[chrisch]

Just bought an Apeks Quantum. Firstly, many thanks to the YD members who helped me make the decision. In the end it came down to the best reason – hard cash. I managed to get a brand new Quantum on ebay for 155 notes.

It’s too early to report on reliability but here’s a first impression if anyone is interested.

The Apeks Quantum is a re-badged Dive Rite Nitek. The display is clear and easy to read and the algorithm is the standard ZHL-12. So far so good. The strap only just fitted my bulky drysuit and is nowhere near as confidence-inspiring as the missus’ Suunto. A lanyard may be a very good idea for this model.
We did a couple of dives over the weekend, the main one being 41M for 20-odd min with EAN50 for deco. The computer handled the dive no problem and the gas switch was easy. I use V-Planner to give back up tables and the computer cleared a little sooner as we had risen to 33M by the end of the BT. (I cleared to no-stop after the 9M stop, V-Planner still needing 6 min at 3M).
The display in deco mode is clear and shows the stop time and deepest stop. This is a pain if using run time as you need to swop to the alternate display. A quick press of the button is all that is needed, but I would have preferred to see total dive time there at all times.
Backlighting is adequate and stays on for about 5 seconds. After the dive the N2 graph gradually shows off-gassing and the display includes time to totally de-saturation. I liked both these features.

All up it’s not a bad ‘puter and for the money it’s great. Not as good or as flexible as the Suunto Vytec (the PO2 is not adjustable and is 1.4 for BT and 1.6 for deco). There is the usual gauge mode to use it as a timer. Given the price this is a good machine for anyone like me that stops at 50M and would make a cheap back-up if you want more. Max working depth is 99M and 199M for gauge mode. However with no option to drop below FO2 21 and PO2 1.4 I guess the depth alarm would piss you off if you routinely do 60M+ stuff or run PO2 1.5 on BT. There is an option to switch it off……….(taken!).

RRP 225 GBP – available at Deepblue. Often on ebay at 199 or less…

Chris