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I think @scubadada in post #15 had a great reply on how to think about it. Below are a few things I'd add about my experience with the i450T and more recently a Teric.

I started diving 15 months ago so still a newbie with 45 dives under my belt. I got an i450T after my first dive trip and have used it on 37 dives. I've found the i450T is easy to program, very intuitive and the display easy to read quickly underwater. I'm 49 years old but have been lucky thus far that my reading vision is good without glasses. As a rec diver the algorithm has not been a problem with 2 dives a day over the course of a week. I haven't done any trips with more than 2 dives a day. However, I have done trips diving 6 or 7 days in a row and many days with a first dive to 80-100 fsw (for brief periods) and second dive to 50-60 fsw. I've never had any NDL issues that I found limiting. I do dive Nitrox. I dive in Caribbean and the display easy to read there with ambient light even at a depth of 100. I've done 2 night dives and it is a bit of a pain to have to hit the light button to read it but it's not a big deal and the button is easy to push. Every once in awhile it does lose AI connectivity but it picks it back up again quickly. I've never had it last more than 5-10 seconds when it happens. Also the i450T does come with the USB cable in the box so that's not an extra cost.

That being said, I'm a sucker for new toys and I just bought a Teric. Will dive with for first time in a couple of weeks so only pool tested thus far. I like it. A year ago I would have been intimidated by it. I read a lot of Scubaboard last year before I bought the i450T. Very similar feedback as this chain except then every computer chain quickly devolved into the only computer worth buying was a Perdix. I researched the Perdix at that time. I was ok with the form factor but do prefer the watch style so Teric is better fit for me. My reluctance at that time is I had no idea what GF meant! The first time I read it I wondered why they were talking about their Girl Friend. Once I learned what GF meant, I didn't feel like I really understood it well enough as a newbie to buy a computer with GF. I was concerned I would somehow screw up the settings and do a dangerous dive without knowing it. Over the last 15 months I've read a lot more and got myself more educated to the point I was willing to try the Teric. I'll dive with both the i450T and the Teric for awhile then figure out what comes next.
 
I think @scubadada in post #15 had a great reply on how to think about it. Below are a few things I'd add about my experience with the i450T and more recently a Teric.

I started diving 15 months ago so still a newbie with 45 dives under my belt. I got an i450T after my first dive trip and have used it on 37 dives. I've found the i450T is easy to program, very intuitive and the display easy to read quickly underwater. I'm 49 years old but have been lucky thus far that my reading vision is good without glasses. As a rec diver the algorithm has not been a problem with 2 dives a day over the course of a week. I haven't done any trips with more than 2 dives a day. However, I have done trips diving 6 or 7 days in a row and many days with a first dive to 80-100 fsw (for brief periods) and second dive to 50-60 fsw. I've never had any NDL issues that I found limiting. I do dive Nitrox. I dive in Caribbean and the display easy to read there with ambient light even at a depth of 100. I've done 2 night dives and it is a bit of a pain to have to hit the light button to read it but it's not a big deal and the button is easy to push. Every once in awhile it does lose AI connectivity but it picks it back up again quickly. I've never had it last more than 5-10 seconds when it happens. Also the i450T does come with the USB cable in the box so that's not an extra cost.

That being said, I'm a sucker for new toys and I just bought a Teric. Will dive with for first time in a couple of weeks so only pool tested thus far. I like it. A year ago I would have been intimidated by it. I read a lot of Scubaboard last year before I bought the i450T. Very similar feedback as this chain except then every computer chain quickly devolved into the only computer worth buying was a Perdix. I researched the Perdix at that time. I was ok with the form factor but do prefer the watch style so Teric is better fit for me. My reluctance at that time is I had no idea what GF meant! The first time I read it I wondered why they were talking about their Girl Friend. Once I learned what GF meant, I didn't feel like I really understood it well enough as a newbie to buy a computer with GF. I was concerned I would somehow screw up the settings and do a dangerous dive without knowing it. Over the last 15 months I've read a lot more and got myself more educated to the point I was willing to try the Teric. I'll dive with both the i450T and the Teric for awhile then figure out what comes next.

thank you very much! this is great information i was looking for! first hand use and experience with it and i currently have the same feeling about the Teric. yes...probably the best watch style computer you can buy right now...but it is definitely more than i need and lots of settings i would not feel comfortable with knowing i even had the option of messing with. others have commented on the OCi now i have some great first hand info to go off for the i450t
 
My reluctance at that time is I had no idea what GF meant! The first time I read it I wondered why they were talking about their Girl Friend. Once I learned what GF meant, I didn't feel like I really understood it well enough

I'm sure that is different from a girlfriend. Somehow.
 
I was concerned I would somehow screw up the settings and do a dangerous dive without knowing it.

that is why they released recreational nitrox mode with 3 GF settings. The most liberal of which is comparable to PADI's DSAT tables that just about every diver has used and is obviously comfortable diving with. The other two are increased conservatism and up to you. You can think of them as the same conservatism levels on the other computers, the benefit here is they actually tell you what you are doing so you can make more informed decisions about your decompression algorithms
 
To expand on @tbone1004's answer a little, you come up from a dive with X amount of gas in your tissues, and every computer has a pre-programmed X that it believes to be "safe enough". And then it has various "conservatism" or "safety" settings that make you "safer than that" by making you come up with less than X gas in your tissues.

For Buhlmann model and a no-stop dive, GF high of, say, 80 reduces the X to 80% of its "safe enough" value, 70: to 70%, etc. GF low does nothing unless you overstay your NDL and need to make a mandatory decompression stop.
 
that is why they released recreational nitrox mode with 3 GF settings. The most liberal of which is comparable to PADI's DSAT tables that just about every diver has used and is obviously comfortable diving with. The other two are increased conservatism and up to you. You can think of them as the same conservatism levels on the other computers, the benefit here is they actually tell you what you are doing so you can make more informed decisions about your decompression algorithms
Thank you, that's helpful and I do understand that now. Over the last year, I've also read a ton on Scubaboard, Deco for Divers, watched Shearwater videos, took Nitrox course, taking Deep course now, etc in an effort to educate myself. As a newbie, one thing I often find missing from experienced diver's posting on Scubaboard is the recollection of what it's like to be a newbie just trying to get the basics down of setting up equipment and breathing underwater. We're told to only dive within our comfort zone and we can thumb any dive at any time. Throwing in the concept of Gradient Factors was not in my comfort zone as a newbie a year ago and I thumbed diving with a computer based on GF then (more comfortable with it now but it took time and effort to get there). Think about it as a newbie seeing terms like GF, 40/85, 30/70, M-value, fast tissue, slow tissue, etc and not know what any of that means. I know I had the option of waiting to buy a computer which is good advice that's often given on SB but I also didn't like the idea of having different rental computers to learn on the fly every time I took a trip.
 
@tbone1004 @scubadada @Diving Dubai everyone! I bought a dive computer! I really do appreciate everyones input and help!

I chose the AL i450t. And here are my reasons for going with that.

- had a gut feeling that i liked it?
- seems to fit my needs pretty well as far as a computer for a modest vaction diver that likes the thought of having AI and wants something i can wear all day every day during the vacation.
- some reason i like the look of it? Haha
-LDS carries everything but focuses on Aqualung products so service or battery replacment in alaska is covered

- and the kicker... i won an auction on ebay for a new new in the box i450t with a new in the box transmitter for $630!!!! Now i can use that exta exta spare coin to an upgraded room for our Bonaire trip and also get all my AOW done!

Once again thank you guys for all your help!
 
@Diving Dubai Suunto has not changed their transmitter technology, it has been the same technology for at least 5 years..

There are several generations of Suunto transmitter. My Helo2’s transmitter is not the same as the current one that comes with a Helo2 and that is not the same as the one the Eon uses.
 
The computers have gotten better, but you using an Eon vs. the D4i that was released in 2011 means that you have near decade old technology in the Suunto.

Is the OP specifically asking about the D4i and excluding the D4i Novo which came out recently?
 
So here's the question for you. What makes the D4i at $200 cheaper, a better value than the Shearwater? It lacks the ability to easily sync dive logs, it has a casio style screen, it is not "fashionable" to wear as a daily watch *something specifically mentioned by the OP*, and it uses proprietary technology vs. an accepted transmitter technology by multiple brands. $1200 for the Suunto vs $1400 for the Shearwater.

D4i Novo Dive Computer £360
Transmitter with LED £199

Teric Dive Computer £975
https://www.narkedat90.com/tank_transmitter_p/w-trans.htm. £258

The difference is enough to pay for a week in Scapa, ANDP or a Trimix course, or 13 UK dive days.

It seems to me that a core feature of a dive computer is the battery life. I don’t want to have to think about it. The compromised battery life makes a nice colour screen much less attractive. Both the Garmin and the Teric suffer from that. Maybe the target market for the teric is such that that doesn’t matter though. And Garmin/Apple/Fitbit/etc have already set expectations for fitness devices having poor battery life.
 

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