RC Reviews Pet Peeve

[jondilly1974]

I mean, everyone should make up their own minds. RCD_O does an amazing job of production quality, editing, even his running footage looks pretty darn good considering he's out their running around by himself. That stuff alone is taking him hours of work, so I give him credit for the effort he puts in. Trust me, it's a lot of work to get the videos that good. He also puts in a lot of work tearing down the cars and figuring out a lot of the design elements that 95% of YT channels can't even comprehend. He also reviews at least 1 car a month I would guess, which is pretty high output for someone with a family, a real job, etc.

Every channel, every person has their pros and cons, just gotta look closely and figure out what's going on and decide on what it is that you're looking for.

The only issues I have with Greg are:

1) He seems beholden to the companies that donate goods and it too diplomatic at times. I don’t think he ever lies, but the coating of sugar isn’t necessary IMO.

2) Never saw a single berm launch in any of his videos. ??‍

 

[Branson_Basher]

The only issues I have with Greg are:

1) He seems beholden to the companies that donate goods and it too diplomatic at times. I don’t think he ever lies, but the coating of sugar isn’t necessary IMO.

2) Never saw a single berm launch in any of his videos. ??‍

I've seen him send a few RCs off the same berm Bicketybam uses to launch off of. He broke the car doing it and fully covered the breakage in his review.

He knows how to send it

 

[Clubin]

Or the reviews where they are getting a kickback! The worst ones ever.

 

[slick2500]

Or the reviews where they are getting a kickback! The worst ones ever.

The Banggood special "reviews".

 

[jondilly1974]

If you want to see the pinnacle of a big name doing it wrong, for me, it’s JayTee. He uses a cell phone, which can be OK, but you need a well lit room and should avoid night time videos. Also, he doesn’t address the audio at all and almost every video is wind noise the whole time. Yet he has 25k subs because he is likable and has tons of rigs. He also posts daily. But, I would love to help him shoot better.

 

[jonUF02]

The only time I watch videos is when I'm deciding whether or not I want to buy a particular RC. I like the unboxing, going over the components to see how well it's made, then maybe an initial bash test to see what breaks immediately, then maybe a recap after 10 varied runs or something, so see what has broken. Most everything I would rather have a good old write up in print with quality detailed photos. Videos I generally skip through and watch in 10-15 second bursts, too much blah, blah, blah, or just watching someone drive terribly for 15 minutes while a 5 year old holds a bad camera.

Do people seriously think they're going to make significant money from these videos? You probably have a better chance of being a professional sports star or something. The trend of everything needs a video is annoying to me. I'm generally wasting time on my phone or in my office where I can't turn on the sound and bother others anyway. If these people put the time they spend on editing and processing the videos into learning or just hourly job they would probably turn that into more revenue. I don't do video because I don't have time for all that. I have many gigs of drone footage waiting for some basic editing time, just for my personal use or sharing with friends and family.

 

[bicketybam]

I like to watch running videos to see how a truck performs. I find almost all unboxings beyond boring. We all know what's in the box for an RTR....mediocre radio, barely usable tools, a manual and the truck. If you're lucky you get stickers!

As far as making money, that has to be tough sledding. I don't monetize my channel. I make videos for the fun of it and I really only watch a handful of others like @RC DUDE81, @Rich Duperbash, 12R1 and ComamderAstig. They can drive, do interesting builds and have great personalities ???

 

[razorrc]

Honestly, the center diff oil doesn't bother me at all. Probably less than half of people who own these things ever actually open up their diffs. This forum has serious hobbyists, but the vast majority of people don't go that far.

People don't set their toe, their camber, their preload spacers, their EPA/DR, trim, calibrate their ESC out of the box, or even tighten their wheel nuts. All of which takes like 10 min. So to expect them to open up their diffs, is asking a lot. ?

 

[bicketybam]

Honestly, the center diff oil doesn't bother me at all. Probably less than half of people who own these things ever actually open up their diffs. This forum has serious hobbyists, but the vast majority of people don't go that far.

People don't set their toe, their camber, their preload spacers, their EPA/DR, trim, calibrate their ESC out of the box, or even tighten their wheel nuts. All of which takes like 10 min. So to expect them to open up their diffs, is asking a lot. ?

Very true. And I'm not sure who the offending YouTuber for m the original post is, but maybe he wanted to show how the car drives as delivered by the manufacturer. If it was any of the Corally trucks, then you are talking about at least 90 minutes of work to fill all the diffs with oil. To me, grease is all 3 diffs is inexcusable and I don't buy the "well people change stock oils all the time so we didn't want to waste oil that will be changed anyway" You don't *have* to change the oil in other RTR's that come with it (checking the level is a good idea though). But these Corally trucks come with the equivalent of 1k in all 3 diffs. No one is going to want to run that ?

 

[slick2500]

Very true. And I'm not sure who the offending YouTuber for m the original post is, but maybe he wanted to show how the car drives as delivered by the manufacturer. If it was any of the Corally trucks, then you are talking about at least 90 minutes of work to fill all the diffs with oil. To me, grease is all 3 diffs is inexcusable and I don't buy the "well people change stock oils all the time so we didn't want to waste oil that will be changed anyway" You don't *have* to change the oil in other RTR's that come with it (checking the level is a good idea though). But these Corally trucks come with the equivalent of 1k in all 3 diffs. No one is going to want to run that ?

Sadly a lot of manufacturers do this ?

Especially the Banggood cheapos, most of their diffs have just a dab of grease if that.

 

[SrC]

I don't want to talk too much smack about other channels, but most people's "review" of an RC car basically consists of: "I drove it up and down the street and it went 50mph" and "I crashed it into a tree and it didn't break, so... it's durable!!!".

If you're really lucky they'll say, "oh it handles GOOD". WTF does GOOD even mean?

Honestly, that's about as much as they understand about RC cars, so they're running into the limit of what they're able to review.

Tru Dat. Couldn't have said it better.
Some reviews are better suited for new comers. Some reviews are skewed with lack of understanding or because the products are supplied free of charge. Enough said.
Some supplied products that are reviewed actually get honest reviews on durability. Those guys tell it like it is and don't care about the company who sent it for free. Got to respect those guys.

Very true. And I'm not sure who the offending YouTuber for m the original post is, but maybe he wanted to show how the car drives as delivered by the manufacturer. If it was any of the Corally trucks, then you are talking about at least 90 minutes of work to fill all the diffs with oil. To me, grease is all 3 diffs is inexcusable and I don't buy the "well people change stock oils all the time so we didn't want to waste oil that will be changed anyway" You don't *have* to change the oil in other RTR's that come with it (checking the level is a good idea though). But these Corally trucks come with the equivalent of 1k in all 3 diffs. No one is going to want to run that ?

Well noted. Grease is equivalent to 1K.

 

[bicketybam]

Sadly a lot of manufacturers do this ?

Especially the Banggood cheapos, most of their diffs have just a dab of grease if that.

I'd never buy a Banggood. That's just me.

 

[SrC]

I'm thinking I'll start leaving polite, well written comments to make my argument that their review has little value and suggest a better format for a valuable review.

Maybe they'll take notice and change the way they review cars.

Constructive criticism works. But people take it personal. People are different.

 

[SrC]

Honestly, the center diff oil doesn't bother me at all. Probably less than half of people who own these things ever actually open up their diffs. This forum has serious hobbyists, but the vast majority of people don't go that far.

People don't set their toe, their camber, their preload spacers, their EPA/DR, trim, calibrate their ESC out of the box, or even tighten their wheel nuts. All of which takes like 10 min. So to expect them to open up their diffs, is asking a lot. ?

Agree. Then when something fails like a servo or blown out ballooned tire or poor Radio response etc, they point out the defects. Like they are so knowledgeable. Reviews like these are useless. At least for me.
Reviewers that use a consistent and fair rating system from product to product are much more credible with valued content.

If you want to see the pinnacle of a big name doing it wrong, for me, it’s JayTee. He uses a cell phone, which can be OK, but you need a well lit room and should avoid night time videos. Also, he doesn’t address the audio at all and almost every video is wind noise the whole time. Yet he has 25k subs because he is likable and has tons of rigs. He also posts daily. But, I would love to help him shoot better.

Social media helps him get exposure. He has that unique crowd that keeps coming back for more. Hence the subs that he has. I just don't find him prepared or knowledgeable enough about any particular rig. I give him some of my time watching. But I know more about the stuff he has and I don't even own. I almost get the impression he doesn't build his own stuff. He flubs on basic fundamentals. He can be inaccurate too many times. At times it looks like he makes stuff up to sound like he knows. That's when I skip to the next. But he tries. He must be doing something right. He is just simple entertainment. I don't see any value.

 

[SrC]

The only issues I have with Greg are:

1) He seems beholden to the companies that donate goods and it too diplomatic at times. I don’t think he ever lies, but the coating of sugar isn’t necessary IMO.

2) Never saw a single berm launch in any of his videos. ??‍

Agree^^^
Even I did that berm a few times if that. And I am far from the best big air guy going. Maybe he as done that berm and the resulting carnage got edited out. So he doesn't bother. He is a decent driver, so he owns the Title well enough. I think some of his videos he has a cam guy around. He did some nice air with the Tekno MT410. But he is sometimes much too neutral when it comes to obvious flaws. He doesn't seem to stand his ground on the obvious. The sugar is too thick unfortunately. And I find him incorrect at times as well. No one can be perfect, but when doing a video, correct info can be there. Its called editing. But I see he has much experience nonetheless. He loves what he does.

 

[Branson_Basher]

Come on, guys. Let's not pick on rcdriveronline. He is a pretty legit reviewer.

Also, let's be accurate in our criticism.

I guess I'm holding reviews to a higher standard than can be expected in every video.

This is what I consider to be the standard of a good review.

He talks about diff tuning, he hucks it, he breaks it, he ttalks about the breakage. No cover up/editing out the bad news...
He also broke the BRCC and included that footage as well.

It's not unreasonable that he does not send every RC off that berm. That jump has claimed at least one Arrma that Bicketybam sent off it too.
If I were him I'd only send top tier truggies and buggies off it.

 

[bicketybam]

Greg from RC Driver Online is legit. He could probably drive circles around 99% of us. He films with a selfie stick in one hand and drives with the other. He will also take out a truck multiple times and edit it into one video. He's been RC'ing longer than some of us have been alive. He won't review trucks he thinks are crap. He returns them. I had an hour conversation with him at the Bethel BMX track and learned a ton. He's an awesome guy.

 

[SrC]

He seems like a sweetheart of a guy. Agree. Lots of experience for sure.

 

[Outcastblxnut]

I run grease in my e revo diffs. As much marine grease as you can stuff in there???

 

[jondilly1974]

Come on, guys. Let's not pick on rcdriveronline. He is a pretty legit reviewer.

Also, let's be accurate in our criticism.

I guess I'm holding reviews to a higher standard than can be expected in every video.

This is what I consider to be the standard of a good review.

He talks about diff tuning, he hucks it, he breaks it, he ttalks about the breakage. No cover up/editing out the bad news...
He also broke the BRCC and included that footage as well.

It's not unreasonable that he does not send every RC off that berm. That jump has claimed at least one Arrma that Bicketybam sent off it too.
If I were him I'd only send top tier truggies and buggies off it.

The berm thing was a joke... ?

I have watched most of his videos and there is a good helping of sugar coating, but maybe that is just the way he has to be to get manufacturers to allow him demos.