Originally Posted by
rsperson
Nimh days wouldn't let you get to the same field.
Which is not the case today. Just buy reasonable matched cells, and then get on with it! For the World GT class running 13.5 motors, the Orion SHO cells available in Europe (but not in the USA, I believe) are just like using LiPo - I charge, use, charge, use, charge...
Someone who has done this for over a year has cells still working well enough to give me a good thrashing at the track!
Part of the problem with the LiPo users is assuming that nothign has changed in the last two years. With the availability of EnerG cells (12th Mod) and these Orion SHO cells (anything 10.5 or above BL) there is no need for LiPo as using them is the same as using LiPo.
Sure, they give you that last bit if you do the balancing thing before charging, but there's no necessity to do that any more. LiPo is now a long way from being the answer to cells in RC, because it has all sorts of compromises on adding weight (TC, Off Road) or losing handling (12th and WGT).
I'm sure that people who want their life made ever-so slightly easier, and marginally cheaper, are still going to push LiPo, but considering the relative costs against the money spent on motors and speedos and tyres, it really isn't enough to make me abandon my investment (over many years) in my chargers for NiMh.
It is, as you say, a transient technology. The next technology will be as transient, but eventually one will come along that doesn't have anything like the compromises LiPo has, and then it'll be time to change.