ORIGINAL: ChuckW
My biggest issue is that they are copies. I don't buy this "they are made in the same factory" stuff. It is very easy to copy something these days. Unscrupulous manufacturers in China and other places do it all the time. They even do it to the reputable Chinese companies. Unfortunately these copy-cats do not have any of the R&D costs or anything else associated with having an original product. It is wrong in my opinion to do this.
I agree that stealing a design is wrong. Unfortunately it happens a lot in many industries. The company I work for has an army of patent attorneys who constantly monitor the rest of the industry to see if our technology is being used without licensing. They are chasing multi-billion dollar royalties. I suspect the RC hobby industry overall may be too small to make it worthwhile to chase the design thieves.
The comment I made about "made in the same factory" was not meant to be an approval of stealing a design.
Take the model that looks like a SIG Four Star. Even if it is made in the same factory (by the same workers) as the SIG, it may or may not be the same quality. I'm not sure a cheap box and no printed manual could account for a 150 dollar price difference. Cheaper materials are likely used to generate the 70 dollar price point compared to 220 for a real 4*60. And, SIG does not get paid for the creation of the original design.