ThinkGeek sucks a little less now!!
Remember my poor little helicopter that melted? Well, ThinkGeek in classy fashion refunded me for said items and even sent me a new helicopter (non-gratis).
However, they did *not* refund my shipping and handling charges. Um… why the hell not?
The helicopter burst into flames and melted all over my school book and carpet.
The gun’s battery compartment broke in the process of opening it (exactly like the book illustrated).
I get done with a representative not two minutes ago and they told me my order *DID NOT* qualify for a refund on shipping. I repeated what I just said in the above two lines and the representative quickly changed their tone and assured me I should see a refund appearing on my credit card in mere moments.
Well, satisfaction at last.
However, it has been six whole minutes and I do not see a refund. Tsk tsk tsk…
LateBlt said,
October 17, 2006 @ 8:42 pm
I was thinking about getting one of those helicopters too. Based on your experience, though, methinks that if/when I do, I’ll just opt to replace the batteries when they run out instead of recharging. They run on common AAs anyway, and a new coupla batteries tends to be cheaper than replacing a burned-down house.
Also, the reason you do not see the refund yet is because ThinkGeek used their time machine to go into history and credit you your money back before you placed the order, so it is all as though nothing ever happened.
toe said,
October 18, 2006 @ 7:31 pm
Umm… there are no double As inside the fuselage, which is the compartment in which resides a NiMH battery.
Unless you plan on soldering the battery back on whence you complete, this process is most assuredly not the most efficient.
Having said all that, I personally believe you would have more luck with the ROFLcopter.
http://www.thinkgeek.com/tshirts/generic/887e/
LateBlt said,
October 19, 2006 @ 2:46 am
Hmm. Sorry. I am obviously not paying enough attention.
I saw a mention on ThinkGeek’s site about AAs; on second examination, I must have been looking at the line which clearly indicates those batteries are for the remote, not the copter itself. Maybe you should just charge the actual helicopter’s battery in a parking lot or driveway.
Regarding the ROFLcopter: I played that Flash game. I’m not sure I’d wear a shirt with it though, but thanks for the suggestion.
I do have a Blade CX; though I’ve crashed it many a time, the little guy seems to keep flying bravely on.
toe said,
October 19, 2006 @ 6:33 pm
Wow, really? Did you pay $250 or $189?
Also… is it worth the money?
I have not had much luck buying helicopters as of late (evident, I know). So I would be keenly interested.
True, a bit of a jump from $40 to a possible $250, but evidently you get what you pay for.
LateBlt said,
October 19, 2006 @ 7:59 pm
$250 or $189? I think it was more like $300. Hmm. I seem to recall the sticker on it said something like “Retail price: $389, Our price: $300″. I suspect that this tactic of charging above-reasonable prices, then claiming this price is below the suggested retail price, is common. I guess I should’ve done some shopping around before getting suckered. :/
whether it’s worth the money is quite subjective. On the good side, it is relatively easy to fly (compared to most other hobby copters); on the bad side, “relatively easy to fly” is still pretty nasty if you’re not ready for it. I’m actually surprised mine stills works after the beating it’s taken. That’s another very good thing about it: It seems quite durable by RC aircraft standards, but then, again, that’s not saying much. At least it’s not made of balsa wood or held together by rubber bands, so you can probably bonk it into the ground a few times without serious damage. (Compare this to the HobbyZone RC airplane I used to have which tore its styrofoam wings apart because they apparently were not made to take the strain of the craft taking off).
When flying any helicopter, by far the most serious concern in terms of collision damage tends to be the rotors; it’s just way too easy to have them hit something, which tends to make them break, which typically makes the helicopter instantly drop like a stone. (This is one truly great thing about the ThinkGeek micro copter: It has those rings around the rotors to prevent the blade tips from hitting stuff.) The Blade CX is actually stable enough that you can realistically buzz it around in your living room or bedroom (amazing though it may seem, I actually hovered it comfortably over a bed (which was serving as a landing pad at the time)), but you’re probably safer flying it outside where it’ll have more room. The downside to this is that it’s almost absurdly susceptible to wind; it becomes nearly unflyable in any wind over about 10 MPH. Actually, that isn’t strictly true; it’ll stay airborne, but its ability to control its direction rapidly diminishes with wind. On a windy day, it’ll keep flying, but it won’t be strong enough to actually fly against the wind, so it ends up behaving like a hot-air balloon: Completely unguided. On a calm day it can be a blast to fly it in a park.
It’s a testament to the abnormally stable nature of the CX that it seems to actually fly with some amount of rotor blade damage; I’ve flown mine quite nicely with cracked and chipped rotors, which normally just isn’t very viable. Even so, the rotors are rather vulnerable. If you end up getting a CX, I’d recommend getting at least a few spare blade sets (note that the top and bottom blades are different). You should probably also get the aluminum inner shaft to replace the stock plastic one, since the plastic one keeps having its top pop off, and while it can be pushed back on, if it pops off in flight the upper rotors are liable to fall off.
That said, it’s a fun little craft and a level up from the ThinkGeek micro RCs, but it takes some work to become proficient at flying it, and it’s a mite flimsy in some respects. If you really want to get into RC flight, it’s probably a good next step.