What's the ($500) difference?

[utahfish]

My wife and I just got certified and would love to get our own gear. Scubatoys has some great looking packages for under $500 like the Dacor Talon or the Aeris Carribbean. We're beginners and don't mainly plan on doing lots of shallow fresh-water dives (with the occassional salt water trip), so we don't need anything super fancy, but since we're beginners, we also don't want to get cheap gear that will malfunction on us! Anyone have any thoughts on why some gear packages can come in under $500 and others are usually over $1000? Are these "value" packages fairly reliable for beginning recreationalists? I greatly appreciate your help!

[Vercingetorix]

Call ScubaToys and get their input. They will not lead you astray or try to upsell you. In fact, several times, I've gone in for one item, and they talked me into a less expensive alternative that is just as good or better.

[Straegen]

Agree with the above, but do shop around. ST will match most prices and if you do a little research you can end up with top notch gear for near half the price. Look at closeout pricing (the Aeris Reef Rider and Atmos are a crazy good deal right now) and specials to save big bucks.

[scubastud]

Don't know how long Dacor equipment will be able to be serviced. I'd shy away from Dacor equipment.

[Sansho]

Agree with advice to call ST and talk with them. I think this reg combination is a real price performer which you might consider: Oceanic Alpha 8 CDX5 regulator reviews and discounts, Oceanic . My daughter uses it and I have it on my pony setup.

[CODMAN]

Sometimes the items in packages have been discontinued or scubatoys bought a whole bunch and were able to get a great deal on it. They then put the gear together into incredible deals for packages! The Dacor gear is discontinued. But Mares (the owner of Dacor) is still making parts for service on their gear so there are no worries. Scubatoys is one class act and they wouldn't sell stuff that is poor quality or impossible to service.

As far as reliability goes... The cheaper gear isn't less safe or more prone to faillure than the expensive stuff. Scuba manufacturers have to abide by a minimum quality level since they don't want divers dying using their gear and then family suing them! And wether it's a diver with expensive gear or cheap gear, they don't want deathes either way! So you can be pretty sure that even the cheaper end products are safe to use. You won't be buying more safety by buying more expensive gear!!!! All you get is lighter, a bit better performance, and small technical differneces which you might prefer. But safety wise, the cheap package is as good as the expensive one!

Just my 0.02$

[ScubaToys Larry]

Originally Posted by scubastud

Don't know how long Dacor equipment will be able to be serviced. I'd shy away from Dacor equipment.

All the current Dacor equipment is actually Mares Equipment - the bought the name - so any new Dacor stuff will be able to be serviced for as long as Mares is around, which is one of the largest international brands - which is owned by head sports - penn tennis equpmnet, head racquets, skis, etc. So no probolem on the dacor stuff... There scubastud... now you do know!

[cowgirldiver]

I was looking at these packages for my son. The only thing I noticed on the Caribbean is that the Aeris BCD doesn't seem to have integrated weights. I may be looking at it wrong and this may not matter to you. My only problem is that my son is very slim and has a hard time keeping a weight belt on.

[Rogue]

utahfish,
You've received some good advice as to why packages are priced the way they are.
Here is my suggestion before you buy. Do some research. Go to all of the LDS's in the area, you have a number of them in SLC, look at the gear and try the BCD's on to see how it fits YOU. If you can get in the pool with it and see how it dives....even better. A number of the stores locally have prepared packages, most if not all will create a package of your choice. Many have blow out sales right now on some quality gear. Compare apples to apples, both local and what ST has to offer. Then buy from whomever gives you the best service and value for your money. Whether that be ST or the LDS.

[Clanggedin]

If you are close to Dive Addicts they have a pool there and you can try out the gear before you buy it.

The guys at Dive Addicts are great and are very knowledgeable. They claim they will match any online pricing (which is new). I only buy my gear from ScubaToys and Dive Addicts. Scubatoys usually wins, but once in a while I need the gear now and Dive Addicts has taken care of me.