I just saw the new Suunto Cobra 3 on thier web site. They made the one feature change many of us Cobra 2 owners seemed to agree on. The user can now change the default "stay on" time for the digital compass.
The Cobra 2 had the a 3 second button hold for a 3 second on time. Compounding the issue was the same 3 second button hold for the 3 second on backlight feature. You pretty much would get one to turn on just as the other turned off. Anything less (2 second hold) and the computer would place a bookmark in the profile for you.
Even in daylight, if you were to dive in correct dive plane... The level built into the compass the needs to be viewed at 90 degrees or directly into the lense/screen to work. That means it is below you parallel to your body in your shadow as you move. You cannot hold it before you like a manual compass or you can not see the screen. I see they also call out as a 3D compass on the Cobra 3? Does that mean it works in 3D or only level still?
Who knows perhaps on the Cobra 4 they will include the light "stay on" time as its new feature?
In one of my conversations with their reps they said they didn’t want to add the adjustible ON (light and compass) because of battery life issues... I told them I’d be fine with replacing the "user changed" battery once a dive trip if thats all it meant. For the bulk of the manual compass head they could have designed it to run on a couple D cell batterys...lol
I should call them and see what sort of customer loyalty UPGRADE discount I could get to sell back my Cobra 2 on a Cobra 3 model... At very least i’d like to see if they could reflash the bios on my Cobra 2 and make it like a Cobra 3?
Take care and happy diving... AirOn