I think Castle creations ESCs are pretty good but are moderately priced(They have good customer service too). If you are trying to stay on the cheap (price wise) the Dynams work pretty good for the money Some have soft starts and some are so-so The cheapest Dynam ESCs can be found at www.Dealextreme.com (DX) Since I have a bunch of helis I cant afford to best of the best for as many as I have but so far I havent had a Dynam 30 amp on any of my 400-450 size birds go bad or even overheat. DX was also selling a cheap program card for the ESCs too. I hover my helis in the house sometimes and still no heating issues.