece of equipment I'm surprised to see the number of complaints regarding these two issues as neither were ever promised by Atomic upon purchasing the unit. I think your constant attention to feedback and quick attempts at resolution of any complaints is admirable and has sold me on future purchases from Atomic.
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