So what is really going on? Blade products?

[jadewarrior]

Originally Posted by dhc8guru

Why would I buy the new Blade 180? You know its only $50 cheaper then the 300CFX. The 180 is not going to perform as good as the 300 CFX. For the extra $50 on the 300 CFX, I get inexpensive belt drive VS the 180's expensive torque tube. the 300 has an AR7200 VS an all in one ESC receiver, AS3X board.
Its all marketing to give more choices but doesn't really mean your selling a better model over the other.

For starters, the 300CFX isn't that much smaller than a 450 and requires almost as much space to fly. A great many people can't fly something like that in their backyard and have any fun with it beyond basic hovering, but they can with a 180 sized heli. It's not much bigger than the 130X at all. 135mm versus 150mm blades. Second, have you seen the 180CFX parts listing and pricing? Parts are not expensive, unlike the 130X, and you get two of them in a pack with many parts like the boom, TT, tail shafts, etc. That $50 you save can buy a lot of TT tail parts, too. Also, you have no way of knowing that the 180CFX won't fly as well as the 300CFX beyond guessing at the wind versus weight issue that affects all light versus heavier helis equally. Currently, nobody other than the Blade team knows anything about that. You also failed to mention (or even realize) that this AS3X is very different. It has piro comp and will be highly tunable right on your telemetry equipped Spektrum TX screen. It's not just gain adjustments anymore. You can even center the servos for swash leveling just like the big boys. Pretty danged cool.

All-in-one AS3X, RX, ESC? Wrong again. It has a separate fully programmable ESC with governor and internal BEC. The Castle Talon 15. The very easily replaceable, if so desired, RX/AS3X unit is the AR6335 and it's a "real" component, not some exposed board as things were in the past. Even with all the new advanced features, it's only $65, so it's not the end of the world if you want to replace it. All this information, including a 20+ minute detailed tech video that covers the entire heli, is out there and easily found for anyone else to research before making wildly incorrect assumptions.

[Doom Buggy]

Not too add fuel to the fire (or fire extinguisher) but...

300CFX- $399 180CFX-$249

$150 difference..even on fleabay.

Hopefully this motor/servo/FBL combo won't commit suicide through vibrations like some of the 300's have.

[jadewarrior]

Ah, yet another error. A $100 difference in quoted pricing is not an insignificant one, either, especially when the heli in question only costs $250.

[Doom Buggy]

Don't forget the MCPX BL still lists and sells for $229 (i believe)......$250 seems to be a darn good price, 5 inches more "presence", cheap replacement costs. Could be a game changer.

[jadewarrior]

I can't believe the BL is still that expensive for what you get. At release pricing is one thing but, come on, this thing has been out for a long time now. But, that's what Horizon does, I guess. The 450X stayed at $499.99 forever and never came down in price at Horizon once until it was discontinuation time.

[PawnDMonium]

I have seen the mCPX BL had for around $150 for some time now and my 300CFX was only $360 so this pricing falls in line perfectly.

[Doom Buggy]

Thats why fleabay gets my $$ sometimes. The heli, and a bunch of upgrades/batteries that i would normally buy anyways.

[David Eichstedt]

Originally Posted by jadewarrior

Ah, yet another error. A $100 difference in quoted pricing is not an insignificant one, either, especially when the heli in question only costs $250.

If you're looking at the Staufenbiel website, keep in mind they have to publish pricing with VAT included which is about 20% these days.

[jadewarrior]

Originally Posted by David Eichstedt

If you're looking at the Staufenbiel website, keep in mind they have to publish pricing with VAT included which is about 20% these days.

I was talking about the guy who incorrectly claimed the 180CFX was only $50US less than a 300CFX when it's actually $150US less than Horizon's 300CFX price. No funny foreign pricing, currency conversion or VAT applies since we're both in the US.

[crashcopterman]

Horizon is extremely important to the RC heli business, I hope they get their in gear.

People and companies are waiting and relying on you HH, throw them a bone!!

Nuf said.

[xenophobe]

After seeing the 180cfx videos... I think I really want one. It looks like they took all the misfortunes of the 130x and made a really awesome micro.

I'm glad they put it in the Pro section. I bet they got tired of supporting the 130x as an intermediate/expert heli. So many people got whole new helis shipped to them that their profit margins must have been bad, but still good enough to keep selling it for years.

[jadewarrior]

Originally Posted by xenophobe

I'm glad they put it in the Pro section.

One of the Blade guys said that was a mistake and it should have been in the advanced section instead. I think it was Steve Petrotto since he's the web developer guy. My understanding is the "Pro" helis are all kit builds (550-700X).

[dhc8guru]

Originally Posted by jadewarrior

For starters, the 300CFX isn't that much smaller than a 450 and requires almost as much space to fly. A great many people can't fly something like that in their backyard and have any fun with it beyond basic hovering, but they can with a 180 sized heli. It's not much bigger than the 130X at all. 135mm versus 150mm blades. Second, have you seen the 180CFX parts listing and pricing? Parts are not expensive, unlike the 130X, and you get two of them in a pack with many parts like the boom, TT, tail shafts, etc. That $50 you save can buy a lot of TT tail parts, too. Also, you have no way of knowing that the 180CFX won't fly as well as the 300CFX beyond guessing at the wind versus weight issue that affects all light versus heavier helis equally. Currently, nobody other than the Blade team knows anything about that. You also failed to mention (or even realize) that this AS3X is very different. It has piro comp and will be highly tunable right on your telemetry equipped Spektrum TX screen. It's not just gain adjustments anymore. You can even center the servos for swash leveling just like the big boys. Pretty danged cool.

All-in-one AS3X, RX, ESC? Wrong again. It has a separate fully programmable ESC with governor and internal BEC. The Castle Talon 15. The very easily replaceable, if so desired, RX/AS3X unit is the AR6335 and it's a "real" component, not some exposed board as things were in the past. Even with all the new advanced features, it's only $65, so it's not the end of the world if you want to replace it. All this information, including a 20+ minute detailed tech video that covers the entire heli, is out there and easily found for anyone else to research before making wildly incorrect assumptions.

I was going by the Euro pricing. Yep $100 cheaper then the 300CFX is significant. What really irritates me is its $30 cheaper then the 130X at intro.Also on paper on much better heli.
I do like how they did the torque tube gears and shaft. Going by experience with the 130X main head, the 180 CFX should be also nearly indestructable.
I am going to wait a few month's till the general flying public get's there hands on the production models and find what the real deal is on this one.
I just dumped a chunk of change getting a basket case Trex 550 going and want to enjoy that for a while before taking on another heli. I got my current fleet flying just right so I want to enjoy them before taking on another.

[TheKingPhisher]

I find the 700X pretty cool but not at the price they're selling it at. I'd buy a kit if they were $500 or less. Right now I could get a Thunder Tiger E700V2 for $600.

[wab223]

Originally Posted by dhc8guru

I am going to wait a few month's till the general flying public get's there hands on the production models and find what the real deal is on this one.
.

Me too, well at least a month. I am quite keen to start reading the experiences of the first buyers. I will try and sit on the fence for long enough to get an honest picture of this heli before deciding to purchase. But I do hope it turns out to be a decent, fairly reliable little heli.

[TheQuixote]

Originally Posted by zadaw

By the way, there are some comments made by existing staff on their management here.

http://www.glassdoor.co.uk/Reviews/H...ws-E159323.htm

That's kind of troubling. Looks like a company I used to work for. Gigantic disconnect between upper management and the rest of the company leading to an incohorent and inconsistent strategy and pushing out half baked products.

That is for horizon though not sure how much that affects blade.

[Varc]

Notice prices go with sizes?

150x $200
250x $250
300x $360
450x $4somthing

Nano quads under $100?

[pert]

What I notice is they sell Helis , quads, say that they are all test flown, that they never heard of the 180 having tail problems, sell a heli, that don't have any info on how to set it up, and no parts in stock for it, let's see, sell a quad, that the props break looking at them, and say they never saw this while testing them, there is no way they test all there stuf, I've had 3 of there BL that would not fly out of the box, reading the 180 treads it sucks, these guys have no info insetting this thing up, maybe HH DONT KNOW HOW TO DO IT YET looks like a nice heli but I'm sure they took short cuts some were on it, we shall see, thanks for LYNX this heli might be ok once you landfill some HH crap off of it, again cheap looking canopy that don't fit,, Junk blades yep they make a half way nice heli but put some junk on it, but that's what they do, and hide they are good at that, when there trying to push a new heli, there all over these threads, but when there's a problem they are like mice,