Alright, I figured this should be done to share my findings with all of you great people so here it is.
The first major thing that I would like to point out is that I am from Canada and the SE was purchased here in Canada. The second thing that I would like to point out is that this is a fairly recent build of the SE as it was built in May 2004. This is interesting because a lot of people in Canada complained that we were getting old stock from the States and they were plagued with problems.
I purchased the Red/Orange Mustang from my local Radio Shack expecting the worst. I honestly believed that due to complaints of early SE's being faulty coupled with the fact that Canada had seemed to be getting these old models would mean that I was bound to be returning my SE for a refund never to look at the SE again. I was wrong. My brother accompanied me and knew that I expected to be disapointed so we had a plan. We were going to stay at the mall and test it out completely before we left so that if I was to be getting a refund that it would be immediate. We opened the package and began to find all the goodies.
Bilingual instructions were included as with anything sold in Canada these days, unless not being sold in Quebec or New Brunswick. Anyway, moving on I inspected the body up close. I was not highly impressed ... the paint was not evenly applied and black lines were not completely straight. Maybe not a huge gripe but, afterall, I did just sped $39.99 CAN on this little guy. The controller felt small but MUCH more comfortable than any other micro I own or had used. After assembly which was almost a breeze (but NOT for an 8 year old as the minimum age suggests) I laid it down on the smooth concrete of an underground parking lot. Along side it was a black dodge charger Motor Works micro. Off they went. The lights on the new SE glowed brightly as it moved steadily away.
Then it stopped. The car was dead about 4 feet away. A radio reception problem. Why did the car stop only 4 feet away? Maybe it was the underground parking lot but who knows. The cars shot off again and the Mustang was put to the test of its first turning experience. It turned smoothly. I'd never seen a mirco do that before. So I made a few left rights and a few figure 8s. All smooth. I repeated the 8s in larger and smaller circles. Flawless. Not what I was expecting at all. I picked up the car, half shocked to count the number of steering steps. 5-6 to the left and right, evenly distributed. Amazing. Not what I had heard on the forums at all.
Home we ventured after realizing that it was not going to be retuned and my $45 dollars would never see my wallet again.
At home the car was put through many many races with various micros and origional zipzaps on my RCP track (huge Mini-z fan). The car never ceased to amaze. And as I write this mini-review for my fellow ZipZap owners and dreamers I would like to say that I was pleasantly suprised... but let's not be too hasty there is still something wrong with this Zip so let's go over the symptoms. The car, between 5-8 feet of distance from the controller seems to lose signal. I didn't believe that this was supposed to be the actual distance that the ZipZap SE was claiming to have. The Antannas aren't exactly much to look at and I believe that the problem may exist in a very easily repaired soldering job that is a little weak.
After all my doubts before the purchase I was very suprised at the performance but this little issue isn't so small if you're a 12 year old wondering why you have to chase your cordless RC around the kitchen.
Conclusion: I believe that the SE is a great improvement over the origional ZipZaps in its current stage of manufacturing. It's impressive inner mechanisms and smooth operation are nothing to spit on. Great fun for kids, teens, and us older crowd that still want to be kids.
Visual: 7.5/10 (painting issues, high body)
Performance: 9/10 (Range issue)
Lasting Appeal: 9/10 (with people to race)
Overall (not an average): 8.5/10
Thank you for reading and if you have any suggestions as to my range issue please let me know.
ZipZaps SE Mini-Review
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