I am just getting into the electric scene, and plan on purchasing a nice 3d foamy/brushless setup. I am wondering if anyone has a suggested alternative to the hitec 55 micro servo? I am looking for something that might be comperable to this servo, but maybe a little cheaper in price. Or is the 55 just that much better than the rest? If I am going to be dissapointed in the performance of one of the other brand of servos, then I will go ahead and get the Hitec, but was just looking for alternatives. Also, is there much of a difference in servo resolution and centering among these small servos? My plane of choice would be one of the 3dfactory, fancyfoam, etc. offerings.

Mike

www.alshobbies.com

UK based, check out their Saturn 4.4 gram servos, cheap as hell, I got two and they can take a knocking, as in hard belly landings with a speed 400 powered plane.

GWS makes the pico servos, they are just about the same as the hs-55's but weigh slightly less and are about 3-5 bucks cheaper.

If you check on ebay theirs constantly Buy it nows on these little yellow 9 gram servos (I think hs-55s are 7 grams). Ive never tried them but they are pretty cheap. I think they are like 9 dollars plus 6 or so for shipping, but I beleive you can get as many as you want for one shipping price so in the end you come out a lot cheaper.

Another item you might be interested in on ebay is these little blue 5 gram servos, they are buy it now for $1 but the shipping is $14 (thats why they sell them for $1 LOL) plus like $12 for each extra servo.

Heres some ebay links if your interested.

[link=http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&category=2563&item=59258910 81&rd=1]5 gram $1 servos[/link]

[link=http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&category=2563&item=59242770 73&rd=1]10 gram servo, $8[/link]

[link=http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&category=2563&item=59253152 01&rd=1]9 gram servo, $9 good deal[/link] you can get 4 of these for 42 bucks (that includes shipping!)

[link=http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&category=2563&item=59246092 03&rd=1]another $9 9 gram servo[/link] Thse look cheaply made to me but they are cheap and shipping is very cheap as well (for 4 your looking at about $45)

I have hs-55s and they are very good, have had many wrecks using them and they still work great no stripped gears or anything. The only problem ive had is a screw fell out of one, but they come with extras so its no big deal.

Just keep this in mind, "the good stuff aint cheap, and the cheap stuff aint good" you get what you pay for so I wouldnt expect too much out the cheapies on ebay.

EDIT, just noticed none of my links work. I checked and everythign is correct but I guess this site doenst allow you to post a link to ebay as the link has "ebay" starred out therefore when you click it it wont work.

If your going to do a 3d foamy and brushless setup, just get the whole package at www.InsaneFoamies.com $299 with High discharge lipo pack, aluminum gearbox ect,ect. check'em out and watch the videos

Bluebird 371 from balsapr.com
around $15. better specs also.

Larry

Also there are the Blue Arrow servos. 4.3 grams each @ $14.50. Joe

GWS pico's are known for being strong, reliable, and inexpensive...www.toddsmodelss.com has them for about $13, I believe. www.balsapr.com has them for a low price, but were out of stock, last I checked.

I have good luck with Cirrus 5.4's. Picked them up for about $19 per awhile back. A little lighter than pico's (not much) but good experience.

I have used Cirrus 4.4's. Not as good an experience...lost 3 of them to various problems.

I'd personally be careful of using those Blue Arrow servos in anything but the smallest planes. They look nice and are the right price for a small servo, BUT (and this is a big BUT) they don't have the thrust ratings of the 55's/ Pico's/ 5.4's, and this could be a bad thing on an outdoor plane doing crazy maneuvers.

Blue Bird? Supposed to be decent. Good price.

IMO, go for GWS Pico's if you find them at a low price.

I have got a 3-d foamy and had to get some micro servos as well. i didnt want to pay for hs-55 so i went to lightflightrc.com and got an awsome deal and $5 shipping. I got the purple 9g, 21oz inch torque servos for $13.95.

they also have:

4.3g, 5.55oz/in for $14.50

6g, 12oz/in for $14.50

13.4g, 35oz/in for $14.50

15.6g, 50oz/in with metal gears for $19.95

They also have brushless motors, esc's, receivers, and lots more.

Hope this helps!