Atomic Aquatics Cobalt 2 Dive Computer with PC Download Kit & Quick Disconnect, Black

Absolutely great computer. Should you have a problem, Atomic customer support is excellent.

This computer was suggested to me by my local dive shop. It looks to be an amazing piece of equipment. The reviews are pretty divided love it or hate it. It looks to be a reliability issue. What the computer can do and the upgrades from old tech. is fantastic. But it just seems to have problems being dependable or working at all. I decided to chance it, basing my decision that surly the issues associated with the Cobalt have been corrected with the Cobalt 2. Cobalt's web site even boasts of the craftsmanship of their product, specifically of its water proof magnetic buttons that were an issue in the older model. I received my computer and excitedly read the booklet and started to set it up to be ready for a pool dive to set up all my gear for a quarry dive that week end. Right away I knew some thing was not right. At first I thought it was me, but realized that the left and right buttons did not work. This did not give me a good feeling with a piece of equipment I would be trusting my life with. I will admit that the computer was impressive , if only it were dependable. I returned the item, which is easy with Amazon. Unfortunately, it took over a week for my return to get back and Amazon takes up to 7 days to put the money back on your card. I had to order another computer and charge to another card. I was now $1900 into a dive computer and hoping I would have it in time for my dive, with no time to test it. I did not get it in time, but that is another story. I hope the best for the Cobalt. It could be amazing, especially for the cost. Just get the bugs worked out guys. I ended up getting the Shear Water. It cost a good bit more, but every single review was a 5 Star. When I received it the first thing I noticed was a quality test sign off card showing someone had made sure every thing worked properly before sending out to me. May be a policy Atomic would like to adopt.

2 times it has failed. Newly it returned from repair and returned to fail. The first time, it was united on 1 screen, I sent it to repair and now simply it does not ignite.

I dearly love this computer, but it has some big quality issues which is why the reviews are all over the place. I have dive buddies with this computer and a close relationship with my local dive shop, so I've reliably heard of many other quality issues as well. I'll just talk about what I've experienced first-hand, however.The Cobalt is easily the most intuitive dive computer I've ever used. It's extremely easy to figure out and even if you go into Deco, your stop times are clearly marked and easy to understand. It is more a "techreational" computer than a tech computer, however - a recreational computer that can work well for "light" tech diving, not a true tech computer.The display is absolutely brilliant and easy to read and since it's backlit and bright, it's great for low-visibility conditions. The buttons are big and easy to work underwater even with thick gloves on. The built in compass is also very nice and the Cobalt 2 has a faster processor than the 1 which means the compass will "spin" quickly like a real compass would instead of with a delay. The built in dive log is also very cool and you can easily view your dive profile graph right on the screen. It is air-integrated, so if you've defined your cylinder correctly, you can get instant SAC rate calculations post-dive.The rechargeable battery lasts a long time. I've got over 500 dives on mine and still don't need to charge it but once every 20-30 dives. I love not having to take it in to a dive shop to get the battery replaced.Now the negatives, which is why I've lowered the ratings, and they're all releated to quality/service.I've had several issues with it and when you have to send it in for service, it'll be gone for 3 months.The most common issue I have had is with the built-in pressure gauge. I had this fail on me (read incorrect pressure) around dive 25 on this computer. Atomic did fix it, but it took a couple of months to get it back. Recently (500 dives later, mind you), it's becoming a bit of an issue again. It does read the pressure correctly, eventually. But when I first turn on the tank and put the computer into dive mode, it'll take 10-15 minutes to count up to the correct PSI. Main issue is if I forget to give it enough time to count up, it'll think I started the dive with less air and screw up the air consumption calculation. So far, it hasn't messed up and left me with an incorrect air reading more than a few minutes into the dive (so it does eventually catch up), but I don't trust it. I dive with an analog SPG just in case.Second big issue I had was when it didn't switch into dive mode once and so didn't track time/depth/NDL etc. - effectively wasn't a dive computer and I had to abort a dive. I sent it in again and 3 months later, I got it back with a complete overhaul.That was 300 dives ago and it hasn't let me down since (knock on wood). But I dive with a second cmputer now (not a Cobalt), just in case. I still tend to treat my Cobalt as my computer of record, but I do pay attention to both for NDL/DECO times.Other issue you'll see is folks complaining about the buttons failing. The issue was that the magnets beneath the keypads were corroding/disintegrating. I wouldn't worry so much about this particular issue. It's been identified and the newer magnets are coated in a protective casing. A good dive shop that sells these usually will have the magnets on hand and it's an easy fix that they or even you could do. I replaced mine myself. Videos on YouTube show how to take the top cover off (outer cover, you're not messing with the waterproof seals).To sum up, I love this computer, and to be fair, other than the slow air count-up, it's been over 300 dives w/o an issue. The main reason I use a 2nd computer now is its age and number of dives on it. BUT, given the issues I've had and it's reputation, I'm not sure I would recommend it which is a big shame given how fantastic it is.

Best do it all dive computer on the market.

There are a couple things to like about this dive computer to give it two stars: the bright color screen, the easy menu selections, and its form factor. Atomic positions itself as the high end of dive gear, but this computer has too many problems, even with the most recent software updates. There are too many flaws with this device to justify the price point. Better dive computers can be purchased for the same price or less.1. The battery continues to discharge in sleep mode. If stored fully charged, the battery will drain to 0% in a couple weeks.2. The digital compass is awful. It is rarely accurate and must be recalibrated often. As an active dive professional in limited visibility, this is not at all acceptable.3. It will occasionally show artifacts on the screen that obscures the dive time, forcing the diver to rely on remaining air time. This is potentially dangerous if a diver is on a second or third dive and could end up in deco.4. The computer will start a new dive if the diver has been on the surface for less than ten minutes. There should be a selection to allow divers to be on the same dive if they descend within ten minutes of the previous dive. Many scuba certification agencies teach that new dives start after a ten minute surface interval.5. The surface interval timer is inaccurate. The surface interval is NOT shown on the main screen, but can be found in the menu screen. However, if left in the menu screen, the surface time does not advance and will remain constant.6. This device cannot be set to start safety stops on every dive.7. The PC software to download and log dive data is terrible. It constantly crashes, and I have never been able to import and navigate the data without restarting the software.