Unexpected but pleasant choice to be made

[Senor Cartman]

Thanks for the Viking suggestion; they sound like awesome guns but for some reason the design doesn't quite appeal to me as other models do. I'd dure like to try one at one point though.

And when you buy the Viking or the Angel, dont forget to pick up a squeegee or 2. You are gonna need um.

well I had a few Angels; the last one I had was a 2K1 LCD. I would shoot consistantly 10+ bps with a crappy VL loader and I would NEVER get breaks, or something like once per couple of cases. Ditto for my Shocker at that time. Oddly yeah I carried a squeegie... for other folks' guns

He called it an LX Emag

I obviously meant a Level 10-upgraded Emag.

but I'd avoid the 03 Shocker at all costs - after the initial 'ooh it's so pretty' comments, I've heard nothing but negative feedback about them (reliability and efficiency being the frequent moans).

Well the funny thing is I don't even like the shape of the 2K3 Shocker that much. Efficiency isn't quite a problem for me (rarely will I fire more than a quarter of a case in a single 5 min game) but you got my attention with reliability remark. Maybe they're having problems with the early run of 2K3s (like they did with the first Shockers in the late 90's). But I've often found that 99% of the complaints about Shockers could be somehow linked back to the owner's fault. I had mine (a 2K1) for a good while, played many games and it never went down on me, not even once, Max-Flow included. My thought on the 2K3 Shocker's reliability issue is that if it is at least as reliable as its predecessor than I shouldn't have any problems... if it really is.

I went to actionvillage.com and I nearly fell off my chair when I saw the new pricing on the Speed ($800). They're selling the Emag for that much. I also looked at the air systems and I saw that the A.I.R. was at $460. That means that I could get a nice basic set-up for about $1,300. Now I've owned an A.I.R. and I KNOW that they are way over-hyped (and when they came out they were WAY over-priced as well) but they still are (IMVHO) great systems- a Speed + AIR combo would be a nice set-up.

The only nagging question I have about the Speed is if to sell it at that price WDP cut the corners a bit quality-wise. Obviously I don't expect an Angel to be as solid or as well-built as a Mag but comparisons to Mags aside I always held WDP in very high esteem. Lastly, am I wrong in assuming that the A4 is an overpriced gizmo-ladden gun that in the end will perform exactly like the previous Angels?

anyways thanks for youe help!

[TransMan]

Honestly WDP as yet to make a ball detection system that works as good as other manufactures do. I wouldnt go for a speed or the shocker for that matter I would take an E-Mag over both anyday.

Also what exactly is it about the design of the Vikings that you dont liek maybe i could help u out(change your mind ).

I know you said u had an AIR befor but i would still recomend that u not get one they are IMO still way overpriced they work great but they have a lot of gizmos of which half dont work very well anyway. I would tell u just to get a Max-flo or a Flatline they work great and they dont have the Gizmos.

[Senor Cartman]

Well thank you all for your replies but I'll postpone getting a PB gun for a while. I've chosen instead to get an handgun for target shooting. The problem around here is that it is nearly impossible to play paintball without geting invloved in the "politics" of it. The local market is full of hotheads who have to win any game at all costs but end up selling their equipment 6 months later. So in order to keep up you have to buy ungoddly amounts of paint. Target shooting is nowhere near as expensive as this.

But when I'll go back into PB (next summer? If I find a regular group that I like...) I'll definitely get an Emag. Especially since they're supposed now to come with LX and a ULE body. The Speed is nice, but I forgot the fact that you need over-priced gauges and tool kits to keep it running, whereas Mags only need common tools to be serviced. So the set-up I'll pick will be the latest Emag with a preset Crossfire tank (I'm thinking that if the Crossfire doesn't do the job, it's so cheap I can always upgrade to a more expansive sytem later). Since I still have my Freak kit I'll only need a Mag front.

[WARPED1]

Go 2k3 Shocker. Oh, I've been playing steadily from like 1989:).