I can't decide which beginner level computer to get.

[Jayfarmlaw]

About the only piece of equipment I have not upgraded since openwater is my Oceanic Pro Plus 2.1 computer. They are around 400 new but easy to use, very easy to read, the numbers are huge and bar graphs easy to see, and are air integrated. I spent more than I wanted to right out of the box.... we bought a puck for my wife as well. Once she saw my computer....I had to buy another one for her. The puck is now a backup, I think I have a Veo and one other in the closet as well.

At least take a look at the Pro Plus before you pull the trigger.

Good luck,
Jay

 

[arcticat99]

i bought the aqualung 300 i easy to use buttons nice display and relatively cheap

 

[Neilwood]

Another +1 on what @stuartv said - wait until after DEMA is finished and probably until black friday as you will get better offers.

 

[redacted]

ebay item # 172382094635 is an Oceanic Data Plus for $89. It is as good or better than most modern options without the unnecessary and expensive bells and whistles. Consider it as a baseline as you look at other options.

 

[CarcharodonCarcharias]

Eventually, everyone will tell you to buy a SW Perdix (AI or not) and you are set for the rest of your diving career.

 

[Streydog]

If you want a wrist mount and you are not worried about AI then either the Zoop or the Geo2 would be two good choices. As everyone will tell you the Suunto's are much more conservative but I don't know if I could really take advantage of the extra time Oceanic's give.

I already had a Geo 2 and got a very good deal on a Vyper Novo, couldn't pass it up. I wore both on the same wrist last trip. Sure the Geo always gave me more NDL but other than the first dive of the trip, average depth was 68', I didn't come close to Deco. On the first dive the Geo was at 8' when the Vyper hit 3' of NDL at one point.

I only did 14 dives in 6 days but they were long dives, averaged over 78 minutes. I don't know how a Zoop would handle a live aboard trip.

 

[stuartv]

average depth was 68', I didn't come close to Deco. On the first dive the Geo was at 8' when the Vyper hit 3' of NDL at one point.

For shallow diving (e.g. avg depth of 68' or less), MOST people will get low on air before they run out of NDL, even on a conservative computer.

But, when you do dives in the 100 - 120' range, you are much more likely to be limited by the computer than your air. At which point, your bottom time is short enough that even just having an extra 5 minutes is nice. That could be 25 - 33% more bottom time, compared to the conservative computer.

I also think it's interesting that your Suunto is so much bigger than the Geo, yet, in the picture, it looks like that actual numbers are about the same size. With the same size numbers, I'd take the smaller computer, any day.

 

[gopbroek]

As stuartv stated it would be a good idea to see what comes up at DEMA. If nothing earth shattering pops up you might want to look at an Aeris A300 off Amazon. They are running $199, all in shipped, and Oceanic (AUP) does honor the 2 year warranty (I got a warranty RMA from them this morning for a unit from last year). They are a 3 button (ease of use) dual algorithm unit (which allows for flexibility) and is the functional equivalent of the Oceanic VEO 3.0. I was hoping Deep Six would release their computer but so far I have not seen any press releases.

 

[Streydog]

I was surprised with the size of the numbers as well. I had read comments about people not being able to see the numbers on watch style computers. I wear bifocals topside but no vision correction under water and can see just fine.

The 68' average dive averaged under 90' for the first 35 minutes and maxed at 103'. Just had a slow accent and long safety stop.

 

[Marie13]

I was surprised with the size of the numbers as well. I had read comments about people not being able to see the numbers on watch style computers. I wear bifocals topside but no vision correction under water and can see just fine.

The 68' average dive averaged under 90' for the first 35 minutes and maxed at 103'. Just had a slow accent and long safety stop.

Thanks for that side by side picture. I've had other people say to me that there would be no way they would be able to read the Geo face, but when it's compared to the other...surprising to see that.