Practical Application of Devices to Liquid State H2O
The nearest body of water when I got these two babies powered up was my kitchen sink. Filled up with water, it gave about 20cm of depth to fool about in. However, as soon as I got the sub in the water, it sat in a definite nose-up attitude. It was so far out of trim that the propellers - which are bent to push the sub down at a 45 degree angle - were just helping the sub to pootle along the surface like an unwell goldfish.
 
5 minutes and a glob of Blu-tack later and the sub was happily inspecting the bottom of my sink.
The speedboat sat in the water happily without requiring Blue-tack adjustment, although it was slighly nose down in attitude. This didn't affect it one bit, but it was clear the limitations of my sink were spoiling the fun. I could feel it longing for the open water. So, it was off to my bathtub and about 40cm of water.
The boat powered up and down the length of my tub happily. However, this got kinda boring kinda quickly. It'd probably entertain a kid for hours. Probably not the best toy to entice lil' Timmy to have a bath though, as the controllers aren't waterproof, either in the boat or the sub.
Now that it was properly trimmed up, the sub quite happily went down to the bottom of the tub and was fully controllable the entire time. With the bathroom lights off, the little LED lit up the tub really well, and when held, it's actually quite usable as a small torch.
 
However, it must be said that the sub is not perfect in its movement.
When you try to go 'just forward' it might go a bit left or right, depending on what grabs its fancy. You can go 'down' as you go forward, but when you go back, it probably won't surface, due to the rearward motion pushing the tail down, and thereby rotating the propellors to the horizonal. This is also true of the speed boat, but to a lesser extent.
Before I trimmed the submarine out with Blu-tack, it had strong positive bouyancy - it would float readily. With Blu-tak, it's almost completely neutral bouyancy, which is good for underwater fun, but isn't a good thing if I run out of power or out of radio range. If either happened, I'd like it to float back up to the surface of its own accord.
But... it costs $19.95. As did the boat. I'm of the mind that, when you only shell out $20 for a remote-controlled toy, there's few things you can whinge about. A few broken propellers in transit, maybe you can complain about that, but both the sub and speed boat include spares. This is good, considering they only each only cost 20 bucks. They're not the fastest water-based RC toys on the planet, but they work pretty well, and they each only cost 20 bucks. It gets boring after a while of doing water-donuts in your sink/tub/pool/pint of beer, but they each cost 20 bucks.
They're great little toys, but only if you remember that they're only a fairly cheapy toy RC device. These are not hardcore RC powerboats or submarines that you need an olympic pool and 20 years of naval experience to operate.
The crucial moment for me, for both the Super Explorer 3 and the speedboat, was at a friend's place - in his new pool. It was a stinking hot day, and I finally got around there at around 5pm. I was given an ice cold Becks, which I then promptly dived into the pool with, along with the boat and the sub.
I then spent half an hour chasing bugs and leaves and other swimmers about with the mini sub, annoying my friends by ramming the speedboat into them, relaxing and just enjoying playing with a pair of such simple, easy, well-rounded toys. Even my friends were impressed, and one of them declared that she *had* to get some for her nephews.
For a fun, somewhat unique RC toy (how many RC subs have YOU seen?), that's dirt cheap, you simply can't go wrong with the Super Explorer 3. Buy one.
The speedboat however, does not have quite the happy ending we'd all hope for.
Y'see, when we here at Overclockers Australia do a review, we like to test all possible outcomes of a device. With this in mind, I thought to myself "If I was a kid, and I had a speedboat toy, what would I do with it? I know, I'd hold it under the water and see if it still works!"
Which I did... and, well, now it doesn't.
For something that only costs 20 bucks, I can't complain too much, but you would think that the boat would be at least somewhat watertight, as it's in a watery environment. Apparently not. If you buy one of these, it's just something to keep an eye out for.
So... buy one of them too... just don't hold it underwater. *ahem*
Thanks to ToyRange for sacrificing, err, providing... the review units.
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