Just figured I'd pass along to those looking for a reasonable price on lipos the companies I've found. Check out Dymond Motorsports for good prices such as 2000ma 3 cell 10C packs (Great packs for the Tower Pro ultra cheap BP21 brushless motor) for about $35 or so. Common Sense RC also has some good prices and their packs also feature air spacers and a balancing plug (Astro Blinky Balancer compatible). I've used packs from both these companies and couldn't be happier with them. RCHotDeals.com has about the best price on a 2000ma 20/28C 3 cell lipo at $55 (Great pack to run the Tower Pro ultra cheap "12T" brushless motor on). These packs also feature a balancing plug compatible with the Blinky balancer.

As for balancers I prefer a balancer that can be used before, while, or after charging and is seperate from the charger. The Astro Blinky Balancer ($25) is about the size of a credit card and works great. It's plug is becoming a standard for many lipo packs but can easily be adapted to non-compatible plugs.

As far as chargers go I'm using the Celectra 1 to 3 cell lipo charger ($45) and have been very happy with it. I stay away from chargers that balance a pack as they charge and use the seperate Blinky card for that. This way I don't have to have the pack plugged into the charger to balance it and if the charger or balancer goes I'll only have to replace one of them for a cheaper price than a charger that does it all.

Hope this helps anybody out there feeling a bit ripped off at some of the "brand name" lipo prices. Most lipo cells come from China anyway and have some name slapped on them. Some companies test more than others but I still don't think it justifies the prices they charge.