Why is the lepton $650??

[Ivan]

It woudl seem that you would still get a better bang for the buck out of a raptor v1 with an OS 32.

I am baffled as to why the e-helis are so cost prohibitive. The kits seems to cost more than a comparable nitor heli, the lipos are nearly twice as much as a comparable nitro engine, and they don't seem to have quite teh flight times as the nitos. This combined with charging times still makes me wary of an electric.

Any thoughts?

Ivan

[shannimal]

they are cool once you get there im sure..im going down the lepton road now. You have to get good chargers and balancers if you want to do it right. THe high end stuff is where the power is and it is expensive. It should be cheaper imo. I have seen some of the e stuff out power nitro so maybe its more money because it is more performance. At the same time though there is a window for that performance and then power starts to fade. The nitro is great because you have the same power until your out of nitro..then just refill. Nitro is a pisser to me though. That engine and tuning is just another hassle when you consider that the e powered stuff is plug and play. My

[Finless]

Also remember a raptor 30 is all plastic and this has carbon frames (bucks) and metal parts.

Look at the price of a Vibe 90 this is similar e.g. all carbon and metal!

Bob

[Gscott]

Or the Eagle EX with is a $2k heli. Sorry but the Raptor is not in the same league quality wise.

[gkoutsis]

And you cannot compare the quality of Hirobo and TT.
Hirobo is by far better :mrgreen:

[ethinger]

i got mine for $540 at my LHS in Singapore

[SteveL]

I wish everyone would quit giving Hirobo credit for having great quality.

I remember when Toyota came to this country. You could by one for pennies on the dollar. Then everyone started talking about how great they were and now I can't afford one.

Oh and that Jeff Green is not any help either. With customer support like that, people can't even complain about the one or two that come off the assembly line with a problem.

I can't have nothin

[DebianDog]

After seeing the customer support Gixxer got at MHA I am ready to dump ALL my other helicopters and go Hirobo!!!

[pilotError]

Jeff is really great on the Customer Support end.

I'll take the wait and see with the Lepton and all the others coming out.

I'm tired of Beta Testing...

[JohnSSN700]

I have nothing but praise for Hirobo and Jeff Green. When my brand new Hirobo Freya Evo .90 got shot down on it's third time out I put up a post venting my frustration, within 15 minutes I had an email from Jeff Green/MRC offering me a brand new one at a substantial discount and also a PM from another Hirobo rep offering help. Their quality is wonderful, just great machines with great support.

[SteveL]

SHHHH SHHH I know they are great and have great support You know they are great and have great support but couldn't we keep that our little secret so I can still afford them.

['roboRon]

John, thats great to hear. I just wish i was in America to receive such great service, though i can't complain, only human error has affected my Hirobo thus far

[WayneBrown]

Originally Posted by SteveL

SHHHH SHHH I know they are great and have great support You know they are great and have great support but couldn't we keep that our little secret so I can still afford them.

hahahaha that's pretty smart!

[shannimal]

the kit is expensive. You would hope that once you over came the kit purchase price that the parts woudl be reasonable....NOT The parts are as much as a 90 in most cases. I think that the parts should be cheaper so it is more crashable. THat was what was so good about the rex. If you stuffed it the cost would be 20 to 40 in most cases. Heck the blades are listed at 78 bucks or so. My 50 blades are cheaper. DOH!!!

[dodgey]

I have to say - the kit price (no motor or esc) and the spares have put me off getting one at this stage. Repairing my Eolo was expensive enough. Don't really want to go down that road again. Shame as it looks like a great bit of kit.

[Laurens]

You probably need more experience with crashing Dodgey. My last crash kosted me 42.50 including carbons. My most expensive was when I replaced the head with a QuickUK one.

Hirobo is know for its quality, the kit is full carbon, so its just expensive.

I can't compare lipo to nitro though, I get far more flights per euro from one lipo then fuel.

[supertrex2]

Come to think of it. Trex450Se still gives best bang for the buck.

[Ultraviolet]

I second the vote on the T -REX .

While Hirobo may have good quality now ( it was so so in the early
nineties ) , it is hard to justify the price.

I'm intrested in the new Miniature Aircraft MXR 500. It looks like
a very nice 50 size E - Heli . I'll keep flying my T REX until the MXR
is available.

[dodgey]

I just ordered a second SE! :mrgreen: :mrgreen: It's is THAT MUCH good value :mrgreen:

(Laurens - intersting - though I'm not sure I want all the carbon - I assume a plasic version will come out hopefully!)

[Gscott]

Glad you're happy with the SE but the T-Rex is not in the same league. The quality of the Lepton is much better than the T-Rex. The screws are actual machine screws not that crap that Align gives you. The main gear is actually round, imagine that. It is also noticeably bigger. Using the actual street prices the cost difference is less than $170 (kits w/ no engine or ESC).