Mares icon hd net very important please read!!

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So any word back from Mares? My experience so far with the Icon has been
a) exploding power supply (hey but they gave me a free mask!)
b) changing date
c) Weird battery charge rates (sometimes it sits on low % for HOURS then just jumps to 99%)
d) No compass in Guage mode????? (WHY?!)
e) On one unit, it always says you are heading NE, despite calibrating it several times
 
OK, I don't know squat about Mares computers. I would never own one. However, I have a friend about to buy one of the 2011 models of this computer. I am not sure if it is the "HD" or not. It is the ones that Mares just replaced. Is this issue with the newer computers, or the older ones? I want to warn him before he buys it Saturday.

Thanks.
 
Just a qucik notice for everyone (I'll post a full post later today!): Icon net ready (FW 3.06) reset itself mid-dive!
 
My first Mares HD was purchased way before the sending unit was supposed to come out the next Spring then next Fall then Winter then Spring and so on and on... It had a few bugs, the compass swung wildly back and forth 20 to 30 degrees. the date and time changed all the time and the battery wend dead all the time. I wanted the dive shop to send it back end exchange it, they were reluctant because the sending unit would be coming out soon and they would swap it out for a new one. But I insisted, I wanted to see if Mares stood behind their computers. The new one was a little better, the compass didn't swing as wildly but still lost time and dates and its battery still went dead just as quickly. Eventually the sending unit came out and they replaced my 2nd unit just as promised with a third one with the same problems. I'm afraid to use it and too responsible to sell it to someone else. $1,200.00 down the drain.
... and it will come back from testing as being without a problem. The time/date change can not be reproduced, so that makes it hard to troubleshoot.

I'm sure if there's enough noise, the bug will be addressed in the next software update.

Hello Mares Dev, are we listening?
 
The issue as discussed in detail above is indeed a source of grave concern albeit that is was in 2012/13
I am however interested in buying the Mares Icon HD 4.0 Black for the principle reason that I am unable to read the display on other dive computers.
That being the case as I wear multi-focal prescription lenses when not diving while my mask lenses does not provide the multi-focal capability.

QUESTION: Has the matters discussed above been resolved in full?

I already have the device on order and would not want to spend my hard earned money on a device with technical issues which, in my opinion, can potentially be the cause of serious dive related injuries.

Thanking you for your response in advance.
 
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It's funny this came up. I was at my LDS last night talking to our tech about the Cobalt and what a piece of junk it is. Me and my wife have been diving the Icon Net Ready since it came out and have been on the roller coaster since the early days. The shop tech agreed that the Icon HD Net Ready is a solid computer and the problems of the past seem to be long gone since the 4.0 firmware. I have over 1000 dives on mine now and I would definitely recommend the computer. Hope that answers your question.
 
I was at my LDS last night talking to our tech about the Cobalt and what a piece of junk it is.

I find the Cobalt to be one of the best computers my family and I have used...except for Shearwater. I have had Oceanic, Hollis and Suunto...so certainly not the full range and I have yet to try the Icon HD. But the Cobalt has been a solid and stable computer since I purchased my first one in 2012. My opinion only of course.
 
The shop tech agreed that the Icon HD Net Ready is a solid computer and the problems of the past seem to be long gone since the 4.0 firmware. I have over 1000 dives on mine now and I would definitely recommend

Thank you for your feedback sir - it is encouraging to hear that the product is giving you such good service.
If I can divert slightly, how do you find the battery consumption of the Icon both in use and during storage. Also, have you ever had the need to replace the battery on the transmitter unit?
 
Sure. Battery consumption is a bit of an issue but it's also not really an issue in practice. Here is what I mean. I recently spent two weeks in the Philippines. Did 48 dives totaling over 50 hours underwater. We typically did five dives a day of at least an hour per dive. The Icon had no problem keeping up battery-wise.

Having said that, it was necessary to charge it every night while I was sleeping. It would not have lasted two days at that rate. Now during a normal dive weekend in which I'm teaching open water students it keeps up without having to charge it at all.

As for usage during storage it does slowly bleed the battery (quickly compared to most other computers) and will last a week or two. So I've just got in the habit of making sure I charge it up the day before I go diving. If the battery gets to zero (which again takes a week or two) it will reset the clock and calendar but that issue isn't happening when the computer has a charge anymore.

As for the transmitter the old firmware frequently did not report battery issues and I was constantly changing batteries at the most inopportune times. That is fixed now with the latest firmware now reporting the battery status of the transmitter.

One thing that will significantly effect the transmitter batter life is if you leave your tank attached to your regulator under pressure. If the transmitter senses pressure it will continuously report that to the computer. So once I've set up my kit and verified my pressure, I turn off my air and purge the system, until I'm ready to dive.

Since the new firmware I go through two or three transmitter batteries a year. They are user replaceable but be careful when you do it. Make sure the o-ring is intact and that you carefully replace the cap. It's not hard though.

Also, don't drop the transmitter as that can break it. Mares has been very good about covering the two times I've dropped it and broken it. As a precaution I keep an extra transmitter on hand so that my wife and I have an extra should something go wrong. So far it has just camped out in its lonely box. :)
 
https://www.shearwater.com/products/perdix-ai/

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