DigiQ First Look

[Namuna]

My cars came in!!! Weeeee, I'm happy.

I've also taken a bunch of pics and have a new page up at my site...check it out for some pics, and soon...MOVIES too!

[Bluff]

I'm looking forward to what you have to say... I still have not been able to make up my mind at all yet... Hopefully this will be the deciding factor. Can't wait.

[Namuna]

I did a little moving around. The DigiQ First Look has been moved to the newly created 'Reviews' page.

Here's my findings so far (once I have more pics and movies, I'll be putting this info up on the site)...

It's been about a DECADE since I've had a remote control in my hands, I used to run offroad 1/10th Scale with a friend (I had an RC10 if I recall correctly), so grabbing a Digi Propo brought back memories of the old days.

I'm going to make a BOLD statement right off the bat and say that the DigiQ is probably NOT for everyone. Why? TOO MUCH control and speed, that's why.

Its' greatest features is also it's biggest downfall. Read on.

Before my DigiQs came in, I did a little preperation by buying some CounterTop material in a 2foot x 4foot size and some doortrim insulation as guiderails (don't worry, I'll put up pics and instruction on my site for this too). I don't have a lot of room to play with (I own a Condo) so my racing is limited to small spaces.

I bought 2 car kits (so my girlfriend and I can race together), when I got home we setup our little racetrack. Just a simple oval on the Countertop material we bought. Using the doortrim strips we made the lanes about 10inches wide going around.

MAN!!! These little demons are FAST! After about 5 charge cycles of playing, I started getting the hang of it, which involves A LOT of finesse with steering and accelerating, proportional acceleration/steering is NO JOKE, especially with these little speedy bastards! The girlfriend didn't fair so well however, not having any experience and then having a gun controller put into your hands with a car that's on a 2'x4' with 10" lanes AND learning how to adjust to proportional steering/accerating is a DAUNTING task!

Now, getting back to this whole 'proportional' thing. With just a hair of throttle and hard steering, I can make a full 360° turn IN PLACE! This is due to the fact that only the rear wheels turn and having plastic front wheels. Or I can make circles of varying sizes, depending on how much throttle and steering. There's some REALITY you can achieve with these little guys! Like gunning the throttle down the straights, then slowing down for the turn and depending on how big a turn you can take it wide or narrow. All achievable because of the proportional steering/accel.

But not everyone is willing, or has the patience, to adjust to learning how to do all that (it can get quite frustrating at times, with steering trim and varying degrees in turns and such).

The DigiQ is quick up front and has lots of SPEED in the long straights, it's a matter of controlling it all with the proportional controls.

...Can't wait to get my Bits in, to compare how those work!

[tinyrc]

Namuna, you did get the Special controller though, so you should be able to tone them down until they are appropriate for your track, right?

[Namuna]

The Propo Special is DEFINITELY recommended for more specific manual control...But be warned, more control does NOT automatically mean you're gonna start driving like a champ.

As a matter of fact, unless you're comfortable and adept with fine tuning R/C cars/controls, you can EASILY make the situation WORSE!

The Propo Special gives you intricate control over everything. Top speed, acceleration, Amount of Steer (S.T.B) and Braking (not to mention steering trim).

I'm quite confident that with more experimentation of settings and more practice, I'll be zipping around my little homemade track like a champ...And that's what the Propo Special is good for, someone who plans on being a bit more 'serious' with their Digi.

The regular Propo, on the other hand, isn't bad either. At less than half the cost of the Special, if you've got less serious demands and don't want to deal with every setting there is, the propo will do a fine job as is.

It all boils down to your 'trigger finger' and whether or not you can hold yourself back from squeeeeeezing the trigger too much!

[baleisen]

I got the computer controller. I like it so much that I converted a Char-G to IR so I can use the controller with it. A fully proportional Char-G. I am working on the police flashing kit which is supported by the IR deck. See www.tapspring.com/BCQ.htm.
The conversion costs $20 a deck. Be very careful with the fragile wires. BAE

[Namuna]

To clarify what baleisen said...

The BCQ-100 does 2 things for the Bit

1- Allows you to run it using IR (instead of RF)
2- Gives you Proportional SPEED (but NOT steering)

You're still stuck with hard-left and hard-right, no proportional there.

[baleisen]

I am using the computer transmitter. I'll check again and get back to you. BAE