R/C Tech Forums - View Single Post - AMB Personal Transponders...Too Expensive?
Old 12-28-2005, 10:57 PM
  #72  
koabich
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Join Date: Oct 2003
Location: Detroit Area
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This may or may not have already been said but here goes. You can argue that the AMB personal transponder is overpriced. But then again, you need to look at it differently.

Think about this: You spend $400.00 on a car every 6-12 months and that car needs another $200.00 into it to be competitive on you local track. You are constantly buying $60-$70.00 battery packs, motors, brushes, ESC's and parts and all the upgrades and maintenance.

I bought 2 AMB transponders the time they were first made available to the public. I STILL HAVE THE 2 SAME TRANSPONDERS TODAY. They work as good as the day I bought them. Count all the batteries, motors, brushes, ESC's, chargers and hell even cars themselves. From the day I started in this hobbby 20 years ago, I've never used anything as long as I have used the AMB Transponder. It never breaks or needs fixing. It never needs to be updated or replaced for the latest and greatest. The one constant piece of equipment in my arsenal has been the AMB Transponder. Hell, you only need one because it can be moved from car to car in seconds and you'll never need another (at least until technology evolves or you fry it).

In the time I have owned the AMB Transponders, I have spent thousands upon thoudsands of dollars on batteries and yet I still have my original AMB's. I have gone through a TC3, RC12L3, Xray 04, XXX-S, TRF415 and now my main cars are my TC4 and RDX. Guess what, I am still using the same transponders. I have gone through Novak, Keyence, LRP QC1 and QC2 and am about to step up to the QC3 ESC and guess what, still have the same 2 transponders. Heck, I could buy 2 new AMB Transponders every year for what I have into body shells alone.

I can honestly say that almost everyone here can relate to me on this...even the person who started of this thread to complain...because if you are serious enough into racing to buy an AMB personal transponder, you buy the same stuff that I do as often as I do.

Sure the AMB may only cost $5.00 to manufacture. It could cost $.01 and I'd still be willing to pay hundreds for it. It's the only piece of equipment I ever bought that I use every single lap on the track since the day I bought it. It has helped me improve more than all my other equipment combined. You only need to buy it once and it's good forever.

Think of the AMB Transponder the way I described and now tell me any one could honestly complain about this piece of equipment as being too expensive.

I've said it many times and have been flamed for it just as I will be flamed for this post. We all knew what were were getting into when we joined this hobby. It's the nature of the beast. If you cannot afford to play, then don't. You can complain, you can write letters to the manufacture, you can boycote companies products but in the end unless everyone feels the same, nothing will change. After all you cannot please everyone all the time. There will always be people that are unhappy or feel cheated. I worked in retail for 10 years and I know that no matter what you do, no matter how nice you are, no matter how much free stuff you give someone, some A#$ Hole will always piss and moan. But then again, it's every person's God given right to complain, even if it makes no sense.

I could understand thread that complained about the need to buy 20 new battery packs every year. About buying a new $400.00 car every 6 months or spending insane amounts of money every year just top try and keep up with the latest technology. But to complain about the one constant thing in your pit box. The one thing you only need to buy once. The one item that offers the single biggest help in improving your driving skills. The one item that works the same for all the cars you drive...

...you mean to tell me that that is not worth $90.00 to you? Personally, I would be more than willing to pay three times that amount for that type of stability in this ever evolving hobby that is growing more expensive every day!
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