Suunto Vyper Battery Life

[awerda]

I'm interested in getting the Suunto Vyper and was just curious what the average battery life is? Also one complaint i've seen is that the buttons can be hard to press at depth. Is this true? Are they impossible to hit or just more difficult compared to other computers? Thanks for any help

 

[scubasean]

I'm interested in getting the Suunto Vyper and was just curious what the average battery life is? Also one complaint i've seen is that the buttons can be hard to press at depth. Is this true? Are they impossible to hit or just more difficult compared to other computers? Thanks for any help

I have not replaced the battery yet, but confirm that I have almost 70 dives on it with no loss of "battery bars" on the display.

As for the buttons being hard to push at depth, I don't typically have to push any during a dive and wonder what info might be on other screens that would be interesting to a diver during the dive....Thoughts?

The depth, NDL, max depth, dive time, oxygen loading, ascent rate, and probably a few things I can't recall are all on the first screen.....

 

[diverlady]

I have not replaced the battery yet, but confirm that I have almost 70 dives on it with no loss of "battery bars" on the display.

As for the buttons being hard to push at depth, I don't typically have to push any during a dive and wonder what info might be on other screens that would be interesting to a diver during the dive....Thoughts?

The depth, NDL, max depth, dive time, oxygen loading, ascent rate, and probably a few things I can't recall are all on the first screen.....

How about the back light. Have you had to use it?

Diverlady

 

[Karen Cleveland]

I'm interested in getting the Suunto Vyper and was just curious what the average battery life is? Also one complaint i've seen is that the buttons can be hard to press at depth. Is this true? Are they impossible to hit or just more difficult compared to other computers? Thanks for any help

I have had mine for awhile, probably 3-4 years and have never changed the battery. It has, I think 300 something dives and the battery bar is down 2 notches. I don't usually use the back light and I only hit one button at depth to get the actual time of day. And I find that pretty simple.

I think it is a great computer...granted it has been in guage mode for a few years. Prior to that my only complaint was that when you set the Nitrox mix you must do it pretty much right before getting into the water or it will revert back to air.

Karen

 

[Jai Bar]

Vyper battery lasts quite a lot of time- depends on frequency of use, how much you use the light, water temperature, etc.
Anyway, it is a matter of minutes to change the batt (no need to send it to switzerland ;-) ) and the battery is relatively cheap. So you don't have to bother too much thinking about battery replacement every few hundred dives...

Buttons? Of course, one may want to press them underwater from time to time:
Light- may be practical at night, ain't it?
Actual time of day- sometimes it is practical to see that it is 16:55 and the diving club closes its gates at 17:00 and you are mucking around at 30 meters...
Oxygen/Nitrogen loading- (In Nitrox mode one can swap the left bar display in order to see both of the gases' loading)
Add a "bookmark" to the profile

IMHO these functions are usefull to the diver from time to time, and in order to use them one needs the buttons. Luckily, they are easy to press underwater. With gloves it is a bit more difficults (I guess it'll be harder with gloves in any other computer too). The most difficult thing to do with gloves is to close the Vyper's wrist band buckle...

If you dive Nitrox then leave it always in "Nitrox" mode and when using air just type in "21%" then you don't have to worry about the computer switching to air or whatever. The left graph will show oxygen toxicity level and you'll need to press a button to see tissue N2 loading (in case you want).

Enjoy the Vyper- simply said- it is a great diving computer. Nothing less.

 

[caliscuba]

My Viper manual says: 400 dives a year...lasts for one year// 100 dives a year...lasts for 2-3 years.

 

[5615mike]

I have had mine for awhile, probably 3-4 years and have never changed the battery. It has, I think 300 something dives and the battery bar is down 2 notches. I don't usually use the back light and I only hit one button at depth to get the actual time of day. And I find that pretty simple.
I think it is a great computer...granted it has been in guage mode for a few years. Prior to that my only complaint was that when you set the Nitrox mix you must do it pretty much right before getting into the water or it will revert back to air. Karen

I have never had mine revert back to air. The Nitrox mix stays until I change it or change back to air. You might have that looked at by Suunto. I too only use the buttons for back light.

 

[scubasean]

I have never had mine revert back to air. The Nitrox mix stays until I change it or change back to air. You might have that looked at by Suunto. I too only use the buttons for back light.

Mine reverts to 21% but stays in the Nitrox mode, which is possibly what was meant....

 

[awerda]

Thanks everyone for your help

 

[jamiei]

Just like everyone else had said, the vyper is a great unit... the battery lasts quite a while and is easily and cheaply replaced. The buttons shouldn't be nearly as hard to press as the cobra's (which isn't that hard even in 50 degree water and gloves for me). The cobra's buttons have plastic covers which can make it a little more difficult but definately no reason to get a different computer. You'll be happy with it I'm sure.