1P vs 2P
 

Not sure what kind of a debate this will start but here goes,,is a 2p battery equal to a 1p,I understand that a 2p is actually 2 cells in series and then 2 in parallel,but what I want to know is,if the 2s2p battery will perform as a 2s1p battery?Lets say if I ran a 2s2p 30c 5000mah pack,would it be the the same as running a 2s1p 30c 5000mah pack.Is the 2s2p going to deliver the same amps and runtime safely,going to run these batts in an E Revo.

exact same preformance...

On a similar topic, 2S lipos typically have a balancing port which makes sense - each cell is charged (or discharged) independently from each other.

However, saddle pack lipos are typically 2S2P or even 2S3P for 5200+. So if you balance charge, you're effectively charging 2/3 cells at each point.

Doesn't this kind of defeat the purpose of balance charging in the first place?

no, because of the way its wired, if 1 lipo cell(in parallel) starts to overcharge, it will automaticly discharge to help bring the other cells up the the right voltage

Two 30c cells in parallel will simply offer more run time. A that discharge capacity you won't notice much if any difference in punch and the voltage (rpms) remain the same.

In this case the run time will not be higher. The question as stated involves both packs being 5000mah (the 2p pack is made with 2500mah cells).