[Mal Bridgeman]

First Computer is a toughie ..... it implies there will be a next.

Initially divers benefit from a good computer to keep them informed about their diving so they can learn about how steady their profiles are....if there's losts of ups and downs, then it can give you info on your buoyancy control, for example.

So one that allows downloading is very helpful .... most do these days, even the Gekko, with a little software fix.

It then depends on the type of diving you do. If you are only going to dive abroad, then you are unlikely to do decompression diving, so whatever you buy will be pretty good for the rest of your diving career. They are all pretty much of a muchness in that regard....so really you want one you can read easily under water ....so big numbers, a "clean" screen, backlight etc, buttons you can operate easily with a gloved hand if needed etc etc. No one has mentioned the Oceanic range which I think do this job well, with their Red Amber Green bar graphs.

If you are going to dive in the UK, then you will get into deco diving pretty quickly I think, then a whole new world opens up for you..... Whilst you do up to 10 mins of deco, again they are all pretty much of a muchness but any longer than that, then you want to be thinking about getting appropriate training which will advise on a number of new strategies .... e.g. cutting your own custom tables which you combine with a watch and depth guage (most computers do this via a GAUGE MODE), or buy a specific Decompression computer e.g. VR3, or learn how to do it in your head (It's not that hard)

In short, go buy one you like the look of that has the features you need now and accept you will probably buy another one at some point

HTH
Mal