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Digital Dive
Scuba Diving Equipment
www.simplyscuba.com
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|  Average Rating: 5 out of 5 No. of Reviews: 11 RRP: £175 Year: 2005 Description: The Suunto Gekko is one of- if not the best- entry level computer on the market for it's price. Absolutely fool proof for the beginner but has the capabilty of Nitrox when you have a few more dives under your belt. Can be used with both air and nitrox- and it is designed to give the specifics of any diving situation- including decompression- at a glance. Uses the Suunto Reduced Gradient Bubble Model (RGBM) decompression model and has a user-replaceable battery and adjustable metric/imperial units. Is equipped with a super bright phosphorescent display that can be charged with a dive torch. This ensures that you can easily view the display in dark conditions for extensive periods of time. You can wear Suunto Gekko as a wrist unit- or mount it on Suunto's Combo consoles. The Suunto Gekko is an ideal choice for sports divers who do not require PC interface interoperability or simulation features. The Gekko can be used with both air and nitrox- and it is designed to give the specifics of any diving situation- including decompression- at a glance. Suunto Gekko uses the Suunto Reduced Gradient Bubble Model (RGBM) decompression model and has a user-replaceable battery and adjustable metric/imperial units. The Gekko is equipped with a super bright phosphorescent display that can be charged with a dive torch. This ensures that you can easily view the display in dark conditions for extensive periods of time. Whether diving in familiar waters or exploring unknown oceans- safety is essential. Suunto Gekko is packed with solutions enabling safe and responsible decisions underwater. The depth- time and decompression measurement assure that you know precisely how long you have spend in the depths- how deep you are- when you have to surface and how fast you can do it. This way you can maximize the diving performance without jeopardizing your safety. The extensive memory functions enable you to keep track of your past dives and through them you can monitor your progress and plan your training accordingly. Easy-to-use push buttons and a straightforward menu structure make Suunto Gekko simple to operate. The extensive logbook memory stores up to 50 hours of dive profiles and logbook data- including the dive start time and date- dive time- the maximum depth attained and the temperature at maximum depth. Additionally- the dive history keeps track of up to 999 dives and 999 dive hours- as well as the maximum depth ever reached. Both ascent rate and available no-decompression time are displayed graphically with clear color-coded indicators. Visual and audible alarms are given when necessary. You can also enable maximum depth and dive time alarms. Features: Air and Nitrox modes Extensive memory functions Suunto RGBM model Audible alarm Phosphorescent display Easy and reliable push-buttons User-replaceable battery
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|  | | Posted: 27/08/07 | | 'SO EASY TO USE, HAD IT WORKING BEFORE WE REACHED THE CAR' | | Strengths:
This really is a brilliant peice of kit for the money. i have been diving for about a year now and for the whole of that time have been looking for a good computer with a good reputation and within my £200 budget, and i looked everywhere and every time i ended up coming back to the gekko, yes i know it doesnt do some of the things that a fancy top of the line air intergrated computer does but come on its £150 quid and as i have been constantly told by other club members 'every now and then equipment fails'. That basically says to me 'ok spend £400 pounds on an air intergrated computer so you dont need guages, and then when your diving at 30m and you battery suddenly dies you have a bit of a problem you dont know how deep you are, how much air you have left, and what your decompression times are. So what is the point in paying alot for something which if it goes wrong could cause you problems, when for less money you can buy a decent set of guages and a gekko where if it where ever to fail you stil have a set of guages to get you back to the surface'. basically for the money you cant go wrong and its a suunto what more could you want? the first time i dived with it i wanted to see just how it would match up to some of the other club members really expensive computers and to my surprise it told me exactly the same instructions as a £500 pound computer. So i thought to myself, cheap and nasty really does not apply to this computer, more like cheap and brilliant. If you are thinking about buying a computer by all means have a look at the expensive ones, but seriously consider the suunto gekko before you shell out on something expensive. Its a truly brilliant computer which will look after you in all situations. | | Weaknesses:
the only bad side that i can find to this computer is that you cant upload your dives to your pc but you can stil get all the information off the computer to put into your log book it takes about hmm 1 minute | | Overall:
unbeleivabley easy to use, a nice clear display with backlight, does everything you would ever need a computer to do, easy to read display, and it comes as a wrist version or hose mounted |
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| | | | Performance | | 100% | | Quality | | 100% | | Value | | 100% |
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| | | Posted: 26/02/07 | | 'THE BEST VALUE-FOR-MONEY ENTRY-LEVEL DIVE COMPUTER' | | Strengths:
Given that the screen is not backlit, I was a little worried that the display might be difficult to see. I posted my concern on one of Dive magazine's forums and none other than Charles Hood responded with the following: "The phosphorescent display works extremely well on the Gekko. In all but the murkiest of waters I think it is clearer than the backlit displays." Having now dived with this computer I agree. The display is remarkably clear.
With the increasing popularity and availability of Nitrox, the fact that the Gekko can cope with mixes of up to 50% oxygen is very useful indeed. You can also replace the battery yourself, a potential cost saving.
In common with other technology, I believe that a lot of dive computers are over-specified and include functions that you may never use. For example, more expensive Suunto computers have a PC interface that allows you to download your dive profiles. I suspect that the novelty of inspecting your dive profile wears off pretty quickly.
Rumour has it that the PC function on the Gekko was disabled to justify the lower price compared to its Suunto siblings, like the Vyper and Vytec. Anyway, a quick search on the Internet will get you a software download that should make it possible to retrieve your dive profiles, making it difficult to justify buying a more expensive computer. So, even a Gekko could be used as a little 'black box' recorder should you have a serious accident – but let's not go there.
| | Weaknesses:
I don't think this dive computer counts as a fashion accessory. I’ve noticed that some dive computers are being disguised as ordinary wristwatches. If that is what you want then this computer may not fit the bill. Even on a chunky wrist, the Gekko may look a little big and bulky.
Though the computer is easy to use, the User's Guide could have been written a little more clearly. Was ever thus? I spent at least half an hour reading the Guide before jumping in the water and I think this is a useful precaution: if you have an incident underwater you don't want to be guessing what your computer is telling you. But if you’re reading this, I’m probably preaching to the converted.
| | Overall:
You will not be disappointed with this computer. But whatever you decide to buy, happy diving. |
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| | | | Performance | | 100% | | Quality | | 80% | | Value | | 100% |
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| | | Posted: 06/11/06
Updated: 17/11/06 | | | | | Performance | | 100% | | Quality | | 100% | | Value | | 100% |
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