New Liquivision X1 Battery Policy !

PacketSniffer

It's not bizzare. It's brilliant. If you ever had the misfortune of owning a dive computer where the battery compartment and/or power source failed constantly, you'd appreciate the X1 concept.

The X1 has not caused me to miss or abort one dive. It keeps me in the water with no issues. That's what I'm paying for.

By the way, you're saving a ton o' dough on gas, just use some of that money, Squeaky.

__________________


Far better it is to dare mighty things, to win glorious triumphs, even though checked by failure, than to take rank with those poor spirits who neither enjoy much nor suffer much, because they live in the gray twilight that knows not victory or defeat.

mempilot

First, Let me say that I agree with you that this is a great piece of kit. I just don't believe it is a great deal as some have stated.

Where do you get 10 to 15 hours from? This is a strange comment and has nothing to do with anything I've said.

That is exactly what I quoted above. You would have to get it serviced prior to sale since the battery life remaining would be in question to the buyer and $400 would be a looming liability if it wasn't already deducted from the already depreciated value. I agree with you about servicing prior to sale. You are arguing with no one. We agree.

Unlocked VR3s sell for about 50% of new value. I agree that the X1 screen is awesome. No argument there at all. Again, what is your point here? We agree.

You are off on some tangent here. Any gear that I own that is worth thousands of dollars gets amortized. I want to know what it is worth for resale, because like most divers, I usually want the latest and greatest. I want to know what it cost me on a per dive or per year basis to determine when it is time to move it before it depreciates too far and I can't recoupe some value from it.

Take it easy there. You seem to be all worked up over a simple statement of fact that the X1 cost more to own than the competition. The benefits may be worth the extra cost and maintenance to some divers, and I wouldn't tell someone not to buy one if that were the case. In my mind, and in others, this is not the case. I'm happy that you like your X1. I would like it too if I owned it. That isn't the issue.

I don't defend the VR3 at all. I actually don't like it very much. I'm evaluating all of them for their strengths and weaknesses. The X1 fits the bill for me on all accounts but the high battery liability. The VR3 neither dissappoints nor delights me in any way. The Shearwater seems to be a great all around contender for the value.

What's your point here? Replacing a simple battery once a year whether it needs it or not is no big deal, both in a physical or monetary sense. So what?

Great attributes of the X1.

I'm sorry you grip your shit at all. You seem to be all worked up because someone thinks the X1 is a great computer but thinks the battery philosophy is iffy. I guess everyone needs to agree with you to keep you from blowing a gasket.

Everyone has opinions. If you'd like to spring the $400 for everyone worried about a premature battery failure, then we'd all probably pick one up. The up front cost isn't the issue.

Go take a few deep breaths and don't forget to do a DIL flush.

__________________
Eric Stadtmueller, otherwise known as, MEM "Da Pilot"

mempilot

Mark,

I agree. If I dived one, I wouldn't want to give it back. That was the same thing people said about the VR3 when it came out and was all the rage. Now people slam it left and right for a number of frustrations.

I'm sure there will be posts on here in a few years that aren't all rosy, but hey, it's in it's infancy.

Sorry you guys get all worked up over someone posting their opinion. Cost analysis comes up all the time in technical gear due to the high cost of aquisition and operation. I wouldn't call it dribble, but maybe you live a different reality, or wait, you get stuff wholesale, don't you??

__________________
Eric Stadtmueller, otherwise known as, MEM "Da Pilot"

mempilot

Alright buddy! You talked me into it. A new battery for my SS N19 costs $400, why not the battery for my dive computer?

But hey, we all have deep pockets and a sense for blowing money on expensive gear. I agree with you. Screw even having a conversation about value and just open up the check book!

I don't like my VR3, so it's eventually out anyway. I find it funny that people are so willing to say that the X1 will never have any maintainance problems like the VR though, especially since it's so new.

Right now, I'm tetering between the X1 and the Pursuit.

Why he even brings up the Nitek is beyond me? Strange the arguements made by the manufacturers when someone has a conversation about their product.

Oh well. I really like the X1. If the battery dies after the replacement period, I'll just have to take it out on someone and have them deported.

__________________
Eric Stadtmueller, otherwise known as, MEM "Da Pilot"

mverick

I love the computer and the screen.

I would never pay $2000 for a computer that takes $400 for a new battery. When Battery life is said to be 10 years yet they only guarantee it for 3 years.

Could you redesign the case so it's like a Seiko watch? Where it costs all of $20 dollars to replace the cell that lasts 5 years? My Seiko dives with me all the time. Never flooded either. It was my dad's. It's 25 years old and lots of batteries.

I'm happy with my old Shearwater. Would be Happy with your computer if it had a reasonably replaceable battery.

And bringing up a VR3? I own one. Don't use it. Don't like it. Own a HS Explorer. Junk. Own a Cochran. No problems. Own a Shearwater. Cat's Meow.

I don't doubt you'll sell a lot of them. Hope they don't have bugs. To soon to be sure. But, looks like a great product. Just not for me. I'm hard on equipment and babysitting a battery isn't in the cards for me. I'd be changing it every year. I want robust. You're robust on the unit, but unforgiving on the battery.

diverklondike

The only thing that I get wound up about it people that live in a glass half full mentality... There was a point in time when the VR-3 was the best thing in town. I at one point owned two of them. My personal opinion is that the Liquivision is the new "state of the art". It appears to have delivered on the ease of upgrade path. Ross continues to look to improve the software package with updates the take minutes to install that combined with the display makes it tops in my book. As far as Liquivision the company goes. Eric and his team seem to be highly commited to delivering top notch customer service and improving the quality of the product. I had one issue with my unit that they promptly addressed no questions asked. As far as the life of the unit goes, I expect to get a reasonable number of years out of it and hope that at some point there is a better mousetrap. Not that there is anything wrong with this one, only that the innovation will continue. And no I did not pay wholesale for anything but I am happy to if someone is offering it...

So... for those of us that have them... We know what a good choice we have made. For those of you that wish you had one... You can easily read your dive buddy's unit from 6 ft away in a dark cave..

Dive safe...

Mark

PacketSniffer

Ahhhhhh..... I knew you'd come around. Hehe...

__________________


Far better it is to dare mighty things, to win glorious triumphs, even though checked by failure, than to take rank with those poor spirits who neither enjoy much nor suffer much, because they live in the gray twilight that knows not victory or defeat.

mblaze

"Here is a simple 10 year cost of ownership for the three units assuming 50 dives per year, one battery change in the X1, and 1 battery change per year in the other two. I'm assuming the depreciated value of each computer is 50% of new at the end of 10 years. The Shearwater costs almost 40% less to own over the X1.

........ New..... Deprec.. Bat Cost.. Cost/Dive
X1.... $2000... $1000... $400....... $2.80
VR.... $2000... $1000... $100........ $2.20
SW... $1600... $800.... $100........ $1.80"

If you want to use numbers, you should use the correct numbers. The Liquivision is currently selling at $1750.00. The makes your Cost/Dive at $2.55 - not quite as bad as you made it out to be. You will always pay a premium for the best, and I think we can agree that the Liquivision is a pretty darn nice computer. For we older folk with failing eyes, there is nothing else on the market that comes close to the same visibility underwater. As for bugs, I have never had better service. Found a small problem with the Divelog Manager - Ross had an update within hours. HOURS! I've NEVER seen service like this before.

Mdemon

Direct from Liquivision. Top tip - find someone going to Deema to bring it back for you, if you get my drift...

I'd add to the comments about great customer service, in particular RossH who has produced an extremely nice piece of software and continues to hone it on a regular basis responding to diver feedback - sometimes within hours. And that's functionality, not bug-fixing.

__________________
www.southwestmafia.com

"small minds talk about people, Average Minds Talk About Events, GREAT MINDS TALK ABOUT IDEAS!"

The WRONG Attitude will get you killed.

"Once the agenda-monkeys and perfect-worlders have moved on, perhaps we can do some diving?"

silentscuba

I beg to differ with your statement. I am one of those older folks and the Shearwater Pursuit is a dream to read for my tired eyes and Shearwater also has exceptional customer service.

It seems like there are currently 2 great computers out there right now that users are very excited about, the Shearwater Pursuit and the X1.

The true test is time and only time will tell which one ends up on top of the pile.

Isn't it great that we have a couple of good choices.

__________________
Curt McNamee
rEvo CCR Diver
KISS CCR Diver
www.silentscuba.com