"Review of the Top Ten 'Gear' of 2017": How useful, or useless, are these reviews ?

[Roger Hobden]

Doing a search on the internet, it is quite easy to find Annual Reviews of the Top Ten Diving "Piece of Equipment" (Computers, regs, BC's, etc.) on various websites. To what extent are these reviews generally helpful to new divers, or are they simply misleading ?

 

[jlcnuke]

I bought an upgraded model of a computer that seemed to show up on just about every best list for beginners... the reviews just failed to mention that it's so conservative that if a beginner wants to do more than 2 dives in a day they'll need a different computer if they aren't sucking down air as if they're engaging in a boxing match while diving..

My second dive with it to any depth (AOW dives for skills got down to less than 20ft) was with two other divers, who had done the first dive longer than I did so they had more bottom time and less surface interval and they're computers had them at 45 minutes when mine was at 35 minutes..

I decided to do more in-depth research and found testing on the repetitive dive times for computers and saw just how massively conservative that algorithm (Cressi) is compared to pretty much every other computer out there. I'll be trying out my "new" computer hopefully this weekend. Once I'm sure I like it better (quite positive I will) I'll be selling the first one I bought. Hopefully someone who doesn't want to do more than 1, maybe 2, dives to any depth will choose to buy it for not too much of a loss.

You'd think "this computer will give you hardly any bottom time on repetitive dives relative to other brands" would have come up in one of the many reviews I found on it.

 

[tbone1004]

most of them are pretty worthless because they are terribly skewed and it doesn't factor in "purchasing with the end in mind".
It is possible to spend the same amount of money on equipment as what they may tell you to buy and get infinitely better gear that you will never have to upgrade....

if you are looking for new gear, please ask around on here and look through the forum as we are willing and able to give you personalized advice to help you save unnecessary time/money/anguish on gear purchases by beginning with the end in mind

 

[divad]

To what extent are these reviews generally helpful to new divers, or are they simply misleading ?

They're generally helpful for simply misleading new divers.

 

[Roger Hobden]

I bought an upgraded model of a computer that seemed to show up on just about every best list for beginners... the reviews just failed to mention that it's so conservative that if a beginner wants to do more than 2 dives in a day they'll need a different computer if they aren't sucking down air as if they're engaging in a boxing match while diving..

My second dive with it to any depth (AOW dives for skills got down to less than 20ft) was with two other divers, who had done the first dive longer than I did so they had more bottom time and less surface interval and they're computers had them at 45 minutes when mine was at 35 minutes..

I decided to do more in-depth research and found testing on the repetitive dive times for computers and saw just how massively conservative that algorithm (Cressi) is compared to pretty much every other computer out there. I'll be trying out my "new" computer hopefully this weekend. Once I'm sure I like it better (quite positive I will) I'll be selling the first one I bought. Hopefully someone who doesn't want to do more than 1, maybe 2, dives to any depth will choose to buy it for not too much of a loss.

You'd think "this computer will give you hardly any bottom time on repetitive dives relative to other brands" would have come up in one of the many reviews I found on it.

Thank you very much for this information.

The Cressi family of computers comes up pretty regularly on the list of Top Ten Computers for Beginners, but with no discussion about how their proprietary RGBM algorithm compares to others in real life practice. I had to do a LOT of reading in the past few months to START to figure out things like M-values, VPM-B, and similar concepts of the same nature (many aspects are still unclear, however ).

 

[Neilwood]

I tend to take these reviews with a large pinch (more of a handful actually) of salt.

BCD - they tend to focus on the traditional jacket types - back inflate gets a mention now and again. BP&W is almost never mentioned.
Computers - little on the algorithm but lots on the buttons etc. Given how little people tend to know about the algorithms though that might not be a bad thing.
Masks - ignores the fact that more often than not the mask chooses the user due to face shape (ie it is the only one that fits and doesn't leak)
Fins - ignores the fact that often, especially for people at the ends of the spectrum foot wise (both small and large) sometimes fins are chosen simply because they fit a particular set up (such as drysuit boots)

 

[rhwestfall]

Reviews seem to have the following connections:

1. Tied to advertising dollars.
2. Lavish statements unrelated to actual diving requirements.
3. Skewed to making sales.
4. Mostly positive.

I find it interesting that when I have left less than stellar reviews or comments on items on a few sites, they have never ended up in the comment section. They were actual explanations of what I found to be an issue, and not just "slams". I spend a bunch of time reviewing negative comments, deciphering what is really wrong with a product. Even a positive comment had better actually have some accompanying reason that is actually valid.

As with practically everything, and educated buyer is essential.

 

[The Chairman]

OK, I'm biased, but I like the discussions and reviews here more than anywhere else. Why? because my bias gets watered down by everyone else' opinions. Subconsciously, I'm going to like my advertisers, but you guys could care less. Often, they are my advertisers because I honestly love their gear, but still, you guys temper my opinions with your own. It's downright democratic.

 

[Marie13]

Online sellers like DRIS, LeisurePro, and DGX allow consumers to reviews items they sell,, so these are also sources for reviews.

 

[kelemvor]

Online sellers like DRIS, LeisurePro, and DGX allow consumers to reviews items they sell,, so these are also sources for reviews.

The problem with that is that there is big business in paying for product reviews on a website. I'm not saying any of these do that specifically, but it's very common, fairly inexpensive, and it certainly can not be ruled out.

I have to agree with Pete here. I like posts on SB about gear. If there's a lot of posts saying "my model x supercomputer keeps screwing up" I know there's a problem. If there's a lot of posts saying that one is great, then it might be worth checking into. That's how I do it anyway.