What is the best brand?

[spike627]

I was looking to get a new computer and I saw the Oceanic ,Suunto,Aeris and Uwatec . Can any one tell me what brand they think is better! witch brand has more features! thx

 

[PurduEE]

Bearing in mind that this is simple one man's opinion (as all of the responses to this will be - or one womans...)

1. Suunto - I like their styling, ease of use, download software, etc. The also tend to be on the conservative side. I own 2 air integrated cobras.

2a. Oceanic - I really like the newer Versa Pro and VT Pro. I recently purchased a VT Pro since it was decidedly cheaper than the Vytec. They are a more towards the agressive side in their models as they ship, but PO2 can be adjusted with Versa Pro and VT Pro to dive more aggressive/conservative. Their other computers (veo series) do not have adjustable P02 (I think they are 1.6 from factory, but I'm not sure) so they are agressive all the time.

2b. Aeris - They buy the same computers as Oceanic from the same supplier (Pelagic). Same features, different names, tend to be just slightly more expensive than Oceanic.

3. Uwatec - I have never liked these computers. I don't like the interface, I hate the memo mouse thing. Every manufacturer has some bad press from time to time, but right now uwatec is weathering the litigation storm. See other threads for details. I rented one in Hawaii once.

 

[seadog]

Used a Tusa (Suunto) for 4 years, always worked great; some quirks but nothing major.

Use Oceanic Versa Pro now, Like the big display and ease of accessing dive log info.

 

[reefman]

oceanic and aeris are made by the same company, pelagic. other than appearance, the differences are minor. iv'e owned 2 aeris computers; atmos pro and the atmosAI which i use presently. terrific computers and are priced slightly higher than oceanic.
the sunto computers have a good reputation, however, they are much more conservative than aeris or oceanic computers on successive deep dives. a primary reason i went with aeris.

reefman
key largo

 

[spike627]

Do you like the AI better or the wrist? Have you ever used the Atmos Elite? thx

 

[u5agi]

I would like to add that a computer that is more convervative is not necessarily a bad thing... It boils down to the kind of diving you see yourself doing and the level of risk you are willing to tolerate.

 

[PurduEE]

spike627 once bubbled...
Do you like the AI better or the wrist? Have you ever used the Atmos Elite? thx

In a sense, I have used the Atmos Elite. The Elite is the same as the Oceanic VT Pro. I like my VT Pro a lot. One less hose, less clutter, and the advantages of a AI computer. As AI hoseless goes, it was pretty inexpensive. I waited a long time for the hoseless problems to get worked out and problems seem now to be much less frequent.

If it was a question of console (ai on console) or a wrist mount computer, I personally would go wrist mount every time with a small SPG attached to a bolt snap routed under my arm and clipped to the right side chest D-ring.

 

[Charlie99]

spike627 once bubbled...
I was looking to get a new computer and I saw the Oceanic ,Suunto,Aeris and Uwatec . Can any one tell me what brand they think is better! witch brand has more features! thx

A feature difference that a lot of people overlook is that the Pelagic computers (Oceanic, Aeris, and others) have a bargraph that graphically displays the loading in the compartment closest to NDL, usually referred to a the Tissue Loading BarGraph or TLBG. Other computers with a bargraph simply repeat the NDL time info in a graphical format. Suunto calls it the Consumed Bottom Time or CBT bargraph.

The significance of this is that below 30' or so, the Consumed Bottom Time or CBT bargraph will show that you have lots of time no matter how heavily loaded your tissues are. If you have not been paying attention to your profile and don't know from your own calculations how heavily loaded you are, you may falsely assume that you are very lightly loaded when only 1 or 2 bars near the bottom of CBT are displayed.

With the Oceanic/Pelagic computers, the TLBG will continue to show the loading level of the most heavily loaded tissue --- generally one in the 30-60 minute halftime and gives you a clearer indication of how heavily loaded you are. In other words, the TLBG gives you an indication which is more like a pressure group than NDL time remaining.

In this area, the Oceanic/Pelagic computers offer more and better info for you to use in planning your ascent and stops.

 

[Charlie99]

Oceanic/Pelagic computers as well as most others are rather dumb devices that simply work as bookkeepers, keeping track of N2 loading in various halftime compartments. My Oceanic computer shows the same loading, and the same NDLs whether or not I'm doing reverse profiles, bouncing up and down, or popping to the surface at 120fpm. In other words, if you are misbehaving, its up to you to add in additional conservatism.

Suunto, OTOH, modifies the M-values (which in turn modifies NDLs) in response to reverse profiles, yo-yo diving, and ascent rates. These modified M-values reflect what you have done up to 100 hours ago.

 

[Charlie99]

u5agi once bubbled...
I would like to add that a computer that is more convervative is not necessarily a bad thing... It boils down to the kind of diving you see yourself doing and the level of risk you are willing to tolerate.

What sets your risk is what profile you have done, not what your computer says. Nobody says you have to dive to the limits.