OCEANIC VTX DIVE COMPUTER REVIEW
BOTTOM LINE UP FRONT: THIS COMPUTER SUCKS!!!*
*It is possible I got a lemon, but that is not a risk I want to take with my life again.
I bought this Top-Rated (by SCUBALAB/SCUBA DIVING MAGAZINE) Oceanic VTX with Transmitter from Austin's Dive Center in Miami ( https://www.austinsdiving.com/ ) a few weeks ago in preparation for a few days of HammerHead Shark Diving in Bimini.
I had read reviews concerning both poor visibility in direct sun and a limited battery life prior to purchasing this computer, but I figured if SCUBALAB RATED it as the "TESTER'S CHOICE" it must be just a minor issue...WRONG!!!
I pulled it out of the box and did the initial set-up in the comfort of my living room while basking in the glow of the beautiful screen, but the set-up could not be completed without connecting to a computer so I pulled out the included CD and fired-up the laptop figuring just another few minutes...again WRONG!!! I tried to download the software from the CD on 3 different computers. All three failed and all with the same error. OK, I thought, I really don't care about the minor settings that you need to deal with via computer, I'll just deal with that after my trip.
Forging ahead the next day, I head to the pool for a test dive. To be fair the pool was bathed in the bright Key Largo Sun, but I could barely see a glimmer of the glow on the screen and could not begin to read it in the sun, when I shielded it under my hand I could just barely make out the screen, then to my surprise the screen disappeared completely having reverted to my setting of 60% reduced brightness for power saving (note 60% is the maximum setting allowed for power-saver mode). I pressed a button, the screen bounced back to 100% brightness and again I was rewarded with a barely visible screen under the shade of my hand.
Undeterred, I strode into the pool anyway, thinking that the screen would miraculously come to life underwater...again WRONG!!! at the maximum pool depth of 6 feet, I could barely read the screen in 100% brightness mode unshielded by my hand and could again not see a glimmer of a glow when it reverted to 60% brightness/power-saver mode.
At this point I was seriously worried about this computer, but as I was leaving the next day for a few days of diving in Bimini, I had no choice (I did however, bring back-ups).
On the dive boat in Bimini it was a major strain to read my tank pressure even with the computer shaded under my hand. But it was HammerTime so I jumped in hoping for the best. I did not get it from the computer but the HammerHead dive should be added to the bucket list of all avid divers and shark lovers. Anyway I hit the bottom at 27 ft and could only see a dim glow rather than a bright readable computer, so I hit the button bringing the display from 60% brightness to 100%. I was able to read the display without shading it...barely. Not what you expect when you pay well over a $1000 for a state of the art color dive computer, ARRRRGH!!!
Anyway, it only gets worse from here. I lost transmitter signal seemingly every time I swam down the line of other divers on the shark dive about half of which were using Wireless Air Integrated systems, none of which where Oceanic VTXs. The problem may have been transmitter interference as many companies use the same transmitter as Oceanic.
The final nail in the coffin of this OCEANIC VTX computer in my mind began near the end of my 4th dive with this computer (the first being a 12 minute pool session test) when a low battery warning appeared when prior to the dive I had no indication of or any expectations that the battery would be dead already. This was completely stupefying but proved to me that I could never trust this computer and could not even recommend it to my enemies.
The good news, Austin's Dive Center in Miami, refunded my money in full with no arguments. So, I used the refund and quite a few more bucks to buy the Shearwater Perdix AI, but that's another story...
Enjoy Your Dives,
Steve White
White Shark Adventures
*It is possible I got a lemon, but that is not a risk I want to take with my life again.
I bought this Top-Rated (by SCUBALAB/SCUBA DIVING MAGAZINE) Oceanic VTX with Transmitter from Austin's Dive Center in Miami ( https://www.austinsdiving.com/ ) a few weeks ago in preparation for a few days of HammerHead Shark Diving in Bimini.
I had read reviews concerning both poor visibility in direct sun and a limited battery life prior to purchasing this computer, but I figured if SCUBALAB RATED it as the "TESTER'S CHOICE" it must be just a minor issue...WRONG!!!
I pulled it out of the box and did the initial set-up in the comfort of my living room while basking in the glow of the beautiful screen, but the set-up could not be completed without connecting to a computer so I pulled out the included CD and fired-up the laptop figuring just another few minutes...again WRONG!!! I tried to download the software from the CD on 3 different computers. All three failed and all with the same error. OK, I thought, I really don't care about the minor settings that you need to deal with via computer, I'll just deal with that after my trip.
Forging ahead the next day, I head to the pool for a test dive. To be fair the pool was bathed in the bright Key Largo Sun, but I could barely see a glimmer of the glow on the screen and could not begin to read it in the sun, when I shielded it under my hand I could just barely make out the screen, then to my surprise the screen disappeared completely having reverted to my setting of 60% reduced brightness for power saving (note 60% is the maximum setting allowed for power-saver mode). I pressed a button, the screen bounced back to 100% brightness and again I was rewarded with a barely visible screen under the shade of my hand.
Undeterred, I strode into the pool anyway, thinking that the screen would miraculously come to life underwater...again WRONG!!! at the maximum pool depth of 6 feet, I could barely read the screen in 100% brightness mode unshielded by my hand and could again not see a glimmer of a glow when it reverted to 60% brightness/power-saver mode.
At this point I was seriously worried about this computer, but as I was leaving the next day for a few days of diving in Bimini, I had no choice (I did however, bring back-ups).
On the dive boat in Bimini it was a major strain to read my tank pressure even with the computer shaded under my hand. But it was HammerTime so I jumped in hoping for the best. I did not get it from the computer but the HammerHead dive should be added to the bucket list of all avid divers and shark lovers. Anyway I hit the bottom at 27 ft and could only see a dim glow rather than a bright readable computer, so I hit the button bringing the display from 60% brightness to 100%. I was able to read the display without shading it...barely. Not what you expect when you pay well over a $1000 for a state of the art color dive computer, ARRRRGH!!!
Anyway, it only gets worse from here. I lost transmitter signal seemingly every time I swam down the line of other divers on the shark dive about half of which were using Wireless Air Integrated systems, none of which where Oceanic VTXs. The problem may have been transmitter interference as many companies use the same transmitter as Oceanic.
The final nail in the coffin of this OCEANIC VTX computer in my mind began near the end of my 4th dive with this computer (the first being a 12 minute pool session test) when a low battery warning appeared when prior to the dive I had no indication of or any expectations that the battery would be dead already. This was completely stupefying but proved to me that I could never trust this computer and could not even recommend it to my enemies.
The good news, Austin's Dive Center in Miami, refunded my money in full with no arguments. So, I used the refund and quite a few more bucks to buy the Shearwater Perdix AI, but that's another story...
Enjoy Your Dives,
Steve White
White Shark Adventures
Need a new post!!
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