Thoughts on ION, SP, Hype.. other makers..

[MadPSIence]

I'm throwing this out there for all of the new guys talking about the ION and wondering about getting it; and to the guys who just are suckers for Smart Parts and their marketing. I want to clear up a few points.

First off there's this thing going around that the ION is a professional grade marker at a entry price. Basically people are saying you get something for 300 bucks that gives you about 800+ worth of performance. I beg to differ. But before you get mad I am not saying the ION is terrible, just over-hyped simply because Smart Parts has the power to do so

A stock ION has some good qualities.. it is pretty quick.. especially for 300 dollars but there's some stuff not so good. Not so great grip, iffy reg, crap trigger and a really not so great feedneck. Otherwise it's good though... those problems don't drag it down and are all addressable.

So hey, 300 bucks and you get an electro with ACE ready to shoot. Nobody else comes close to offering that right?

WRONG

You've fallen for the advertising game. There's this company called PMI making this nice gun called the Pirahna. Now the EVO which is their top gun is 20 bucks or more, cheaper than an ion and comes with everything the ION does except here's the difference. The reg is great, feedneck fits good, grip isn't too bad.. and it's not made of friggin composite.

In my educated opinion, Smart Parts put the cheap composite replaceable *extreme* body on the ION for one reason. To market to completely oblivious 12-15 year olds that get sold on crap like fancy colorful bodies made of crappy material that looks "extreme". It's the same reason those grips with nekkid chicks are made. It's marketed to the sprouting hormone driven kids who couldn't recognize a good grip from a hustler page.

With all the advertising... companies like PMI get kinda boned and the end result is what you see around you. Most of the people won't know a thing about a PMI EVO. They'll just figure since they haven't heard of it.. and it's only 260 bucks that it automatically sucks because apparently the ION is the only gun to give hi performance and a super good price.

PMI isn't the only company. People need to actually start researching and not just sticking to the latest colorful ad.

And if you're going to quote any part of this post be sure to quote a strong point I'm trying to maintain. I don't think the ION sucks, I think it's over-rated, inflated, advertised falsely and that most kids don't have the ability to recognize that

[Muzikman]

Think about it for one second. How much does a company pay for milling? How much does the milling on your average timmy cost? If they didn't mill any fancy stuff in the body, how much cheaper could they produce the gun? This is where the plastic body for the ION comes in. It serves no function than to give the gun a decent look without spending at minimum $100 in fancy milling that will need to be chanced every year (or even 6 months) to keep up with the players demand for something different. Now, they just go out and have a new body molded. It's alot quicker for complex designs and is a lot cheaper because of it. You are not tying up hours on a mill that costs a pretty penny per hour to operate. Also, this gives the user the ability to customize their gun to what ever they want. Don't be shocked that by the time the major events roll around this summer that you start seeing aftermarket bodies for the ION. Heck, maybe even some of them made out of aluminum.

[Lohman446]

Well I agree with you that the hype is getting out of control, because it was the other thread that I had to bring up the Evo in when someone else said, seemingly unchallenged "no other marker comes with eyes for $300". It was bound to happen eventually. Now in my opinion, when comparing the Ion to the Evo - the reg on the Ion, which really concerned me, is better than I thought it would be and pretty dang consistent. I don't know about longevity but the reg on the Evo was nothing impressive. I like the feel of the Ion better than the Evos I have shot (and I used quite a few at the field last year, just toying with them). The feedneck on the Ion is pretty nice, o-ring locking, I don't recall what the Evo had. Of course I instantly replaced the feedneck on my Ion to.

SP has put the Ion out there - a good release and a bit of steering and they have watched the hype just soar on it. A ramping marker, with break beam eyes, and the capability to fire at the PSP limit of 15BPS (granted most markers can - but this one gets there easy thanks to ramping) for $300 is, in todays marker world, a pretty good buy. Right now though they are simply letting the Ion speak for itself. Look at some of the other threads "$300 for the Ion and $300 in upgrades and you have an awesome gun" or some such. I didn't even know there were $300 in upgrades available for it, nor do I know what upgrades they were eluding to. But it is out there, and it goes unchallenged.

SP knows hype, but what they are getting here is player hype, nothing from them. It grows with each day the Ion is out, and they just sit back and sell more.

[peewee]

Personally I am watching to see how well the ion holds up down the road. Give it six months to a year to see if its even worth the $285. The EVO is a proven marker in my book for $250. Personally I dont think PMI has done enough in the marketing of it.

[GT]

A stock ION has some good qualities.. it is pretty quick.. especially for 300 dollars but there's some stuff not so good.Otherwise it's good though... those problems don't drag it down and are all addressable.

So hey, 300 bucks and you get an electro with ACE ready to shoot. Nobody else comes close to offering that right?

WRONG

You've fallen for the advertising game. There's this company called PMI making this nice gun called the Pirahna.

now who ia falling for what hype???????????

[MadPSIence]

not I... I'm ordering a custom mag today.

I'll die before you catch me shooting any ramping gun.. heck, the only electro gun I'd ever use is a Devil.

[RRfireblade]

And if you're going to quote any part of this post be sure to quote a strong point I'm trying to maintain. I don't think the ION sucks, I think it's over-rated, inflated, advertised falsely and that most kids don't have the ability to recognize that

I think you've got a little chip on your shoulder there for some reason....or you just bought an EVO and got ribbed about it on your last day out. Not sure which.

I don't see where people are thinking the ION is a $800 super gun for $300($285 actually).Most people,as far as I can tell and I'm one of them,see the ION as a true Electro-pnuematic entry level marker w/ many of the features of a higher end gun at a very good entry level pice.

It seems to be built pretty decent and besides the claims of the many 'haters' is NOT a plastic gun but all aluminum in fact besides the trigger and the (for cosmetics only) outer shell,which seems to also be a good idea as it's attractive and far more durable than anno.Great place to USE plastic IMO. It also has the most currently desired software on it stock,a decent reg,break beam eyes that work quite nicely,simple locking feedneck and smooth,quiet,low recoil,efficient operation.I happen to think it performs quite nicely and would have no problem taking one on the field.At UNDER $300,it's a bargin if you ask me,more stock features in a smaller lighter package than the BKO/B2K which until now were arguably the low dollar performance kings for that or more money.

So....

And since you brought it up....

The EVO ,while being a fine entry level marker as well, is nothing more than a sear tripping blowback like every other spyder/clone out there.Besides the addition of the eyes,it's far from anything new.IMO, it 'should' retail in the $150-$200 range and be a good deal at that price.I simply don't think 'eyes' on it's own puts it in the same league as what most would consider 'upper end'. And I won't comment on the funky trigger,large blocky grip frame and un-inspired milling (or complete lack there of) as that is purly a preference issue.But it does have old,typical,outdated software and all the other performance concerns of a blowback (recoil,blowback etc).

To sum up,

I don't think the ION is over hyped any more than any other new product and I don't think people are expecting to get DM5 performance for under #300. I DO think the ION is a new fresh marker with all the popular features currently demanded by players,functioning in a similar manner as many higher end markers and giving the Bushy,Impulse,Mag and Cocker buyer an attractive lower cost alternative for a 'Tourny' (what ever that means)grade marker and will perform in the same ballpark as marker costing 2-3 times it's price.

whew......

[Lohman446]

I don't see where people are thinking the ION is a $800 super gun for $300($285 actually).Most people,as far as I can tell and I'm one of them,see the ION as a true Electro-pnuematic entry level marker w/ many of the features of a higher end gun at a very good entry level pice.

I DO think the ION is a new fresh marker with all the popular features currently demanded by players,functioning in a similar manner as many higher end markers and giving the Bushy,Impulse,Mag and Cocker buyer an attractive lower cost alternative for a 'Tourny' (what ever that means)grade marker and will perform in the same ballpark as marker costing 2-3 times it's price.

I like the Ion, for many of the reasons you mentioned - but I am having a hard time reconciling those two statements.

Edit: this is all in good nature right

[RRfireblade]

Now you know why SP has sold 50 thousand IONs already.

It is a compounding situation,I think of it like this...

ION = riced out Honda but coming that way stock. (No offence to the Honda 'ricers )

as they compare to say, Z06 Vette or a Porsche or whatever.

[Steelrat]

I heard that if you touch the ION to a block of lead it will transmute it to gold. I also heard that the ION can cure leppers.

[peewee]

MadPSIence Now your talking!!!! I for a second thought about selling my mag then started . No way cant do it. Its shoots way to nice & will last my life time.

[Lohman446]

The Ion, and why I bought one

1) Break beam eyes
2) Spool valve
3) Rebound mode


The body really I didn't care about. Well I agree that there is no marker made at $300 that offers these features eyes were not the only reason I bought it. I would not have bought it without eyes though. If eyes had been the only consideration an Evo might have won out

[Baby Huey]

targeting system

Just wait until may '05 for the ION targeting system (similiar to the system used in Caddyshack 2). Pretty Sweet.

[Maus]

Smart Parts put the cheap composite replaceable *extreme* body on the ION for one reason. To market to completely oblivious 12-15 year olds that get sold on crap like fancy colorful bodies made of crappy material that looks "extreme".

It only makes sense a non-structural part be made out of plastic.

The Ions I saw at open play this weekend were working great. This is the low cost future gun people have been wanting.

Let's see:

[x]speed
[x]size
[x]weight
[x]cost
[x]Oh, wait. It's Smart Parts. We have to hate it!

How about a pages-long rant about the lunacy of spending hundreds of dollars on a mechanical Mag or Autococker? My mech 'cocker and Sandridge were already old, now they're relics.

[Lohman446]

In my educated opinion, Smart Parts put the cheap composite replaceable *extreme* body on the ION for one reason. To market to completely oblivious 12-15 year olds that get sold on crap like fancy colorful bodies made of crappy material that looks "extreme". It's the same reason those grips with nekkid chicks are made. It's marketed to the sprouting hormone driven kids who couldn't recognize a good grip from a hustler page.

Thats not an educated opinion - its a rant. Lets look at reasons for the plastic body:
1) Cost and time to annodize is taken care of
2) Interchangeable, you can easily customize them
3) More durable than annodizing, and if you do break it easily replaced

The plastic body was not a bad idea - its one of those knee jerk anti-SP reactions. I am not a completely oblvious hormone driven 12-15 year old. I can recognize a decent marker from a bad one. I can recongize the shortcomings of the Evo, and the Ion. There are some there no doubt. Your rant has no basis in anything but anti-SP anger, annoyance that company can "control" the marketplace like SP does.