Is the Aqualung i450T a good option in 2020?

[MikadoWu]

Thanks all! Yeah, the way things are looking, it’s kind of grim. Just found out my LDS has canceled my refresher course until the end of May, because there are no pools available for use before then due to our governor‘s orders.

I asked if they had the i450 in stock, and I didn’t realize it actually been discontinued. He told me they were taking pre-orders for the i470, which is the i450s replacement but with Bluetooth and it supposedly fixes the battery issues that some 450s have had. They’re offering the pre-orders at $400 even. I might get in on that deal. I haven’t been able to find much information on the i470 though.

Who is your LDS? I love to get in on a $400 i470.

 

[Boston Breakwater]

Hello. Here is an excerpt from one of my post.
" I have a close friend of mine, that is a Technical Diver. You know.....One of those guys that dives to 800 ft, with 16 mixed gas bottles, and has 15,000 dives.
(That was an affectionate joke.)
Seriously. My first advice is to plan for the future, and buy gear that is modular, and be used for different applications down the line...(Pun intended.)
Including....your computer.
He advice to me........Shearwater Perdix.
It is a "Top Shelf." Decompression, Mixed Gas Computer. He specifically said NOT to buy the Air Integrated. (It could propose an unwanted failure, different scenarios were discussed.)
I've had no less than 10 Technical Divers say the same thing.
(Some may disagree.)
I bought 2 of them for "Redundancy."
(One on each wrist.)
90% of my dives are solo.
They have different models and are definitely something to consider.
The have phenomenal customer service.
I had a problem/question last year, and when I called they put me on the phone with the guy that wrote the "Code." for this particular unit. REALLY?????????????????
You'd be hard pressed to get customer service like that, elsewhere.
I hope that is helpful?
Cheers.

 

[Micheal]

Thanks all! Yeah, the way things are looking, it’s kind of grim. Just found out my LDS has canceled my refresher course until the end of May, because there are no pools available for use before then due to our governor‘s orders.

I asked if they had the i450 in stock, and I didn’t realize it actually been discontinued. He told me they were taking pre-orders for the i470, which is the i450s replacement but with Bluetooth and it supposedly fixes the battery issues that some 450s have had. They’re offering the pre-orders at $400 even. I might get in on that deal. I haven’t been able to find much information on the i470 though.

And, for $80-85 more, consider the Atmos Mission One, on sale at Divers Supply and DRIS. Color screen, custom GFs in addition to presets, a dive planner, working iOS and android apps and firmware upgrades

Hello. Here is an excerpt from one of my post.
" I have a close friend of mine, that is a Technical Diver. You know.....One of those guys that dives to 800 ft, with 16 mixed gas bottles, and has 15,000 dives.
(That was an affectionate joke.)
Seriously. My first advice is to plan for the future, and buy gear that is modular, and be used for different applications down the line...(Pun intended.)
Including....your computer.
He advice to me........Shearwater Perdix.
It is a "Top Shelf." Decompression, Mixed Gas Computer. He specifically said NOT to buy the Air Integrated. (It could propose an unwanted failure, different scenarios were discussed.)
I've had no less than 10 Technical Divers say the same thing.
(Some may disagree.)
I bought 2 of them for "Redundancy."
(One on each wrist.)
90% of my dives are solo.
They have different models and are definitely something to consider.
The have phenomenal customer service.
I had a problem/question last year, and when I called they put me on the phone with the guy that wrote the "Code." for this particular unit. REALLY?????????????????
You'd be hard pressed to get customer service like that, elsewhere.
I hope that is helpful?
Cheers.

First Question, Do you have your own regulator set or do you rent? If you own and travel with it, then getting an AI unit like the i470 is a good buy, if you do not believe you will ever go into Tech Diving.

Side note, I generally dive with both an OCi (basically a i450) and a Teric. I where both as I have both have issue under certain lightning, and this give me the best of both worlds, plus they connect to the same transmitter. So your diving condition and eyes MAY (not will) dictate you to one or the other.

If you do not own your own regulators, I would suggest looking at the i200/i300 or the Deep 6 Excursion Dive computer. Price point is hard to beat for standard recreational divers. I have seen a lot of shops not wanting you put your Transmitters on their gear. Just a Thought, so ask around.

As for the above Mentioned Perdix and Atmos, I would ignore both. Though mine is going up for sell. As for both the Atmos, Teric, you still need some sort of cord, and My desk has enough cords all over it. People buy watch styles for a reason, and Petral/Perdix and others can be intimidating, plus you do not wear them to work.

We are in 2020, Bluetooth should be as standard as Nitrox.

Oh, and yes, I have all the mentioned computers. Well, I have Petral 2, not perdix, but its the same.

I love my Shearwater DC's they are the best in the business. That said, I use the OCi in all pool sessions, and the Shearwater are again impractical for this.

 

[Marie13]

As for both the Atmos, perdix and even the Teric, you still need some sort of cord, and My desk has enough cords all over it. People buy watch styles for a reason, and Petral/Perdix and others can be intimidating, plus you do not wear them to work.

We are in 2020, Bluetooth should be as standard as Nitrox.

That’s a bunch of hooey about needing a cord to download dives from the Perdix. Absolutely not. I download dives to both the Shearwater and MacDive on my iPhone 8 Plus. Shearwaters intimidating? Again, what a bunch of hooey. They have good, clear manuals, which is a hell of a lot more than I can say for the absolutely crappy one that came with my original computer (Oceanic Geo 2.0).

 

[Lostdiver71]

Hello. Here is an excerpt from one of my post.
" I have a close friend of mine, that is a Technical Diver. You know.....One of those guys that dives to 800 ft, with 16 mixed gas bottles, and has 15,000 dives.
(That was an affectionate joke.)
Seriously. My first advice is to plan for the future, and buy gear that is modular, and be used for different applications down the line...(Pun intended.)
Including....your computer.
He advice to me........Shearwater Perdix.
It is a "Top Shelf." Decompression, Mixed Gas Computer. He specifically said NOT to buy the Air Integrated. (It could propose an unwanted failure, different scenarios were discussed.)
I've had no less than 10 Technical Divers say the same thing.
(Some may disagree.)
I bought 2 of them for "Redundancy."
(One on each wrist.)
90% of my dives are solo.
They have different models and are definitely something to consider.
The have phenomenal customer service.
I had a problem/question last year, and when I called they put me on the phone with the guy that wrote the "Code." for this particular unit. REALLY?????????????????
You'd be hard pressed to get customer service like that, elsewhere.
I hope that is helpful?
Cheers.

I agree with pretty much everything above except for the part about the AI computer. I have been using wireless air integrated computers for more than 20 years and several thousand dives now without a single failure in the transmitter or AI portion of the computer, I have had a computer flood after a battery change performed by a certified tech. That being said I have seen others have failures but I have also seen many more failures in analog pressure gauges. The pressure gauge is actually pretty fragile and can suffer internal damage from being knocked around too much, bourdon tubes are fragile, where the transmitter uses a solid state sensor that is much more durable and accurate. Many of the people that I have see run out of air on charters had inaccurate pressure gauges, sometimes showing 500-800 psi when they are out of air. If you are doing recreational no decompression dives a transmitter failure is treated like any other failure, including a pressure gauge failure, the dive should be ended and you should head to the surface. In the mid 90's Suunto had problems with their transmitters losing the connection with the computer and the only way to reconnect was to surface, turn off the air, purge the regulator and reset the connection. Those were recalled fairly quickly and all computers since then will stay paired with the transmitter and reconnect underwater if the transmission is lost. Unfortunately many have mistrusted AI dive computers since then. Shearwater makes a great computer but I currently prefer Oceanic as I can pair more than 2 transmitters at a time with my computer, Oceanic allows up to 4, and that fits my style of diving. If Shearwater comes out with a Perdix or Teric that will connect with at least 3 transmitters I will probably purchase one. Right now I would recommend the Perdix over the Teric as the Teric does not seem to have all of the bugs worked out, specifically battery issues, based on the many posts that I have seen about this issue. The good news is that Shearwater appears to have probably the best customer service in the industry.

 

[Micheal]

That’s a bunch of hooey about needing a cord to download dives from the Perdix. Absolutely not. I download dives to both the Shearwater and MacDive on my iPhone 8 Plus. Shearwaters intimidating? Again, what a bunch of hooey. They have good, clear manuals, which is a hell of a lot more than I can say for the absolutely crappy one that came with my original computer (Oceanic Geo 2.0).

I must have been updating my post same time as you. You are correct on the cable thing with Perdix.

I still stand my many people telling me the feel intimidated by them though.

Also, I been on many boats where Recreation divers forgot their Perdrix/Petarl in the Hotel. Does it happen to Watch styles, yes. But my experience is less often by percentage. Most of the wear it the entire vacation trip throughout the Caribbean's.

 

[Sevenrider860]

Thanks all! Yeah, the way things are looking, it’s kind of grim. Just found out my LDS has canceled my refresher course until the end of May, because there are no pools available for use before then due to our governor‘s orders.

I asked if they had the i450 in stock, and I didn’t realize it actually been discontinued. He told me they were taking pre-orders for the i470, which is the i450s replacement but with Bluetooth and it supposedly fixes the battery issues that some 450s have had. They’re offering the pre-orders at $400 even. I might get in on that deal. I haven’t been able to find much information on the i470 though.

$400 for the i470 is a good deal.

 

[Marie13]

I must have been updating my post same time as you. You are correct on the cable thing with Perdix.

I still stand my many people telling me the feel intimidated by them though.

Also, I been on many boats where Recreation divers forgot their Perdrix/Petarl in the Hotel. Does it happen to Watch styles, yes. But my experience is less often by percentage. Most of the wear it the entire vacation trip throughout the Caribbean's.

Do the people who tell you they're intimidated by a Perdix have a hard time figuring out their smart phone and are also afraid to right click on their home PC because they're afraid they're going to break something? The Perdix is a very simple computer to deal with.

Maybe the Great Lakes wreck divers I dive with are more responsible. I've never been on the boat with anyone who forgot their computer. There was one time when an idiot captain (now retired) told a diver to still come for the charter when she had contacted him about her broken computer. I gave her my backup.

 

[Boston Breakwater]

View media item 209695

I agree with pretty much everything above except for the part about the AI computer. I have been using wireless air integrated computers for more than 20 years and several thousand dives now without a single failure in the transmitter or AI portion of the computer, I have had a computer flood after a battery change performed by a certified tech. That being said I have seen others have failures but I have also seen many more failures in analog pressure gauges. The pressure gauge is actually pretty fragile and can suffer internal damage from being knocked around too much, bourdon tubes are fragile, where the transmitter uses a solid state sensor that is much more durable and accurate. Many of the people that I have see run out of air on charters had inaccurate pressure gauges, sometimes showing 500-800 psi when they are out of air. If you are doing recreational no decompression dives a transmitter failure is treated like any other failure, including a pressure gauge failure, the dive should be ended and you should head to the surface. In the mid 90's Suunto had problems with their transmitters losing the connection with the computer and the only way to reconnect was to surface, turn off the air, purge the regulator and reset the connection. Those were recalled fairly quickly and all computers since then will stay paired with the transmitter and reconnect underwater if the transmission is lost. Unfortunately many have mistrusted AI dive computers since then. Shearwater makes a great computer but I currently prefer Oceanic as I can pair more than 2 transmitters at a time with my computer, Oceanic allows up to 4, and that fits my style of diving. If Shearwater comes out with a Perdix or Teric that will connect with at least 3 transmitters I will probably purchase one. Right now I would recommend the Perdix over the Teric as the Teric does not seem to have all of the bugs worked out, specifically battery issues, based on the many posts that I have seen about this issue. The good news is that Shearwater appears to have probably the best customer service in the industry.

I must have been updating my post same time as you. You are correct on the cable thing with Perdix.

I still stand my many people telling me the feel intimidated by them though.

Also, I been on many boats where Recreation divers forgot their Perdrix/Petarl in the Hotel. Does it happen to Watch styles, yes. But my experience is less often by percentage. Most of the wear it the entire vacation trip throughout the Caribbean's.

Hello, again. Firstly, I am a "FIRM" believer that the divers should use the equipment that they prefer, and what is comfortable for them. As, I stated there were numerous discussions, and scenarios in regard to diving with an A.I. computer, and proposing an unwanted failure. Example: If a diver is inside a wreck, and misjudges the height of the passage way door, and strikes the overhead steel. Could the force be enough to damage the First stage port that the A.I. transmitter fitting is in? If, so. Could the damage be enough to cause the First stage to leak and/or cause a disruption of the signal? I don't think that is outside the realm of possibility.
Michael, I personally think that telling a diver to "Ignore." a Perdix is in bad form. Considering the build quality, and the research, and development that went into these units. Also, however minor the differences are, they are NOT " the same. (P.D.F. Enclosed.) I'll have to call Shearwater....They didn't send me any cables.
I am also a "Computer Enthusiast." and have built numerous high quality, powerful desktops. If, cable management for you is that out of control.......There as some good videos on Youtube that are helpful.
No, I don't wear my Perdix, or bring any of my desktops to work....There is a photo in my Album called "Time Piece."
Cheers

Buying a Shearwater Perdix Dive Computer: Read the In-depth review first

 

[MikadoWu]

Example: If a diver is inside a wreck, and misjudges the height of the passage way door, and strikes the overhead steel. Could the force be enough to damage the First stage port that the A.I. transmitter fitting is in? If, so. Could the damage be enough to cause the First stage to leak and/or cause a disruption of the signal? I don't think that is outside the realm of possibility.

So the Original OP stated "I am strictly a recreational diver, looking at Wisconsin single tank lakes, quarry, or Lake Michigan wreck dives to around 135 feet" Generally (not always) to me, this means no Penetration, as Pen is considered Technical diving. Your logic for your example is IMO outdated. The below transmitter is about a decade old. Here is a nice picture of how to run your transmitter, no accidental bumping. I know others that use a long hose and clip to their gear. Point being, there are lots of options available.

I have meet more people with Shearwater Dive Computers that have failed, then transmitters. Regardless No Mechanical or Electronic device are infallible.