Review: Aqualung i300 Dive Computer
19th November 2016
Anyone who has done an Open Water or Advanced course with Dive Rutland knows that after a mask and snorkel the next most important single piece of equipment we recommend you as a diver should own is a Dive computer.
With a dive computer on your person you have full control over your dive and are completely self-reliant – which is exactly what you, as a certified diver should strive to be. A Dive Rutland member of staff or more experienced buddy is good to have as an added layer of safety but as we teach you your safety is your responsibility and no one else’s.
With a dive computer on your person you have full control over your dive and are completely self-reliant – which is exactly what you, as a certified diver should strive to be. A Dive Rutland member of staff or more experienced buddy is good to have as an added layer of safety but as we teach you your safety is your responsibility and no one else’s.
Yes, it costs a little bit of money – but really, if you factor in the years of use you can get out of it, the annual cost is not that high. My personal computers after many years of use, do not owe me anything.
Having all of the information not only improves your safety, but your confidence as well – and that means that you are more likely to continue to dive.
Recently our Aqualung sales representative asked us to trial the Aqualung i300 Dive computer, as an entry-level option and an alternative to the Suunto Zoop Novo.
An ‘entry-level’ computer is not the same as ‘cheapest’. The idea is to have a computer which has a sensible set of features i.e. one which includes everything that is essential, and where you are not paying for extra bunch of bells-and-whistles nor saving money by giving up on things that are important, be that features or usability.
The Aqualung i300 is an over-sized dive computer, which has 4 modes: Air, Nitrox, Free and Gauge. The first two are for diving, the third for skin-diving / Free-Diving and the last for use as a bottom timer.
It also comes with a bunch of useful features:
It gets credit for having a sensible Dive Plan mode – on many computer including the Suunto Zoop Novo accessing the Plan mode during a surface interval would only provide the bottom time based on the current surface interval. So if you were 30 minutes into the surface interval and wanted to get into the water after another 20 minutes, there was no way to work out how much bottom time you would get then – the Plan mode would only show you how much bottom time you had now. The i300 allows you to add more surface interval to the planning mode, which makes it much more useful to work out if you have time to go and have that burger before your next dive or go and sit in the hot tub.
The Algorithm
Now for the technical bit for those interested in this type of thing. If not, then please skip to the next section - I will not be offended.
The main purpose of a dive computer is to help you plan and execute your dives, so how good is the i300 at this?
On taking a step back, we must sing the praises of Suunto dive computers, they are the heavy-weight of the dive industry holding the number one slot for many years, and with good reason – they have sophisticated computer modes, exceptional reliability, smart interface and look good. The downside to them is they are overly conservative. They use an algorithm called RGBM, which tries and predicts and minimise silent bubble (remember those from your training?) build up in your body, but the downside to this is your dive time is greatly reduced, especially on repetitive dives.
The i300 is made by Pelagic Systems (owned by Aqualung) – who also it should be said make dive computers for Oceanic, Mares and others and who are one of the leaders in developing decompression algorithms. The i300 uses their PZ+ algorithm, which is a moderately conservative algorithm, slotting in between the liberal DSAT model (also created by Pelagic) and Suunto’s conservative RGBM model.
So, in theory this should give you more bottom time, especially on repetitive dives.
So I hear you saying – hang on – isn’t it better to have a more conservative computer? Well I sort of agree with that as that is one of the reasons why we use Suunto computers in our Dive School.
However our decision making process is different in the school to you as we have a number of variations to consider – Body types, fitness level, age groups, health levels and abilities to name but a few. You only have yourself.
The inescapable fact that millions of people have been diving safely for years using variations of the Buhlmann model (Dive Masters remember that from your theory) of which the PZ+ is a derivative. So at what point is a computer conservative enough?
Suunto themselves recognise it to some degree – on their higher end computers, as they offer a setting to make the computer less conservative.
My belief from my recent research is, unless you have a condition which requires you to be more conservative when it comes to DCS (age, fitness, overweight), the PZ+ algorithm is going to be more than adequate at keeping you safe – just be careful about watching your ascent rate, give yourself at least an hour between dives (remember that from your Open Water training) and follow all of the concepts of safe diving that we have taught you and you will be good to go.
Testing the computer
So since we have been loaned a couple of i300’s it would have been rude not to have them in the water.
The feedback has been pretty good but we should note that our testing was not scientific!
The backlighting worked well, the tactile buttons were a pleasure to use, and all the automatic features of the computer worked precisely as they were supposed to. The display is very clear and easy to read, with all of the essential information available at a single glance.
Conclusion
Would I recommend an i300? Well before this I would have recommended the Suunto Zoop Novo (RRP £189.00) or Viper Novo (£349.00) – why? Because as a long time Suunto supporter at Dive Rutland and the brand we use in the shop we have always had excellent results.
However for an individual diver, the slightly less conservative algorithm of the i300 makes it a much better buy, especially whilst the prices are more than comparable.
There are more expensive options out there. What a greater price gets you:
All those features are nice to have, and if budget allows; by all means go for it. A Suunto D6i Novo (RRP £595.00) or equivalent is a great buy in that price range. But if you are a casual recreational diver who is not looking to spend a huge amount of money on unnecessary dive equipment, the Aqualung i300 is a good buy (RRP £191.00).
If you have found this review of interest or would like to discuss your computer requirements with us here at Dive Rutland, your friendly, local Dive Centre here in the heart of Rutland, please pop in or contact us
Having all of the information not only improves your safety, but your confidence as well – and that means that you are more likely to continue to dive.
Recently our Aqualung sales representative asked us to trial the Aqualung i300 Dive computer, as an entry-level option and an alternative to the Suunto Zoop Novo.
An ‘entry-level’ computer is not the same as ‘cheapest’. The idea is to have a computer which has a sensible set of features i.e. one which includes everything that is essential, and where you are not paying for extra bunch of bells-and-whistles nor saving money by giving up on things that are important, be that features or usability.
The Aqualung i300 is an over-sized dive computer, which has 4 modes: Air, Nitrox, Free and Gauge. The first two are for diving, the third for skin-diving / Free-Diving and the last for use as a bottom timer.
It also comes with a bunch of useful features:
- User replaceable batteries;
- A two button design which makes it very easy to operate and the programming architecture is very intuitive;
- Backlighting - for viewing in low visibility or night-diving;
- Auto-detection of altitude and water type - fresh or sea water;
- Automatic altitude adjustment;
- The usual depth and time alarms; and 2 unique alarms
- Dive Time Remaining - which can be set to bleep to however many minutes before you hit your no-deco limit; and
- Nitrogen loading alarm - which can be set to bleep when you hit 20%, 40%, 60% or 80% of your max nitrogen loading.
It gets credit for having a sensible Dive Plan mode – on many computer including the Suunto Zoop Novo accessing the Plan mode during a surface interval would only provide the bottom time based on the current surface interval. So if you were 30 minutes into the surface interval and wanted to get into the water after another 20 minutes, there was no way to work out how much bottom time you would get then – the Plan mode would only show you how much bottom time you had now. The i300 allows you to add more surface interval to the planning mode, which makes it much more useful to work out if you have time to go and have that burger before your next dive or go and sit in the hot tub.
The Algorithm
Now for the technical bit for those interested in this type of thing. If not, then please skip to the next section - I will not be offended.
The main purpose of a dive computer is to help you plan and execute your dives, so how good is the i300 at this?
On taking a step back, we must sing the praises of Suunto dive computers, they are the heavy-weight of the dive industry holding the number one slot for many years, and with good reason – they have sophisticated computer modes, exceptional reliability, smart interface and look good. The downside to them is they are overly conservative. They use an algorithm called RGBM, which tries and predicts and minimise silent bubble (remember those from your training?) build up in your body, but the downside to this is your dive time is greatly reduced, especially on repetitive dives.
The i300 is made by Pelagic Systems (owned by Aqualung) – who also it should be said make dive computers for Oceanic, Mares and others and who are one of the leaders in developing decompression algorithms. The i300 uses their PZ+ algorithm, which is a moderately conservative algorithm, slotting in between the liberal DSAT model (also created by Pelagic) and Suunto’s conservative RGBM model.
So, in theory this should give you more bottom time, especially on repetitive dives.
So I hear you saying – hang on – isn’t it better to have a more conservative computer? Well I sort of agree with that as that is one of the reasons why we use Suunto computers in our Dive School.
However our decision making process is different in the school to you as we have a number of variations to consider – Body types, fitness level, age groups, health levels and abilities to name but a few. You only have yourself.
The inescapable fact that millions of people have been diving safely for years using variations of the Buhlmann model (Dive Masters remember that from your theory) of which the PZ+ is a derivative. So at what point is a computer conservative enough?
Suunto themselves recognise it to some degree – on their higher end computers, as they offer a setting to make the computer less conservative.
My belief from my recent research is, unless you have a condition which requires you to be more conservative when it comes to DCS (age, fitness, overweight), the PZ+ algorithm is going to be more than adequate at keeping you safe – just be careful about watching your ascent rate, give yourself at least an hour between dives (remember that from your Open Water training) and follow all of the concepts of safe diving that we have taught you and you will be good to go.
Testing the computer
So since we have been loaned a couple of i300’s it would have been rude not to have them in the water.
The feedback has been pretty good but we should note that our testing was not scientific!
The backlighting worked well, the tactile buttons were a pleasure to use, and all the automatic features of the computer worked precisely as they were supposed to. The display is very clear and easy to read, with all of the essential information available at a single glance.
Conclusion
Would I recommend an i300? Well before this I would have recommended the Suunto Zoop Novo (RRP £189.00) or Viper Novo (£349.00) – why? Because as a long time Suunto supporter at Dive Rutland and the brand we use in the shop we have always had excellent results.
However for an individual diver, the slightly less conservative algorithm of the i300 makes it a much better buy, especially whilst the prices are more than comparable.
There are more expensive options out there. What a greater price gets you:
- is a smaller form factor so you can wear it like a wrist watch – which is actually a really a good thing; it goes with you wherever you go, so you are sorted if you make a last minute decision to go diving somewhere;
- air integration via optional cylinder transmitter which allows you to see what air you have left, both in bars and time, based on your breathing rate;
- an inbuilt digital compass; and
- at the highest end of the scale, the ability to switch gases between various nitrox and helium blends and rebreather modes.
All those features are nice to have, and if budget allows; by all means go for it. A Suunto D6i Novo (RRP £595.00) or equivalent is a great buy in that price range. But if you are a casual recreational diver who is not looking to spend a huge amount of money on unnecessary dive equipment, the Aqualung i300 is a good buy (RRP £191.00).
If you have found this review of interest or would like to discuss your computer requirements with us here at Dive Rutland, your friendly, local Dive Centre here in the heart of Rutland, please pop in or contact us