What would you recommend for a bottom timer/depth gauge?

[doctormike]

Petrel definitely seems to be the best thing out there.

This statement is true.

 

[SCU5]

A number of buddies in SoCal have had Xen screens dim and have been hosed by Liquivision on service costs. And by a number I mean 5+ buddies have had issues, I would not buy anything from Liquivision if you want it to last longer than the 2 year warranty.

I have an xDeep Black and it has been solid but they no longer produce the BT version. Everyone I know who has a Petrel is very happy with it - it's the gold standard at the moment.

 

[Matan]

love my Xen, but I must say, there is no substitue on this earth to the Uwatec/Scubapro 330m guage. will never fail you

Matan.

 

[lamont]

My bottom timer before the uwatec was a suunto vytec. I have owned around a dozen suunto products over the years. I am a slow learner. Most have eventually failed in one manner or the other. The only suunto items I own that are still functioning are their land based compass and an old D3 (non computer) watch. Half the buttons are broken on the watch so it is living on borrowed time. Even a deal on a suunto wouldn't be good enough for me.

My Vyper was bulletproof and finally just got stolen. I did go though 2 D3s pretty quickly as they both broke. I had a couple Tec 2gs as well that both developed issues.

I've got a Predator now, its been fine, just needs the batteries changed.

Xen/Xeos seemed very fussy initially, never owned one.

---------- Post added July 22nd, 2015 at 06:17 PM ----------

The problem with it is I have a hard time reading the numbers as I have a difficult time seeing up close when I have contacts on.

Another solution here is a mask with bifocals...

 

[Adobo]

Another solution here is a mask with bifocals...

Oh, dear lord. Isn't that a rule 6 violation?

 

[lamont]

Oh, dear lord. Isn't that a rule 6 violation?

Probably. Contacts and big shearwater predator numbers are working for me now, but at some point when the compass gets blurry enough I'll probably have to look for some other solution...

 

[Greg_Vic_Diver]

From what I can see the Xen is pretty much a prototype that turned into a product. The fit and finish is no where near the Petrel 2 (looks like it was potted in a garage) and I've seen nothing but problems from my dive buddies with them. The Xen has a very hard to find battery, can't keep accurate time and frequently dies even after saying it has a good charge for a dive... Yes even during a dive. If you have a Xen...you need to have a backup with you. How can a bottom timer not even be able to keep an accurate date and time?

I have a Suunto Vyper (rock solid) and a Petrel 2 ...if I were looking at buying a new or used bottom timer I wouldn't hesitate to recommend those two. The Vyper gets a battery replacement once a year and the Petrel can take ANY double AA battery (NiCd, NiMh and Li) and adapt. Awesome.

I've haven't seen or had any experience with an Xdeep yet so can't comment.

 

[Ayisha]

...I've haven't seen or had any experience with an Xdeep yet so can't comment.

Last year, I never saw another xDeep (Genz) Black on any boat or dive site that I was on, but this year, I've been seeing them quite often. Absolutely love this computer. It gets a lot of attention everywhere I go, and people are amazed at how easy it is to read and how precisely it measures. And no need for bifocals!!

 

[LiteHedded]

From what I can see the Xen is pretty much a prototype that turned into a product. The fit and finish is no where near the Petrel 2 (looks like it was potted in a garage) and I've seen nothing but problems from my dive buddies with them. The Xen has a very hard to find battery, can't keep accurate time and frequently dies even after saying it has a good charge for a dive... Yes even during a dive. If you have a Xen...you need to have a backup with you. How can a bottom timer not even be able to keep an accurate date and time?

I have a Suunto Vyper (rock solid) and a Petrel 2 ...if I were looking at buying a new or used bottom timer I wouldn't hesitate to recommend those two. The Vyper gets a battery replacement once a year and the Petrel can take ANY double AA battery (NiCd, NiMh and Li) and adapt. Awesome.

I've haven't seen or had any experience with an Xdeep yet so can't comment.

xen is crap and the company that makes it is crap

 

[jethrocramp]

I have a Genz Black as main computer and an old HelO2 set to gauge mode as my back up. If you can get a second hand HelO2 cheap it's a great option as a BT. It has a big display with all the important numbers (depth and time) in large letters. Perfect for the visually challenged older diver. It's robust and the batteries last forever. Don't ever use the HelO2 as a dive computer though - it's **** (happy to explain why, but that's a whole separate issue).