Just A Thought
 

<span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: Verdana;">I've seen and I've heard alot of comments about which RC brand is good and which is bad. Examples of this include, "HPI is way better than Losi!", "Exceed products are not worth buying.", "Associated shouldn't even be considered a company next to Traxxas.", "Redcat sells cheap stuff compared to Kyosho.", etc, etc, etc. However, in watching alot of RC related videos and alot of RC racing at the tracks, I've come to realise that, despite what some people would like to think, things will break and otherwise go wrong with your RC regardless of the company that made the vehicle. This is also true of full scale vehicles, computers, cordless phones, cell phones, and anything mechanical/electronic for that matter. At the end of the day, the reason that replacement parts are supplied and sold is that these parts are expected to wear or break eventually. Honestly, I've seen an Exceed Infinity truck win a race against a Traxxas T-Maxx and other 'higher-end' trucks, and I've seen a Losi 8ight buggy being unable to continue a race because of a broken suspension arm. With all of that said, I think that people need to realise that, no matter when it happens, parts will wear/break and need replacing. Also, in a race, it's the driver that makes the vehicle and not the other way around.</span></span>

RE: Just A Thought
 

True to a point but some companys do use lower grade materals in the construction of there vehicles and that leads to more broken parts more often.

Not gonna name companys but ive seen examples of this first hand so it does usualy pay off in the long run to spend a bit more and buy a vehicles from a company that has a good established rep.

RE: Just A Thought
 

just about every car has its weak points.

RE: Just A Thought
 

In RC you generally have to judge vehicles on their own. A brand is just a brand, a name. Maybe it determines the customer service you will be getting, etc. But the best brands have some duds, and the mediocre brands have a few winners. The build and quality of an individual vehicle is more important than the brand name.

And I think the far majority of people here understand this already.

RE: Just A Thought
 

<span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: Verdana;">I agree with all three of you. However, I believe that if everyone only bought products from an 'established' company, then nobody would buy anything. I'm quite sure that some of those same companies that have been around for a while used cheaper parts in the beginning, and that the product quality grew along with the company. Every vehicle does have it's weak points, and there are 'good' and 'not-so-good' vehicles from every company. In the end, I think it all comes down to personal preference and a little patience.</span></span>

RE: Just A Thought
 

I don't care what brand it is. It's all about the driver. Sure get a POS RC and it's bound to break with weaker materials used for building, but take a good driver on even a decent RC and watch what happens.

RE: Just A Thought
 

My two cents on the matter is that there are people in this world who expect perfection from whatever they buy, weather it is rc, full sized cars or whatever. Those are the ones who seam to buy a certin brand and if they have a problem with the one they bought, the brand as a whole is bad.
Every body is going to have their opinions and they should never be confused with facts. I have gotten bad products as we all have and it doesn't mean that everything that company sells is junk. Novak makes millions of ESC, motors and whatever every year, so I may get one that isn't up to standards, that happens,what matters to me most is how they, or any maunfacturer,handel the problem and how they make it right.

With that being said, I also live by the saying that "if you buy cheap, you may have to buy twice".

RE: Just A Thought
 

Ras, I totally agree and give your reply http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/js/f.../thumbs_up.gif http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/js/f.../thumbs_up.gif way up. http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/js/f...eeth_smile.gif

RE: Just A Thought
 

<span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: Verdana;">I totally agree with Oval's statement as well, and also give him http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/js/f.../thumbs_up.gif http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/js/f.../thumbs_up.gif way up. Whatever company you decide to use, there is a 100% of some imperfection.</span></span>

RE: Just A Thought
 

guys that race tend to buy for handling and not so much durability. where as basher its all about how much they can beat it and it holds up ... HPI and Traxxas are definately the best bashers, and losi and associated are the better racers. its like electronics .. a racer will buy a 300.00 Tekin ESC, 100.00 BL motors and 150.00 2s lipo's ... and tweak their timing up to get the most out of they're bl motor and as long as it perform's good for em they're good to go. 99% of all the racer's i know would not ever think of buying a RTR vehicle, only kits ... its all about what you want out of the hobby. racing or bashing, its all about the fun you have with the hobby.

RE: Just A Thought
 

I race and prefer kits but sometimes I'll get RTR's just to sell the electronics and make a buck towards the new gear.

RE: Just A Thought
 

Im not brand loyal at all. The biggest thing for me is parts availability. All I do is bash now. If something breaks I like knowing that I can run to my LHS grab what I need and continue with my day with out having to wait for it a week or two for parts.

RE: Just A Thought
 

but some have WAY more than others ;)
Lets face it you get what you pay for you buy cheap you get a cheap. You pay a little more chances are you'll get better.

RE: Just A Thought
 

<span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: Verdana;">It's true that, in most cases, you get what you pay for. However, there are some cases that you will get a bargain and get alot more than you expect. http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/js/f...ular_smile.gif</span></span>

RE: Just A Thought
 

what ?

RE: Just A Thought
 

<span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: Verdana;">What I mean is, you are sometimes pleasantly surprised to find that you got a product that is worth more than the money you paid for it.</span></span>

RE: Just A Thought
 

I think that's a great way of looking at it. In a way, customer service is almost more important than the product being sold. I suppose that having a quality product in the first place is also a form of customer service.

I'm just curious because McWolf seems to have a certain company or two in mind in this discussion. Care to let us in on who you think those cases are "that you get a bargain and get a lot more than your expect"?

RE: Just A Thought
 

<span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: Verdana;">No, nothing particular in mind. I was just speaking in general. The same goes for shoes, cell phones, clothes, computers, etc, etc. I just mean that I've heard stories of disappointment from people that got less than what they expected, as well as stories of appreciation/amazement from those persons who got more than what they expected.</span></span>

RE: Just A Thought
 

Race kits tend to be even better for bashing since they are designed to be beaten up and keep going.

RE: Just A Thought
 

<span style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-size: medium;">This is a real good post thanks for bringing this up.
In late 2008 I was having a problem with something non related to R/C cars rather it was a guitar amplifier I had owned for some fifteen or sixteen years and re-tubed it once in those years it never sounded good,I thought I was going insane as every time I played through it I would totally have to tweek everything over even after playing it two or three days prior to playing through it again once again it was in need of new tubes.
But by this point I'd had enough of it I hated playing guitar mainly because of this amp made right here in the united states I sought to find something better and set my eyes on something I could afford,the only thing is that every review of the ampI was thinking of getting was negative I then stopped into a forum that seemed populated by people from the U.K.
One fellow there made a statement in one of his post he said he owned one of these amplifiers and was sure the negative press was either from one person or competing manufactures so looked around some more and noticed that it seemed as if one person had it out for the company who made my latest amp and I've not had one lick of trouble out of it and it sound far better than amps costing four times the price I payed for it.
I personally own an exceed champion but on the other hand have some reservations about their business dealings and have ran into some of the same problems as others have had like being told that they will get back with me on a question in "1 to 2 business days" other than a crapy AM or Fm crystal style radio system which is not unheard of in RTR versions by some of the top brass in the world of R/C cars at this point I've yet to have any problems with the performance of this vehicle.
And very few of these people are offering up brushless motors in their RTR's.
All in all it would seem to me that some of these companies must be run by people with rather nasty drug habits thats all I can think of that would cause someone to ask the prices that are being quoted for some of these RTR packages considering to really get one to opperate with a good feel or transmmiter to receiver reaction to it means you have to spend upwards of $300.00 for a decent spread spectrum radio system.
I guess in the long run it ones own taste or the question of "am I taking part in racing in a club,or does it have the potential to be upgraded so as to be a contender?"
As far as the guitar amp I spoke of I latter found out others were having the same problem they reacted poorly to climate changes of all thingshttp://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/js/f...bout_smile.gif
</span></span>

RE: Just A Thought
 

Not to get on you, but <span style=''font-size: medium;''><span style=''font-family: Verdana;''>this larger font</span></span> in your post almost has the same effect as typing with all caps. It makes you sound like you are yelling.

By typing in your chosen <span style=''font-size: medium;''><span style=''font-family: Verdana;''>larger font</span></span>, it sounds like you have a strong message to send, and that is why Kitsune said you are trying to push a brand, afterall, you did mention Redcat and Exceed vs the name brands.

And you argument is also strongly pushed by virtually all of the Redcat Fans and also from the few Exceed fans.

I am not posting to bash on these cheaper names, I am only posting to discuss some of the fallacies and even lies that ALL fans, name brand fans and cheaper brand fans, spew out all the time.

One of the arguments is just like you said: the quality is JUST AS good as name brands. Not necessarily so. Just as already said above, to be sold at a cheaper price, the cheaper products do have to cut corners. And most of the fans of the cheaper who claim that the cheaper RCs are just as good or better than the name brands have never themselves OWNED a name brand RC.

And this undermines another one of their arguments: "You cannot say bad things about a product you never owned." This argument works both ways. The owner of a cheaper brand has no ground to stand on and say the cheaper RC is as good or better than the name brand RC when he has never owned the name brand one.


Now to the other side of the fence: Name brand owners say that the cheaper names do not offer decent RCs. That is absolutely not the case. For example, you can buy a decent Redcat RC and it WILL BE just as good as a name brand RC, BUT that better grade Redcat RC will cost as much or similar to the name brand RC of the same quality build.

And lets face it: Name brand or cheap brand: replacement parts for BOTH are very similar. By buying a cheaper RC, you save money, there is no denying that. But believe it or not, if you think replacement parts are cheaper for the cheaper brands, not necessarily so (or not that much cheaper than buying replacement parts for a name brand RC.

Also, fanboyism exists on both sides of the field. If you think that one set of brand fans is not, you are lying to yourself. Do a search just in RCU alone, and you will not only find name brand fans bashing on cheap brands, but you will also find cheap brand fans bashing on name brands just as hard. There are too many threads locked because of this. And let us not forget that even if cheap brands did not exist, the name brand fans would bash on each other! Trust me, I have seen it. HPI fans have trashed on Traxxas fans. AE fans have trashed on Losi fans. Losi fans have trashed on Traxas fans. And so on.

So, to make a point, I will use the font of your favor and say: Fanboyism exists everywhere, even in the ranks of cheap brand fans. And unfortunately, fanboyism is part of the RC territory.[/size]

RE: Just A Thought
 

Let me also say that this is another fallacy, and even a lie in general. Here is why: Some RCs break less. Yes, ALL RCs break, but do not discount the fact that some RCs are more durable than others.

Quality and good design make a significant difference.

(BTW, for the sake of trying not to yell, I didnt quote you with your larger font tabs.)

RE: Just A Thought
 

<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Comic Sans MS;">I'm sorry if the larger font has made it seem as if I was yelling. Believe me, that was not my intention. As to what you have said, I agree with you 100%, and that's basically what I've been saying. Playstation fans bash on XBox fans, and vice versa; Dell fans bash on HP fans, and vice versa; Motorola fans bash on Nokia fans, and vice versa; Traxxas fans bash on Losi fans; and the list goes on and on. To add on to your comment, I think 'fanboyism', as you so nicely put it, is a part of LIFE. With the same product, some people will have good experiences and other people will have bad experiences. I guess it's as simple as that.</span></span>

RE: Just A Thought
 

First off sorry for the bold font,there are plenty of good points made here,but I agree the most with someone I believe to belong to this forum he has a statement or signature at the bottom of each of his post that reads the best upgrade I have added to my cars is driver skillshttp://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/js/f...eeth_smile.gif.
I hope no one got the idea that I was pushing for exceed as that was not my point in fact I've posted elsewhere that it might be a good idea to stay away from them I can't really tell much difference between redcat racing and exceed rc because the fact is their pretty much one in the same the chassis layout on the brushless RTR being offered through redcat is the same as the chassis on the car I have fact is there's at lest seven different companies out here selling the same chassis produced by I suspect the same manufacture.
And I can't say nor do I wish to bash these people but I have noticed one or two things about this deal the battery charger seems to get rather hot I get suspicious of things like this since I had problems with a trickle charger that the transformer actually melted the plastic casing it was in.
At any rate I must confess I'm not a fan of any brand I'm just a cheap skate basher for the time being looking to have some fun which I'm not having right now with 6 inches of snow on the ground.
At any rate I do want to thank you guys who have the experience as you have been very helpful.

RE: Just A Thought
 

Buy what you want to buy. Dont buy a car because someone else thinks it is cool......