Why choose a 18mz over a 18sz

[david m]

With a 18mz over twice the price of a 18sz, why choose a 18mz ?
What makes it so much better ?
Still flying a 12z so either will give me telemetry but what else ?

[colemn615]

I have an 18SZ. I believe the MZ has some more features. I am not sure if they are worth an additional $1500-$1800 though.

[Four Stroker]

The 18SZ was originally the old 12FG s/w. People complained and they added SPLINE curves. Get the manual and see if it has all the s/w features that you want. The 12Z s/w is the same as the 14 MZ is the same as the 18MZ WC with the exception of telemetry, FHSS, S.Bus and such stuff. I originally got the 12Z precisely because I did not want a color touch screen.

Download the manuals and carefully check out the s/w on the 18SZ and 18MZ WC. Don't go by a feature list which can be misleading.

[PlaneHazza]

So far I'm enjoying the 18SZ, although I've yet to take it to the field, as I'm still setting my models up on it.

I like it, it's much nicer working with the larger display than the 8FG. However, I'm a little underwhelmed with the touchscreen. It's not very responsive at times. My battery is low and I bought it used, but it's less than a year old.

Setting up pitch/throttle curves is unnecessarily complicated. What's wrong with the old method of simply copying a curve between conditions? In the 18SZ, you get the option to group them, which is handy if you're starting from scratch, but don't even think about pressing it if you've already set up other curves. Hitting that group button will simply overwrite every curve you've set up once you make a single change to any curve. Quite frustrating.

Expo is hard to find and not really easily navigable. It is in the AFR menu and you have to go to page 2 to cycle between functions (ail, ele, etc.).

It's quite large and heavy in comparison to the 8FG, and I'm led to believe the 18MZ is even larger. Personally, the 18SZ is totally overkill for my needs, but I got it on an impulse purchase for a great price. I can only imagine the 18MZ being way way overkill.

I am very much looking forward to receiving my R7003SB in the post so I can set up the telemetry.