Lets talk Halo B...the truth uncovered!!!!

[cphilip]

Ok much ado and comments and such about this thing. I have seen others compare its size and such but no one mentioned anything about the weight (or at least I have not seen much on it here) That seems to be a valid issue with this thing. So I got my stuff out and did some data collection.

First issue is size:

If you hold this thing, right out of the box, your first impression is its a Blimp! But not realy... In comparison its not realy any bigger than a 12V VL Revy. The picts will show that and I believe another member already posted a good picture of that a few weeks back. Butterfingers maybe? Anyway, it's true its overall outer dimentions and it's height are not that much different... if at all. It is the same heigth and length and maybe a tiny bit wider but almost none. My first set of pictures will show that.

Second issue is Weight:

Well... here is were it comes apart a bit. Depends on how much is a problem for you but that is a quantum leap here. My second set of pictures will show that too. Seems a 12V VL revy with its two 9V batteries in it is 0.8 pounds and the Halo B with its 6 AA Batteries is 1.4 Pounds Making the Halo B .6 pounds more. Now some of that is in the batteries. In fact I found .2 pounds of it there.

Even so I notice the battery case in the Halo B has a 9V connector that attaches it to the AA carrier assembly there may be a way to run this thing off of 9V's and cut some weight. But since Odyssey says not to use a single 9V there as it may not have enough amps to pull the motor. These things are much more powerfull than a VL so they need juice. So we need to look into the possibilty of running them off of two 9V and how much battery life that would give us. But I fear not as they say this at the Odyssey site: A- Any type of AA's can be used. From NiMH rechargeable to the cheap discount brands. Lithium's provide the longest life and are very light. Do not attempt to use another size battery such as 9 volts. They can not provide the current required for optimum performance. The 6 - AA's provide an amazing long battery life (20,000 rounds they claim) so you would have to give some of that up if it can be done I should think. Not sure it can.

Conclusions and observations:

This sucker is heavier. Enough to notice. Can you live with that? I guess it depends on you.

If you were a back player slinging paint out of a HROF marker you certainly may chose too. A front player concerned with the lightest possible set up and who may only snap shoot may not want one of these. And I guess that depends on the team make ups too. In a three man, only one of you may carry it. In ten man, maybe five of you.

Me? I got one and think I am going to go out and play with it a while and reserve judgement on how much the weight affects me. But I am not selling my VL right away! I may find going back and forth between the two for certain situations may be just the thing for me. I suspect it will be a nice thing to have that choice.

So the questions I think you need to ask yourself are these:

1)Do you need the Feed ability supremacy of the Halo B?

2)Can you stand the weight gain on your set up to get it?

Those are things you need to decide on before you buy one. Or like me have both!!!! :D

References: http://www.odysseypaintball.com/main.html

Picts coming up....

[cphilip]

Size comparison shots...

[cphilip]

another...

[cphilip]

Size comparison shots...

[cphilip]

And another

[cphilip]

One more here

[cphilip]

Battery stuff...

[cphilip]

More battery stuff...

[Dayspring]

Nice work Uncle Phil. This leans towards the Technical Roundtable forum and is a great post for everybody!

[shartley]

Thanks Phil... good write-up.

I am still waiting for them to send me one for evaluation..... ;)

[cphilip]

Well not very perfect as far as technical or I woulda had to drag all this stuff to a analytical scales... but mostly observtional.

Might be a long wait Sam. But I must say that they sent me one promptly... but right after payment! :D

[Vanced]

Phil,

Another fine piece of actual useable info with numbers and pics to back it up.

I for one will give a thumbs up to the Halo-B over my 12-V X-Board Revy based on my use of it, but for more than double the cost in my eyes on performace alone as my basis for judgement not price. If price is a concern it may be worth considering the value to you.

and #2 - and an Issuse that Phil didn't address is that in my eyes, and for my style of play the weight really isn't an issue, but bulk is. and to me you have to put the Halo-B in a comparision with a Warp+Revy Combo to achive a performace comparison. And I for one have always preferred and more streamlined less bulky gun. And with all performance issues aside in the guns and hoppers that's why I love my mags over any cocker, and why I love my Halo-B , over a Warp+Revy Combo. For a similar performace Mag+Halo-B = a Simply powerful combination.

But would be curious to see how much a Set up Warp+Revy Combo is vs the Weight of the just the Halo-B?

NOTE: as a disclammer: I know the Warp+Revy Combo addresses Hopper hits & Profile, but for my style of play, 90% of balls that would hit my hopper would catch the top of my mask as well, and they have never been a problem. ( Back to my streamlined Gun Prefernce for other issues for my prefrence to be able to shoot either hand and to both directions easier)

Again thanks for the info Phil,

Vanced

[mezpo]

good job phil....charlie and i were wondering what the actuall weight difference was. Any luck with that tank or the emag? did you get air? Charlie and i did some tests of our own. we put the halob up against a 12volt revvy with xboard. 12volt revvy emptied in about 15 seconds and the halob emtied in approximately 11 seconds. That is a huge difference when it comes to rate of fire. Those tests were rough tests, we may do some more accurate tests later on. We used the same amount of paint in both hoppers. Some people complain that the halo's do not hold as much paint. Well we checked this as well. The halo b held 10 less than the revvy. we had the revvy holding 16 more but it would jam and not feed when you turned it on.

[gatorchris]

Ive been playing with a B on my timmy for a few months now. I also have two of my front guys using them on timmys and the other backer using one on a timmy. One of the fronts is in the 5'4" range, small guy, and he doesnt complain about the weight or size. I can add a couple of comments about usage though.

The feedneck on the B does NOT like fluted rises. That would be a rise with an interior shaped like \_/ as opposed to |_|. The 2k2 timmys have a fluted neck and we have had 4 bodies crack at the feed neck, and its always at the top, not close to where there is most pressure (the bottom). I have a theory that its bowing the plastic enough to break it at the top, but I dont have anything to back that up beyond a hunch. The GZ feed tubes are straight, and we havent had one of those break yet. FYI, the ones that broke were on both front and back guns, and they didnt break in game, it was in trying to remove the halo from the feed tube every time.

The Bs dont like to work after breaking paint in the drive cone area. Played a nasty tourney this weekend in Houston (on the heels of Tropical Storm Faye) where we had lots of intermittent rain. I was shooting Ultra Evil (very brittle stuff, almost like a quail egg) The shell on evil does not like rain, it immediately bubbles the shell and causes it to stick to anything around it. Got a few that stuck together and jammed trying to get down the feed neck, and wound up breaking. The occluded eye mode works well, it was completely useable, which is a plus. After that game I turned it off, and it never came back on. We had back to backs the entire finals so I had to ditch it because I didnt have time to break it down to clean it.

I just want to give everyone a heads up, do not use this as your ONLY loader, keep a revvy in your bag of tricks as a backup. You never know when ma nature isnt going to cooperate and give you conditions that arent suitable for the B's power. But when the sun is shining, it just cant be matched, it gives you so much versatility you forget how much its worth. When I had to use the revvy I had trouble shooting with my gun at funky angles because it wasnt being force fed anymore, really stunted the game Im used to playing. It is a super tool, but its not the only one you need in your toolbox.

[cphilip]

Good Job on that end Steve. FYI people Steve is one of our club officers and he has one of these on loan to test and give feed back to the rest of us on. So you now have some more numbers to go with.

Steve, one question...Did they both have balls all the way to the neck? Seems the halo has a long neck too.

No air yet steve may go today. Any luck on the SCUBA fills?

[gatorchris]

mez, just curious about your speed tests, how did you perform them? If it was straight drop you are doing the B some disservice, it needs a little pressure on the balls to keep the drive cone primed. Put your finger just on the edge of the feed tube so it pushes slightly on the stack in the tube and try it again, I think youll see it drop by a second or two :D

[cphilip]

Originally posted by gatorchris
I just want to give everyone a heads up, do not use this as your ONLY loader, keep a revvy in your bag of tricks as a backup. You never know when ma nature isnt going to cooperate and give you conditions that arent suitable for the B's power. But when the sun is shining, it just cant be matched, it gives you so much versatility you forget how much its worth. When I had to use the revvy I had trouble shooting with my gun at funky angles because it wasnt being force fed anymore, really stunted the game Im used to playing. It is a super tool, but its not the only one you need in your toolbox.


Could not have put it better! and its just what I suspected I might find myself. Thanks!

However so far the leaning is towords "Its worth the weight" I see.

[gatorchris]

Absolutely, but Ive never really been concerned with the weight craze. Then again Im 6" and 200 lbs, half a pound diff in my hands is almost unnoticeable :p Thats why I posted about our front guys using it, I wanted to give a little (no pun intended) context with what some of your thoughts were. 2 out of our 3 front guys use Bs, and they dont complain, the other uses an angel with intellifeed and doesnt want to buy batteries (read: cheap). On the gun I really dont think people will notice that much, I think balance should be a bigger factor. The B is very balanced with paint in it, so I think it should work for just about anyone. Compare that to the Egg2 where the feedneck is in the very front, I think that would be where even though its lighter, the balance will probably be odd.

[JEDI]

Phil, how do you like the performance. My friend just got his and stated that it actually lacked in performance compared to his original. He said he never had a Halo A problem, but figured he'd get it switched any way. Is it slower, ever jamb up on you? After my first Halo A crapped out I bought an Xboard revvie, and was surprised how well they actually do.
For me the Halo was over kill. I used to base my hoppers performance on if it could handle constant six shot bursts. Being that I never use burst modes, I've decided the revvie works perfectly for even my faster Semi shots.

[Patron God of Pirates]

Well done Phil. If I may also make an observation:

My problem with the Halo loader isn't the size or the weight, but rather the inference in it's name that it is supposed to be used with Angels. :)

[cphilip]

JEDi, no field tests from me yet. But above you saw several field obsevations. I will have to defer to them until I can get a chance to throw some paint through it. Have not heard anyone but you so far have that negative of an observation. Lets wait and see if there are more of you out there.

Patron, its a Holy experience I guess. My Emag may be unworthy! But I have yet to see any Angels manage to stress one... :D

Hey! one thing not mentioned so far is the thing is realy cool looking. And cool is for me! I like cool looking stuff and this thing is that "fo sho".

[JEDI]

I really wanna get a Halo B, but I cant get passed the advantage of my warp feed. It feeds flawlessly, and I've had countless people tell me they never even saw me sticking out until my paint was already in the air. Thats not marketing hype, its the truth. You guys with warps know how it is. I'm stuck on that warp feed. Its changed/influenced my game to the point that I dont think I can use any thing else

[cphilip]

Well I saw a picture of Toms Shatner ball C&C Emag (I think he knows somebody? ;)) with both a Warp and Halo B on there.

[Havoc_online]

Phil, would it be to hard to weigh both hoppers filled with paint? Just curious.....:)

[cphilip]

No... it wouldn't except I have no paint! :(

But from Steves report the Halo would be 10 balls lighter in relationship to the VL full too! I tested both of mine empty but ready to run with batteries.

[gatorchris]

I pop warp users with regularity, you still have to expose your head to sight down the marker. Just curious, do warp users do any heavy sliding and diving? Just seems like you would twist and torque on that thing doing supermans. It seems valid for back guys on ten man, but below that everyone needs to be mobile IMO. I can imagine diving with that stuff on the inside of my setup, catching on the ground and wind up having me roll over it. As far as the question of shooting upside down, the answer is yes, you can squeeze off a few balls because of the cone spring, but its just like the warp, you will have to turn it upright again to reprime the stack. I can shoot at a 90 degree right angle all day, 90 left depends on how much paint is in the loader. Since the cone spins counter-clockwise the 90 right is a no brainer. Dont know how useful that is though, most you ever need angle shooting for is on doritos and such, and even a revvy can usually feed at a 45.

[Top Secret]

I play front, using a Warp/HALO B combo on my Emag. The weight is insignificant to me. The Halo is overkill IMO, but it looks cool and doesn't slow me down any. As far as Superman slides, I always go feet first when using the warpfeed. Originally bought it to contend with the high ROF chopping issues with emags. But now with Lvl 10 and Xmag bodies, I may switch to HALO B only(or both with the breeches ;) ). I love the warpfeed and won't give it up for anything, but it's better to have it when playing back/mid.

HALO B is outstanding.

[Angry Man]

Very nice work.

I've been very impressed with the halo b. It's fast and feeds at almost all angles very well...even if you're tilted in a strange way it won't miss a single shot. However, it does seem to try to feed even when it doesn't need to, but it didn't break paint because of this (maybe one ball actually, but not sure). Anyway, yeah...the feed neck is REALLY thick so be aware of that.

[covadsucks]

Congratulations on your purchase CPHIL. I have one and I absolutely love it. It was feeding my beast of a Timmy and making it so no one wanted me in the game due to my ROF-I am a mid to back player and I shoot a ton of paint... Seeing as how the Timmy was just traded away for a DYE COCKER(Gasp! Not one of those!) The HALO sits awaiting the completion of my GZ powered Defiant. I have to say I was very impressed with your write up, but you forget one thing, it loves to eat. It ate two and a half cases on Sunday and was still hungry for more.

[BTAutoMag]

i got one comming in the mail sometime soon. i cant wait.

[FreshmanBob]

I'm still not too sure on the whole halo vs revy but we'll see what happens

anyway, just to give you guys a little heads up, Oddessy paintball was testing a new halo at IAO that managed to force 3 balls down the breech of a racegun autococker.

Now, the thing about raceguns is that you can set how long the breech is open for, this gun was open for 10 ms.

That means in 1/100 of a second 3 balls were forced past the cockers ball detente. That means 300 balls a second.. though there's gotta be a catch, I'll let you guys know what i hear.

[cfhiv]

Steve and I ran some tests today the results are below.
KEY for my terms:
pad is paddle new pad is the newest viewloader paddle
old pad is the old four pronged paddle bps balls per second

KEEP IN MIND THIS TEST WAS DONE WITH LOOSE RESTRAINTS.

as a side not the newest paddle from VL sucks if you ask usKEEP IN MIND THIS TEST WAS DONE WITH LOOSE RESTRAINTS.

[cphilip]

Well the formating of the table was lost but a I can still follow.

Nice testing!

[Mango]

Even if the Halo-B weighed 5 lbs, I would still use it. It's performance is just that good.

[mxracer33x]

I played all day at shatnerball with my emag/warp/haloB and shot in some interesting situations, without any problems. It feeds at any angle well, even 90* left with enough paint.

Shooting the emagnum at Full Auto 20 bps the Halo B kept up great. A xboard revvy made the Level 10 work very hard in comparison. Still no chops but you could hear it working alot. I personally am still going for a no-rise body with the halo B. warp is more bulk than I want.

8 cases of paint and the batteries are still going strong. My Ricochet 2k needs replacements after only 3 cases. Very good battery life.

[raehl]

Narrow feed neck. It feeds great on all my markers, vert cocker, vert bushy, and mag on warp feed, never broken a ball in it, although did jam one once.

I have, however, had balls get stuck in the neck. They get a little big or a little dirty and get stuck in the curved park of the feed neck/tube. This quickly becomes a pain in the *** when you have to dislodge the ball.

As for the .6 lb difference.... com'on, that's less than the weight of the paint you'll be putting in the thing. Plus for those of us who run the HALO off of our warp feed batteries (or EMag battery) it's even less since you lose the battery weight.

But all in all, I'll take the HALO B over any other loader. My backup is another HALO B. Those of ou who say you need a backup loader for tournaments - duh. You should always have backup loaders for when your loader breaks a ball inside. I've noticed that happens a lot more with revs and richochets than it does with HALOs.

- Chris

[Kevmag]

Originally posted by raehl
Plus for those of us who run the HALO off of our warp feed batteries (or EMag battery) it's even less since you lose the battery weight.

I didn't think you could run the Halo off the E-Mag battery, let alone the a warp feed battery (would even 2 x 9V set up in series have enough current to run both Halo and Warp?). Has anyone else tried this on an E-Mag?

[raehl]

You'd want to set up the 2 9 volts in parallel, not series - it's not the voltage that's the problem with the 9V's, it's the current. 9V's are really just 6 small 1.5V batteries in series in a box.

And when I mean off of my warp feed battery, I run my warp feed off of 8 1.2 volt high drain AA batteries designed for digital cameras and the like. Definitely enough currrent coming outta there for the warp and HALO, and the emag battery will do an amp of current, which is also plenty. Just have to make sure you regulate your output down from the 18 volts or you'll blow out your warp feed board.

- Chris

[cphilip]

Chris, do you know if the Halo Board can take more than 12V?

[Kevmag]

I have a battery harness to run my warp and 12V Revy off my E-Mag battery. The connector to the Warp is properly regulated to 12V or 9V to not blow the warp. The connector to the Revy is unregulated (as the Revy board will reg down to 12V).

Do I need to modify this connector to use with my Halo B? Or can I just remove the AA battery carrier and connect to the 9V connector?

Thanks - Kevin

[raehl]

I have no idea what the upper limits of the HALO board are or whether it has a regulator to bring down the input voltage. Tex assured me that running 10.6 in wouldn't be a problem, beyond that is a question for HALO.


I definitely wouldn't assume it's ok - the reason you can run the 18v from the E-Mag battery straight into your VL is that the VL uses 2 9V's - so it was already tking in 18 volts, it just has a voltage regulator built in to bring that down to 12 volts. Thus when you run 18v into it from the E-Mag battery the VL brings it down to 12 for you. Since the HALO is only supposed to have batteries that output 9 V, there doesn't appear to be a good reason fo them to have that voltage regulator built in.


- Chris

[gatorchris]

I have seen a few people running two 9vs in parallel around here, that way you get the increased amperage needed without raising the voltage. Officially Tex frowns on it but I dont think Ive seen him say it wouldnt work or would damage the boards. The people Ive seen do it claim it still works fine, and that the weight savings are noticeable. I just choose not to be a sissy and run the AAs ;)

[raehl]

They may weigh less and get you enough current, but they'll also get you less shots and will be more expensive to use. (More expensive batteries, less shots, more money.)

Of course, if you're like me and have gone all-rechargable (seemed silly to be shelling out $2-3 per paintball day for 9V's) the cost isn't so bad.


But still, after you put the paint in there - is the couple ounces of battery weight really a big deal?


- Chris

[gatorchris]

Should have been more specific, they are using rechargeables as well with the 9v's. They have to recharge after every day of use though to keep the current up to snuff. I have changed my AA's once since I got my B, and that was out of paranoia more than anything else. Didnt want to start the day and wind up with dead batteries right before a back to back or something. I agree about the weight, I dont think its worth it, which is why I choose to just stick with the AA's.

[cphilip]

I bring this back up to let you know a couple things that have developed.

The test unit that was used here has seen about a case of paint through it. It was used for the feed tests that Steve and Charlie did and reported above. Then it went out in the field with another new unit that was seeing its first use too.

But now this test unit has failed. It's jamming and buzzing. And often refusing to respond to the on/off button and when it does is almost always buzzing and refusing to spin. This came on fairly sudden. It may have seen a case of paint through it.

So I called Odyssey this morning and let Edward hear it over the phone. He says "Motor Fried" and send it in. Says they got a bad batch of motors. So I still do not know if the other two are going to be affected but I am sending this one on in.

So thats a downer...but the up side and the reason for me bringing this thread back up is now we will get to see their customer service action. The sign of a good company is how they deal with problems. Will report on that too! talk about looking hard for a silver lining? :D

[gatorchris]

From my experience their customer service is excellent. Ive had 3 bodies (feed necks) break on my team, and with just a phone call each time they have sent new bodies out that day, no questions asked. I have one of the earlier Bs, havent seen the motor problem yet and Ive veen playing with it for 4 months now, cant count how many cases its been, things too fast ;)

[cphilip]

Good to hear...but in this case the whole thing has to go back...A little more of a pain in the rear.

[shartley]

I am glad folks get their PROBLEMS taken care of. That indeed shows good Customer Support.

Am I the only one however that judges a company FIRST by how good the product is, and THEN how good their Customer Support is? After all, if their product didn’t break, you would not have to even deal with Customer Support… would you?

Yes, things happen. No product is flawless 100% of the time. But my business philosophy has always been to make sure you are ready for problems, but to do everything in your power to avoid those problems in the problem in the first place. ;)

I would not turn away a Holo (don’t get me wrong), but I just find it funny how happy folks are and that they give such “kudos” to a company simply because they “fix a problem in a timely manner”. Heck, if the product did not break in the first place, there would be nothing to fix. :D

hmmmm

Ive had 3 bodies (feed necks) break on my team, and with just a phone call each time they have sent new bodies out that day, no questions asked.

So thats a downer...but the up side and the reason for me bringing this thread back up is now we will get to see their customer service action. The sign of a good company is how they deal with problems. Will report on that too! talk about looking hard for a silver lining?
HeeHee... yup :D

[cphilip]

Originally posted by cphilip
....talk about looking hard for a silver lining? :D

Guilty!

[shartley]

HeeHee…. Just giving you a hard time Phil. :D

[cphilip]

http://www.stopstart.fsnet.co.uk/smilie/frown_2.gif

[gatorchris]

I suppose I could be cynical and think that nothing should break, but I suppose Im a realist. Things do break, be it the fault of the user or the fault of the manufacturer, or something in between. The fact that Odyssey doesnt try to judge your problem with finger pointing places their customer service that much higher in my eyes. Its the companies that have the attitude that "we built our product perfectly, it must be something YOU did to break it" that usually gives people problems. The breaks on our halos btw, were the fault of the 2k2 intimidator feed necks, the fluting caused angular stress on the plastic they used and caused it to crack over time. They cant test their loaders in every possible combination of marker/feed tube before releasing their product and keep it at a reasonable price point. I give "kudos" to their company because they build a superior product and are able to maintain customer service on top of that.

[cphilip]

Yea well...for me right now its more of the dissapointment of haviing gotten something new and then here I am not having it to play with the first time this weekend. And having had it only about 10 days and already the headache of having to pay and ship it back. And do without it. Not so much that things go wrong and all...its that I am just dissapointed is all. It's just the luck of the draw I guess...:(

[shartley]

Originally posted by gatorchris
I suppose I could be cynical and think that nothing should break, but I suppose Im a realist. Things do break, be it the fault of the user or the fault of the manufacturer, or something in between. The fact that Odyssey doesnt try to judge your problem with finger pointing places their customer service that much higher in my eyes. Its the companies that have the attitude that "we built our product perfectly, it must be something YOU did to break it" that usually gives people problems. The breaks on our halos btw, were the fault of the 2k2 intimidator feed necks, the fluting caused angular stress on the plastic they used and caused it to crack over time. They cant test their loaders in every possible combination of marker/feed tube before releasing their product and keep it at a reasonable price point. I give "kudos" to their company because they build a superior product and are able to maintain customer service on top of that.
Interesting, but I am afraid NOT a view smart for businesses.

I can understand what you are saying… but let me pose this…

If a product breaks, a company SHOULD ask questions. This is not to point BLAME, but to help ensure THEIR product is one of quality. Asking questions is always a smart move, and it has nothing to do with whether they will replace the broken part or not, but with determining if the “break” was caused by something they can prevent or not. And sorry, any company that does NOT ask, places that company LOWER in my eyes…. for the reasons stated.

There is a huge difference between “pointing fingers” and wanting to know what is happening with their products. And to take your problem in particular, if they asked questions, they MIGHT be able to prevent this from happening in the future… whether it was caused by another company’s product (Intimidator) or not. This would not only save THEM money by having to keep replacing products, but you (the customer) the aggravation of having to HAVE it replaced. And THAT is good Customer Support / Service. But without even ASKING what happened, how will they know? Again, damn silly in my book.

Part of good Customer Support and Service is not only taking care of existing problems, but preventing future ones as well.

I am very happy you feel so highly of Odyssey, and they may rightly deserve it, but NOT for the reasons you give. It is clear that if they truly are not asking questions, or even caring, that they are making a HUGE mistake and indeed need to bone up on Customer Service and Support. Just being QUICK and replacing a product is not even close to being the only thing they should be doing… or the “keystone” of determining if the Customer Service is “good”.

[gatorchris]

I suppose I should clarify "no questions asked" and give my post the proper lighting. They didnt ask because I explained at length exactly what broke and why I thought so. Im used to RMAing products in my job so I have the drill down pat. You are correct that it is a poor business model to not try to improve products by cataloging problems and mining the data. I cannot say that they do or dont do this as Im probably not the standard service call. Maybe cphilip can shed some light on that. I do know they are active on the "major" boards like PBNation and PBC, and are very active in supporting their product not only online, but at events, be it national or local. Im fortunate to say local because they are located in Texas and I see them at events all the time. I know Tex has personally given out his personal extension a number of times to people that didnt think they were being treated promptly or fairly. I feel like there is something you are wanting to say or compare it to, but are holding back.

Since Im new around here, want to enlighten me on what your stance is on Halos? You seem to hint there is a product out there that never breaks in the same category. Im not one to BS so please spill the beans. If you are just cynical by nature than say so, again, new guy on the block and dont know people. We all know how easy it is to be sarcastic and never be misinterpreted on the internet :rolleyes:

[shartley]

Halo- I think they are WONDERFUL products.

Do I use one? No. I use a 12V Revy with XBoard. Has it broke? No. Have they? Yes. Would I use a Halo? You bet!

Is there a product of this type that does not break. No.

Am I a cynic? You could say that. ;) I am also the “other side of the coin” guy. My comments were actually not about the Halo, but about Customer Service. It was a combination of making people think about things in a different way, and to poke at Phil a bit. ;)

I hope this helps you out. :D

[cphilip]

Well the only light I can shed is I am a newly signed up Dealer for them. And this was a test model for me to demo to the Club members . And when I did call in I was not identifying myself as anyone special so as to just be an average Joe realy. Not deceptive. I did tell him about the facts and I did give my full name but I doubt that he connected it to anything.

I told Edward what was wrong with it and he listened to it over the phone. His response was "The motor is fried and we had a bad batch of them...send it back". So I did box it right up and spent the 7.80 to USPS priority it back. It was never discussed how that would be handled except that he told me there was no need for an RA # or anything.

This one was here for 2 weeks and was played with one day. It had perhaps 1000 balls through it. I had three sent and this is the only one with problems however the other two have no or less use so far.

It remains to be seen how they handle it. I assume they will take care of it. There was no need at this point to get anyone else like Tex or Chris involved in it. It is on the way back as of today so we shall see.

I liked what I saw but it was bad timing for me as it was being used as a sales tool that day. Thats realy the issue for me now. I do have one more on hand that has seen a couple hundred balls through it. I sure hope its not one of the ones that has a bad motor as I am short one now for my son and myself to realy show them off this weekend. So that is a shame and when people ask I will have to tell them already that one has returned for a problem. Thats could hurt me on the sales of a few of them I think. I am not worried about them as a productt as many of them out there have been rock steady. But imagine the others thoughts when they saw a new one out of the box go bad is all. I suspect if this all goes well there will not be any lasting negative affects on them nor me. Since this one did work most of the day and the other one continues to work at this point.

[cphilip]

The Halo with the bad motor is returned to me N/C. Of course I did have to pay the shipping to them. They paid it back and used USPS Priority. We had a little issue with USPS delivering it. They made first attempt on Saturday but then it set at PO till I checked the tracking Wed. So when I noticed it was still sitting there I called Edwawrd and he ran down to the PO and retrieved it. And it was in my mail box that next Saturday with a new motor in it according to the slip in the box. I will test it out tonight.