TRex 450SE V2 or Blade 400 for 1st Heli?

[shaggybirdman]

I bought a blade 400 and not 6 weeks later I was looking into getting a trex.The only good thing I got out of the 400 was a radio I could use on my Trex.I must say Horizon Hobbys customer service is 1st class

so tell me. how do you like your $500 dx6? could have bought a dx7, and had money towards your trex. that's my point everyone. a blade 400 is a $500 radio plain and simple. just get the trex, or one of the trex clones
http://www.xheli.com/ma-450-helicopter-arf.html
$160 gets ya a trex clone, motor, and esc. $300 dx7, $100 collective servos, $50 tail servo, $130 401 gyro. total $740 plus the $500 for the blade 400. $1240 for a trex clone is your end cost vs a trex clone for $800. forgot the battery. not putting the charger into the mix. ground equipment will be bought for any form of rc.

[ptc]

check tis out

http://www.xheli.com/ma-450-helicopter-arf.html

Above is currently out of stock.

http://www.xheli.com/exi-450-arf-rc-helicopter.html

I ordered this one last week. Now all I need is a motor, esc, servos, gyro and radio to complete it. :shock:

The Belt CP got wrapped up in a pepper tree last week and bent the feathering shaft. It will be down for a week for a $1.75 part. :arggg:

Then the HB FP backed into an oak tree and broke the main frame. I had one of those on hand and got it back up fairly quickly. That little heli is a TANK when it comes to damage in crashes.

I am still dreading repairing the head on the Belt CP when it disintergrates.

[ptc]

I'm leaning toward the Futaba 7C heli model for about the same price.

[Skarn]

Shaggy, have you ever flown a Blade 400? I'm asking because your statement above is saying it's a complete wasted except for the radio.

That is simply not true. While it's not a TREX, it's a very nice heli for what you get! Yes, the servo's strip easily and the gyro could be better, but for under $500 you get everything you'll need to fly. I flew my friends a while back and was very impressed and would recommend it to a new person on a limited budget.

Skarn

[randerson07]

there are plenty of vids showing how well the blade flies. I would guess that quite a few of the folks that are ditching their blades for trexs are doing because of thread like these, not because they are outflying the blade.

Personally I love my blade, the parts are dirt cheap and available in any Local Hobby store in my area. It flys well and is capable of much more than I am. Dont get my wrong I love my Mini Titans too, but i fear crashing them and having to order parts, although it is easier to work on than the blade is.

[shaggybirdman]

Shaggy, have you ever flown a Blade 400? I'm asking because your statement above is saying it's a complete wasted except for the radio.

That is simply not true. While it's not a TREX, it's a very nice heli for what you get! Yes, the servo's strip easily and the gyro could be better, but for under $500 you get everything you'll need to fly. I flew my friends a while back and was very impressed and would recommend it to a new person on a limited budget.

Skarn

i never said it was a waste, but everyone said they will get a trex as there next heli. why wait? just get what you want right out of the shoot. waiting to get what you really want makes the trex just that much more money.

THE BLADE 400 IS NOT A PIECE O JUNK.
I CAN NOT EVEN HOVER YET.

now that that's out of the way. my point is buying a b 400 then getting a trex after makes the trex cost $500 more. especially if you really want the trex in the first place. but i can see people spending more money when they really want a trex. the $500 i talk about it what moves to the trex from the b 400. that's why i keep saying that's one expansive dx6. i'm sure they will keep flying the b 400, but my cde kit came in under $600 less radio. yes a trex for under $600. i got my dx7 when i got into sailboats. i have 7 now, and getting 1 more when i get the cash. anyhow i have a 7c heli radio with open models i could have used as well, but we are talking total newbes with nothing in hand.

boils down to this i guess why get the chevy when for a bit more you can have the rolls royce in the heli world for just a bit more? someone hear made the statement a no0b can't tell the difference between a b 400, and a trex anyhow. same goes for a trex v2, and my trex cde. with nothing in hand a cde, or SA (aluminum frame) can be in the air for roughly $650 to $750.

[shaggybirdman]

well here is a reasonably priced trex clone. ready to fly

http://www.ehirobo.com/shop/product_...33d9303aefd17d

i'm not bashing the b 400. it's a fine bird i'm sure, but the above heli gets you into a trex (yes a clone) for roughly the same money. then you have the heli you really wanted in the first place.

randerson07 i bet you wanted a trex, but opted for the blade due to the price. $500 vs $1000+ trex 450 se v2.

[HighTechRedneck]

I MYSELF STARTED WITH THE HELI MAX AXE CP..
NOW I FLY A TREX 450 AND WISH I HAD PUT MY MONEY INTO IT 1ST..
A LOT BETTER FLYING HELI... COST IS MORE BUT YOU WILL BE A LOT HAPPIER...

[randerson07]

randerson07 i bet you wanted a trex, but opted for the blade due to the price. $500 vs $1000+ trex 450 se v2.

Not a chance, got the B400 as a gift and its fantastic. Then I went and spent in the neighborhood of $2000 on two mini Titans and batteries, I will never own a Trex 450, maybe a 600 but not a 450. Mostly cause everyone has them and I think they are ugly, Nothing against the way they fly, but I like my Mini Titans and my B400 alot.

[shaggybirdman]

lol a trex is ugly???? that's a first. i gotta know. why is it ugly? there's usually a reason why everyone has one. reason is it's the standard in the 450 class. align has both worlds. nitro, and electric.

i take it you drive a yugo or something :tongue cuz everyone else drives American, or Japanese cars. just messing with ya bro.

but seriously why is a trex ugly. looks just like any other heli to me.

[randerson07]

I really dont like the canopy not sure why, it just doesnt do anything for me. and then something about the way the frame looks and is layed out. To me it just doesnt look right.

[JasonJ]

so tell me. how do you like your $500 dx6? could have bought a dx7, and had money towards your trex. that's my point everyone. a blade 400 is a $500 radio plain and simple. just get the trex, or one of the trex clones
http://www.xheli.com/ma-450-helicopter-arf.html
$160 gets ya a trex clone, motor, and esc. $300 dx7, $100 collective servos, $50 tail servo, $130 401 gyro. total $740 plus the $500 for the blade 400. $1240 for a trex clone is your end cost vs a trex clone for $800.

Not looking at the big picture here. $1240 is pretty cheap to have two good flying helicopters and one good radio. Actually less because you would sell the DX6i (if you had a burning desire for a DX7, which you don't if you are just entering the hobby). Who on earth only owns one helicopter? So by your logic, if you go and buy your proposed combo for $800, and have a theoretical T-rex, and upgrade later to a T-rex 600n, do you then have a $3000 600? Were does it end? For what it's worth, the clone can have issues. Plenty of people have went the clone route and ended up getting a T-rex, and they certainly spent more than they would have on a Blade 400 and then T-rex. The reality is, there is no one set perfect way to enter this hobby. You enter it at your individual financial pace, and for some it is a $12,000 turbine scaler, and for some it is a $399 Blade 400. For some it is a $29 Picco Z or an $80 coax. It is easy to go on a forum and tell people how to spend their money without knowing a singe thing about them.

Who has ever bought the perfect setup right off? I would love to see someone say they bought the perfect setup once, and never needed anything else. It won't happen, because this is an evolving hobby, and you always end up buying something else. So someone gets a DX7/clone for $800, what then? They go scale and need a 9 channel radio, or they go nitro and need all the associated support elements for that helicopter. Guess what, they have to spend money to do that. So what does it matter if someone buys a Blade 400 first? It's their hobby, let them do it the way they want to without injecting flawed economics into the equation that fails to account for the big picture.

[shaggybirdman]

Jason

i'm just talking from experience. i tried to build a better mousetrap before i got my first serpent impact (yes i have 2. 1/10 on road car). i don't want to total up how much i spent trying. my friend literally forced the radio in my hand, and needless to say i sold of a bunch of cars, and bought the real deal. yes the first impact was very expansive. the kit sold for $500. i don't want to know what it actually cost me.

like i said before. my dad told me not to settle. get what you want, so you only do it ounce. yes there are going to be more helis in my future. hell i have 3 now, and just learning to hover. yesterday was a great day of learning. had my first 3 30 second hovers.

so yes maybe i'm preaching a bit, or trying to get no0bs like myself to just get a trex, and be done with it. i just don't want to see others spend the extra cash, and still end up buying the heli they actually wanted in the first place. i've spent allot of cash, and will spend even more. i can't even hover a full pack yet, and i'm looking for my next heli. it maybe a blade 400, but i'll wait till it comes out as just the heli. witch as my lhs has told me eflite is in the process of doing that, but i doubt i'll get one. i already have what i want in the 450 class. i may just stick to nitro.

i'll step down off my soap box now, and try my best not to get back up on it. the key word is try :nanabobo

[JasonJ]

so yes maybe i'm preaching a bit, or trying to get no0bs like myself to just get a trex, and be done with it.

Fair enough, but since the T-rex is not the best helicopter out there, why push this helicopter? There are better helicopters out there, why not buy those instead? Why not get a Beam or a Heinselet (sp?) or whatever? That is my whole point. I am not arguing the point of buying quality, I am simply saying that everyone has their own level of what is "best". I'm here to tell you, if you have a house payment, car payment, food, clothes for the kids, gas, and you only have a $500 budget to spoil yourself and have something to do besides suffer through the workweek so the bills get paid, your definition of "best" is way different than a teenager that lives at home and has no bills or a trust fund baby. The Blade 400 is an ideal entry level kit for those who work for a living and are not sure if they will even stay in the hobby.

[shaggybirdman]

well my friend if $500 is the total budget me thinks they need a different hobby. parts, more batteries, parts, better charger, parts, more parts, batteries, and so on. it's not if your going to crash. it's when your going to crash.

if the trex isn't the rolls of 450 helis then why are other Chinese companies copying it, and not the Beam or a Heinselet? are those 2 even in the 450 class heli? i don't even know myself. i really don't think they would copy anything but the top of the heap heli. i mean why would they?

i can see we are going to argue this point for a long time. lol

i know there are a bunch of peeps out there reading and laughing, but seriously now. when you got your first heli didn't you really want a trex instead of what you settled for? no need to reply. it's a rhetorical (sp) question.

[JasonJ]

well my friend if $500 is the total budget me thinks they need a different hobby.

Okay. I nominate you to tell every person that comes onto this site seeking intelligent advise to not bother because their budget is too low. You can steer them towards a cheap hobby. Oh yeah, I forgot, there is no such thing as a cheap hobby. Let me know how that works for ya. I'm out....

[shaggybirdman]

Okay. I nominate you to tell every person that comes onto this site seeking intelligent advise to not bother because their budget is too low. You can steer them towards a cheap hobby. Oh yeah, I forgot, there is no such thing as a cheap hobby. Let me know how that works for ya. I'm out....

so what's wrong with that statement? if you have $500, and that's it any heli is going to break you. is 1 battery going to keep you happy? your going to crash, and have to get parts no matter witch heli you get. helis aren't for the faint of heart. they are the most expansive rc hobby out there. so ok everyone jump into a heli all ya need is $500, and your set. ya right! dude ya gotta look at it realistically. if your budget is only $500 that has to incorporate parts, so you only have $350 to $400 to spend on the bird.

seems to me there are alot of peeps that don't have heli peeps locally, or even a hobby shop to help them, and rely on forums like this, and i refuse to paint a rosey picture. i'd rather they be informed. a kid in school, or someone with a wife, kids, car, and house payment better be prepared. helis are not cheap to upkeep.

$500 gets you a nice plain if you don't count in ground equipment, and repairs. same thing goes for helis. i'm just starting out, and can't even hover yet, and can see the cash it takes. took me 5 months to get my trex in the air. it was worth the wait.

take a look on the box of a blade 400. it says intermediate to advanced. i'd have to look, but a trex box probably says the same thing.

[Gr4yb3ard]

'come'on guys, it's a hobby....

You can spend as much or as little as you'd like.

..and yes, you'd spend a grand or more to get off the ground right now,.....

...but...

..It sure beats the 4-5thousand it took, the last time I looked at heli's!!!

Count your blessings laddies...

Gr4yb3ard
" ...<this tagline deleted for reasons of pirate-specific, offensive adult material, and full-frontal micro-helicopter nudity>..."

[shaggybirdman]

yes it is, but why not get the heli you want first? never settle. your going to get it anyhow. just get it now. i guess i'm just a trex freak. i don't know. i almost always go top shelf. :tongue

[Gr4yb3ard]

Well, yes, agreed on that one, to be sure.

There is a rather large matter of false economy inherent in this...

I just feel for the folks that can't get up the price of admission.

Gr4yb3ard
"...an old pirates opinion,nothing more, just mind the cannon as 'ye step up to the plank, laddies..."

[Gsquared08]

another thing to consider is your budget. can you afford the $700 for a trex, or is the $500 doable? maybe save a bit longer, and get the trex.

You can get a new Trex for $700 with everything needed to get it in the air? I have seen some price lists in these forums and it looks more like $1500.

[Skarn]

You can get a new Trex for $700 with everything needed to get it in the air? I have seen some price lists in these forums and it looks more like $1500.

$1500 is kind of steep. I got my TREX450 SE v2 and my JR7202 radio for about $1100.

And I didn't bargain shop...I got the heli from my LHS for $500...you can find deals on ebay and other online shops. I did bargain shop for the gyro and servo's though.

Skarn

[sfhawk]

Hey check out rc-expert if you want a t rex-got my 450sev2 at an awesome price....to be honest the price was so good i didnt think i'd ever see it but it came on time and complete!