I love mine although I find the lcd screen a touch small to read on the fly, and mine doesn't have the NDLs on the strap. Yep, even has a rapid ascent warning light. I wish the depth indicator needle moved with depth, though, as opposed to just staying at max. My older Promaster chrono's depth indicator moves, but that one doesn't do all the other neat stuff. Hey, what's that funny tubular thing on the left side of your mask?

 

That funny tubular thing is a snorkel - yes, I know - but we had a 30 minute swim on the surface to get out to this wreck and so I broke down and used one - a major distraction underwater to me.

 

Wow. I like swimming but it sounds like you needed a boat more than a snorkel.

 

Good to see the watch being used for what it was built for.

 

30 minute surface swim with all that gear on? Eeeeeewww. Looks like it was worth it.

But back to the watches--I'd wager that most people don't even need the computers they dive with. I see people here in Japan wear $1000-$2000 (that's what they cost here...) Scubapro and Suunto comps, when all they need is a $200 computer. I need to get myself an Aqualand.

 

Yes, we needed a boat! Actually, we were doing some specific work that we had to get that day and didn't have a boat available - and 30 min was at a leisurely pace. Still, a workout.

Some school of thought in diving do not recommend the use of computers in most situations- such as the Do It Right (DIR) folks. I do use one, but have and could certainly dive without it -

 

I rarely use a computer (usually only if it is on the gear I borrow). I bought my Aqualand in 1996 in Singapore, looks just like this:

It is friggin' AWESOME! Records 4 dives, with avg depth, max depth, temp, time in, time out, etc. I dive with it regularly, never lets me down. I'm on the second strap, both have had the dive limits printed on them. I guess the only downside, if there's any, is getting the battery replaced every 2 years (because of course that requires a pressure test and all).

 

The problem with diving strictly by the tables is that tables are designed/used assuming a "square profile", meaning that you went straight down to your maximum planned depth, and stayed exactly at that depth for the allowed no-deco duration, then headed straight for the surface. For the most part, nobody in the real world dives that way, your depth is constantly changing, which constantly alters your remaining bottom time.
If you use a computer, you can steadily decrease your depth so that you stay just out of deco, while drastically increasing your time in the water.
Also, I personally would be considerably less trusting of a tiny depth gauge in a watch over good,solid brass/glass analogue gauge on my regulator (which everyone should have as a back-up to any electronic gauge/computer). Another (albiet small)disadvantage of relying on the gauge and tables on the watch is how tiny the numbers are.
( sorry for the unsolicted lecture on stuff y'all probably already know, old habits die hard, LOL!!!)

 

True that Bladerunner, no doubt, safety first... and a computer does extend your bottom time by not relying on the "square profile." I'm just really impressed by what my Citizen does, not being a computer.

 

I love my computers and maximizing bottom time, but "safety first" and "extending bottom time" don't truly belong in the same sentence.