Mares M1 (RGBM) any good

[FrankSonnemans]

I am tempted to buy a M1 RGBM and would like some feedback from owners especially concerning the reliability of the computer.

What I like about it is that it's cheap, has a permanent backlight (which I like in our low vis environment) and that I can use it as a backup Gauge once I progress beyond Nitrox.

Regards,

Frank

[gunsentry]

Have had one for a several years, very reliable and easy to use.

[Bogwoppit]

I had one for a while and then all of a sudden it started downloading crap.. Nothing wrong with the dives no issues there that i could see.. It just started pushing out crap. I sent it back to Blandford who did a bunch of tests on it and confirmed it was talking B**l*x. (dives with wildly inaccurate depths). They did however off me 25% another one but I chose to put a nail through it and buy a Vytec.

[FrankSonnemans]

Originally Posted by Bogwoppit

I had one for a while and then all of a sudden it started downloading crap.. Nothing wrong with the dives no issues there that i could see.. It just started pushing out crap. I sent it back to Blandford who did a bunch of tests on it and confirmed it was talking B**l*x. (dives with wildly inaccurate depths). They did however off me 25% another one but I chose to put a nail through it and buy a Vytec.

Am I correct in understanding that your problem was only with data pushed out to the PC and not the date displayed during the dive itself?

[Bogwoppit]

Frank yes you are.. (sorry didn't explain it too well) The trouble is that I then had a "what if" niggling thought so once I didn't trust it, then that was it.

My honest opinion is its a fine nice little computer with the ablity to change your own battery etc.. Like everything it has the potential to go wrong.. I have to say Blandford were good as gold and very helpful.

I do feel that its quite aggressive as well. I used to feel quite tired after a dive on air with it.

Cheers

[Narked@50]

Both myself and my wife had it's predecessor, the Mares Surveyor, for about 5 years, both worked well untill one of the buttons stopped functioning. The M1 does Nitrox so would be even better, but other than that it is the same. Good, liked it a lot, but Blanford were crap when I contacted them over 5 times just to get a reply telling me to politely sod off. I would never use Blanford and grudge them haveing the Mares contract.


James

[John N]

I've used one (not RGBM) for about 300 dives and no problems.

The backlight is excellent and the display is nice and big.
Batteries are easy to get hold of most places in the world and user-changeable.
I used it on a 60m dive and the deco schedule it suggested was fairly similar to what I had planned on decoplanner as far as I remember.

If you find it too aggressive you can set additional safety by way of the altitude settings.

Only downside is it's a little bulky.

You can pick one up for £130 (about £160 for RGBM) and that's got to be a bargain.