Dive Computers (Suunto vs Oceanic)

[unitink72]

I bought the wife an atom 2.0 a while back, then I bought the 3.0 when it came out. The 3.0 has a little bit easier to navigate interface. Only problem I had was when i was a newbie, oriented the tank 180 degrees in the wrong direction and watch would keep squaking from loosing the signal during the dive. Go myself re-educated and worked great after that.

I give them a big plus for being able to change the battery yourself.

 

[Steve_C]

Significantly less no deco time, like 20 to 30 minutes, has been my experience. When i dive with two computers the Suunto is in gauge mode so i don't have deal with the nonsense it spits out.

I do think the Suunto is a little less forgiving. I find that as I make slower ascents, longer stops, etc. the difference is less.

Last weekend after a dive to 100 ft on a ledge and a 1 hr SI we did a 85 ft dive on a wreck. Diving 30%, On the second dive, the Suunto was showing about 5 minutes less NDL than the Aeris at the bottom depth. Dive buddy had a different computer and was showing about 4 minutes more than the Suunto.

Where we see a big difference is if we go up say 15 ft or so. The Aeris will start giving you more NDL pretty quickly. So shortly after you leave the bottom there can be a 20 minute difference

This would seem to suggest that on multilevel dives you might see more difference depending on what the levels where and how slowly you went between the levels.

---------- Post added June 6th, 2013 at 02:19 PM ----------

Not sure what to say other than it would be interesting to see the dive profiles, surface intervals, etc. As far as I know, I haven't experienced a situation where someone diving with me had 20+ mins. more no-deco time when mine was near zero.

Back when I only had the Aeris I did two dives which were finishing off my deep certification. I had done a couple hundred dives at this time some deep but I was going back for the deep cert since needed for DM. So I had reasonable air consumption. It was late fall and temp was in high 60s. The instructor had on just his summer 3 mm and no headwear. Well on the second dive we were on a sunken barge at 80 ft 18 miles offshore. I was comfy in my hood and semi-dry. He kept checking my dive computer over and over showing disbelief that I still had so much NDL. I think he thought I had an hour more NDL than he did. After a nice long dive I went up. Think it took him the rest of the day and into the next to warm back up.

 

[Scott]

We always read about how Sunnto's are so conservative. Has anyone changed Sunnto's RGBM setting from 100% to 50% and have data for comparision? Sunnto (100%) vs Sunnto (50%), Sunnto vs ______.

 

[Steve_C]

We always read about how Sunnto's are so conservative. Has anyone changed Sunnto's RGBM setting from 100% to 50% and have data for comparision? Sunnto (100%) vs Sunnto (50%), Sunnto vs ______.

For the ZOOP there are 3 personal setting and 2 altitude setting. The default is the least conservative in both.

 

[Scott]

For the ZOOP there are 3 personal setting and 2 altitude setting. The default is the least conservative in both.

I am aware of those functions on the Zoop and other Sunnto computers.

Specifically the Vyper Air, Cobra 3 and Vytec DS in addition to the personal and altitude settings allows a diver to change the RGBM settings from 100% to 50%, which according to the manual "Smaller RGBM effects, higher risk!" which to my mind would mean more liberal.
Since I have not tried this yet, I would make the assumption that by changing the RGBM to 50% it would also affect the other settings. According to the manual with a setting of P0 and A0 the NDL at 130 feet is 8. With the same "P" and "A" setting but with a 50% RGBM, would the NDL then be closer to 16?

I have two Vyper Air computers sitting doing nothing and a week coming up at Grand Cayman. I'll have to see how they compare.

I have taken a Vyper Air, HelO2 and Mares Icon down on repetitive dives for comparison. FYI, Sunnto is not the most conservative computer!

 

[triplecove]

I'm Suunto through and through - having worked with and personally used Uwatec, Oceanic, Mares and blahblah. I have an 8-year old Suunto Vyper, it's made around 3,500 dives, and has never had a problem.

Wow I wish I had time for over 425 dives per year!

 

[dmainou]

Honestly, you are discussing computers you've seen at the store.

Try this one for a change.

http://liquivision.com/lynx-air-integrated-computer.php

D

Sent from my GT-I9300 using Tapatalk 2

 

[Lorenzoid]

Honestly, you are discussing computers you've seen at the store.

Try this one for a change.

Liquivision : Scuba : Lynx

D

Sent from my GT-I9300 using Tapatalk 2

Uh, yes, we're discussing a couple of computers that enough people have experience with that they can summarize their experience. There has been some talk on SB lately about the Liquivision Lynx, and it sounds great, but I read the OP's question as narrower than "What computer should I buy?" He asked about Oceanic versus Suunto.

 

[drrich2]

Following this thread, a few thoughts.

1.) My of my diving is on Bonaire trips and I seldom if ever get near an NDL (diving EAN 32 there), so I doubt a Suunto would be a problem for me.

2.) But if I ever get my bucket list trip to deep dive a North Carolina wreck with a 120+ steel tank of EAN 28 (or so) at around 120' to look at a bunch of Sand Tiger sharks, then that 'few minutes' that gets downplayed as no big deal sometimes, would be a big deal to me.

3.) While some people are willing to go into brief deco. obligations, I'm still engrained with the OW-training mentality that deco. is to be strictly avoided. This mindset will be an issue for some but not others.

4.) Regarding Lorenzoid's post (snippet below), I see your point, but I would not want to bother consciously modifying my dive habits to suit the computer, unless there was a compelling reason to do so.

One thing to add that Crowley's excellent post brings to mind with regard to the conservative versus liberal argument is that if you are aware of the kinds of behaviors that the Suunto RGBM algorithm seems to weight more heavily in reducing no-deco time, you can easily adjust your behavior to maximize your no-deco time if that's your major concern: slow ascents, long-ish surface intervals, avoid reverse profiles, go easy on the multi-day repetitive diving, always a safety stop, etc.

5.) I'd like to know more about the practical impact of Quero's input on the greater access to repair services abroad (outside the U.S.) for Suunto vs. Oceanic. I was under the impression that most exotic vacation dive trips were around a week or so, and if a computer 'crapped out,' people rented another wherever they were. Or took along a backup computer just in case (not a bad idea for a live-aboard). Are Suuntos repaired while on trips often enough to make this a compelling feature?

6.) On the issue of user-replaceable batteries, if an Oceanic's battery dies while you're on a live-aboard, and you brought a spare, you can replace it. I'm not very familiar with Suuntos; what happens when one's battery dies on a trip?

Richard.

P.S.: My old Oceanic VT3 is worn as a backup computer & wrist depth gauge, as I've moved to an Atomic Aquatics Cobalt as my main dive computer. So I'm not pushing 'my' favorite company, though I admit I find the idea of a computer being more conservative than need be irksome.

 

[scubadada]

Oceanic vs. Suunto has been discussed many, many times on SB. It's a personal choice with emotional components and not an intellectual argument. Witness the 39 posts above.

Personally, I've been diving Oceanic with the Pealgic DSAT algorithm since 1999 and couldn't be more satisfied. All 4 members of my family dive the same algorithm and it keeps our dives in sync. Currently, I dive a VT3 primary with a Geo2 and SPG backup. I commonly dive 3-5 dives per day over multiple days and appreciate the dive time I have. I'm unwilling and/or unable to manupulate my dives to maximize NDL as described for the Suunto algorithm.

To each their own, be happy with your choice.

Good diving, Craig