Torn Between Two Computers

[Zef]

Avoid suunto like you would avoid herpes. Proprietary algorithm, history of denying problems with their computers (even in the face of a compulsory recall). There are other options out there if you're not sure about shearwater.

And yet they conducted a worldwide voluntary recall on their transmitters that one can still take advantage of today, where they test the transmitter, replace the battery, o-ring , and cover, and ship it back with two different flow restrictors, all at no cost to the owner...plus they offer a one year warranty from the date they conduct the inspection, and don't care if you are not the original owner of the transmitter either.

To top this off, I had purchased a battery and cover kit from Amazon to have as a spare for the eventuality of replacing the battery...this was before the recall so the cover did not have the "o" printed on it. My local dive shop gave their Suunto distributor a call and they were given the ok to replace the cover and o-ring in the kit for me.

Perhaps that should balance out their karma a little?

-Z

 

[formernuke]

If the watch format isn't an issue, what about the Deep 6 Excursion? Doesn't it use the same or very similar algorithm as the Shearwaters? The savings can be put toward other dive gear, and it will become a good backup DC down the road. Just a thought.

How is the display? The OP has stated he will be diving in low VIS, I've had to praticly press my perdix up to my mask to read it up here before.

 

[formernuke]

And yet they conducted a worldwide voluntary recall on their transmitters that one can still take advantage of today, where they test the transmitter, replace the battery, o-ring , and cover, and ship it back with two different flow restrictors, all at no cost to the owner...plus they offer a one year warranty from the date they conduct the inspection, and don't care if you are not the original owner of the transmitter either.

To top this off, I had purchased a battery and cover kit from Amazon to have as a spare for the eventuality of replacing the battery...this was before the recall so the cover did not have the "o" printed on it. My local dive shop gave their Suunto distributor a call and they were given the ok to replace the cover and o-ring in the kit for me.

Perhaps that should balance out their karma a little?

-Z

Umm, that was because the transmitter could explode. And they they didn't tell me about that recall either even though it was registered with them. Final straw, 2 recalls that they don't even tell the customers about. I will never buy or recommend a suunto.

 

[Zef]

Umm, that was because the transmitter could explode. And they they didn't tell me about that recall either even though it was registered with them. Final straw, 2 recalls that they don't even tell the customers about. I will never buy or recommend a suunto.

Suunto certainly did announce their recall, and it was fairly well discussed here on SB. To my knowledge, out of all the transmitters that they had sold there were only 2 that catastrophically failed and it was unclear whether those transmitters were already compromised by the owners/users.

Lets look at something a little analagous:
Aqualung knows that their Fusion air-core drysuits that were made in mexico had seam failure issues. They have halted production at the Mexico facility and are only producing the suits in British Columbia Canada. They have not issued a recall and have not announced any of the problems or change in production facility. They will however replace the core of the suit under warranty if one experiences a problem and works through their local aqualung dealer to have the suit sent back. On top of that they have not had dealers cull stock of made in Mexico suits, they are still be sold to customers who most likely have no clue that they have a very large potential to develop a problem.

As a drysuit diver, failing/leaky seams is just a disaster just waiting to happen. I shudder at the thought of trudging out of the water after a cold winter diver with liters of water in my suit and my undergarments soaked. I was lucky that my suit only had the seams at the heels of the socks affected.

It is one thing to not buy or recommend Suunto and their products...it is another thing all together to keep kicking them when they don't necessarily deserve it. They are not any better or worse than most other companies in the world or even the diving industry.

-Z

 

[Blackcrusader]

It is one thing to not buy or recommend Suunto and their products...it is another thing all together to keep kicking them when they don't necessarily deserve it. They are not any better or worse than most other companies in the world or even the diving industry. -Z

I just loved Suunto when the dive shop I dive with would ask to see my dive logs and they came out like this... WTF are you doing on air at 66m and missing deco stops on our padi dive shop where we dive to NDL and not deeper than 40m and I ended the dive at 51.6m. How did you manage to stay at 50m for nearly an hour on an AL80 with 200 bar?

Yeah fun that is.. lol, Please tell me why Suunto shafted their non US based customers. The agent told me to sod off.

 

[Blackcrusader]

I must have been telling porky pies about that 66m dive cause my next dive only shows 25.9m max depth..

 

[lowwall]

If the watch format isn't an issue, what about the Deep 6 Excursion? Doesn't it use the same or very similar algorithm as the Shearwaters? The savings can be put toward other dive gear, and it will become a good backup DC down the road. Just a thought.

The OP specified visibility is an issue. The Excursion is not a good choice for areas with limited viz or people with vision issues. The size of the numbers are obviously constrained by the watch format, but beyond that it's not a particularly high contrast display.

If the OP really wants to save money by going with a monochrome display, something like an Oceanic Veo 2.0 would be a better choice.

 

[FezUSA]

The OP specified visibility is an issue. The Excursion is not a good choice for areas with limited viz or people with vision issues. The size of the numbers are obviously constrained by the watch format, but beyond that it's not a particularly high contrast display.

If the OP really wants to save money by going with a monochrome display, something like an Oceanic Veo 2.0 would be a better choice.

OP>
5. Larger screen and excellent visibility is very important to me. I will not be wearing this device as a watch. My 58 year old eyes are not getting any better. Go big or go home! If forum members believe one screen or the other has better visibility, that would be important to me.

I believe the OP mentioned visibility in the context of screen legibility, not water visibility. I think this is somewhat personal, as I don't consider the Excursion difficult to read and I like 1.25 readers when using a book. I would say the OP needs to weigh up the size of the unit vs. screen legibility. If they are completely fine with the Peregrine form and price, then that's a good solution. However if they wanted a cheaper alternative and the Excursion form was acceptable, then I think that it would also be a good solution with quite a savings.

 

[GRH]

I'll again be one of the few voices OK with Suunto even if it goes against the opinions of frequent SB posters.

I recently went through the same process of buying a new dive computer after being out of the water for the past 4 plus years due to a couple medical issues, eventually getting a hip replacement that has me feeling like new again.

I do most of my diving in the dark green water of Puget Sound, have recently retired and as a relatively older diver, a large easy to read display was a priority. Coming from a computer with AI I wanted to maintain that capability as well. I did my research and narrowed my choice down to either a Shearwater or Suunto Eon.

As evident in this thread, the Pro Shearwater bias is strong and the distain for Suunto even stronger. I read all the replies and still came away open to either a Shearwater or a Suunto Eon.

With readability the number one requirement, I found the Suunto Eon Steel to have the largest display with the most flexible display configuration options. While still open to either brand, a visit to the Suunto website listed the Eon Steel on sale at 50% off so I placed an order. Seems my version of the Eon Steel has been replaced with a new version, the Eon Steel Black.

The number 1 criticism of the Eon Steel was the lack of the Bühlmann algorithm and conservative nature of RGBM 2. As a recreational diver I have little need for tech level features and the truth is RGBM 2 has 5 setting levels to choose from based on a diver’s experience level ranging from very conservative to very advanced.

The lack of Bühlmann keeps coming up even though Suunto has added the algorithm to the Steel.

I have no need for the Bühlmann algorithm but Suunto offered a free upgrade so I sent my Steel in, Suunto prepaid shipping both ways, and I now have the Bühlmann option in addition to RGBM 2. The new Eon Steel Black will come standard with both Bühlmann and RGBM 2 and future upgrades for both my upgraded Steel and the new Black are done remotely.

I didn’t find support concerns with the Eon line and based on my Bühlmann upgrade process, the Suunto service was excellent.

I would have been fine with a Shearwater but am also satisfied with my decision to buy the Eon Steel. I am curious why there is so much hate for Suunto Eon’s. The top complaint of not supporting Bühlmann is no longer relevant, RGBM 2 has advance options that are NOT conservative and service history on the Eon line seems as good as any other computer. If I had been impacted by a faulty depth sensor on an older model, I may not have considered another Suunto. Those prior experiences I can understand but the algorithm complaints should be put to bed.

 

[formernuke]

If I had been impacted by a faulty depth sensor on an older model, I may not have considered another Suunto. Those prior experiences I can understand but the algorithm complaints should be put to bed.

Hit the nail on the head I was impacted by both recalls. I had to pay for shipping both ways and it took 2 months for them to fix it.

So we have denying the problem, not notifying the consumers even after it went to class action law suit (I should not have found out here, suunto should have notified me) and having to pay for shipping.