TESTCENTRE
Always the Sun
Garmin appears to be riding the crest of a wave with its continuing rollout of the Descent line of diving computers . Over the last couple of years , we ’ ve had the MK1 original , followed by the MK2 and Mk2i ( compatible with Garmin ’ s excellent SubWave wireless transmitter ). Most recently we ’ ve
60
Descent G1 / G1 Solar
COMPANY : GARMIN PRICE : £ 479.99 / £ 569.99 TEL : 023 805 24000 WEB : WWW . GARMIN . COM seen the Descent Mk2S , a more compact version considered better-suited to everyday use .
While each of the above offer highlyvisible , full-colour screens and a cornucopia of diving and non-diving features , the cheapest model still costs close to a grand . As a more affordable option , Garmin has launched the latest additions to the Descent range : The Descent G1 and the Descent G1 Solar .
With a purchase price starting at a penny short of £ 480 , the G1 costs roughly half that of the MK2S . The solar-rechargeable version is available for a slight premium ( less than £ 100 ) and in my opinion , is well worth the extra outlay .
Form and function
Of course , a few concessions have to be made to keep the G1 at this entry-level price . In the main this means it loses out on the OLED colour display of its predecessors . The actual face and display of the G1 is also something of a departure from what has gone before .
While the original Descent owed its looks to Garmin ’ s Fenix series of multisport watches , the G1 ’ s origins appear more closely related to its Instinct 2 series . Housed behind a sapphire lens , the monochrome MIP ( Memory-In-Pixel ) display sports a slightly different format , but nevertheless makes good use of its Instinct-style layout .
So it ’ s different , but by no means inferior to the original , and the smaller space afforded by its compact form has been very well thought out .
The most striking of the changes is a circular display located on the top right of the screen . While it does encroach a little on some of the conventional watch face choices available , it serves as a highly-visible means to spotlight essential information . These include current depth while diving or heart rate / distance etc , during surface sports .
It also provides a graphic indicator ( for example , a dive cylinder to represent the internal logbook ) while navigating through the various modes available . Pretty much all the data fields can be customised to contain anything from the day / date , heart rate , battery level and so on .
Everything else remains the same . The five-button system ( three on the right , two on the left ) common to all Descent models is pivotal to the activation of the many dive and non-dive related features that the G1 has to offer , including the very effective tap-screen function that toggles between dive displays and the computer ’ s 3-axis compass .
Depth-rated to 100 metres , the G1 provides single gas , multi-gas , gauge , apnea , nitrox , trimix and ( CCR ) Closed Circuit Rebreather modes . It uses the Buhlmann ZHL-16c algorithm with gradient factors for customisable conservatism .
Enabling GPS allows the automatic saving of dive entry and exit locations , while the Garmin Dive App allows seamless downloading of this information and everything else pertaining to your diving profile .