Smart Parts reputation?

[Reppyboyo]

Hi,

After lurking around for a while I`ve noticed that Smart Parts equipment tends to get bashed alot by players.
Just wondering what their past reputation has been with markers etc?

Been considering an SP-1 for a while now so dont want it to turn around and fall apart on me.

 

[Rider]

you'll find a huge swathe of SP haters - and a lot of them will never have owned an SP marker......

there markers are cheap and, if well maintained, will give you good service. they are not the easiest bits of kit in the world to care for, but once you get used to how to do it they are great.

most of the problems, especially on the ion platform, are relatively simple fixes - but getting to know how to care for them is the trick.

the sp1 is nice. and cheap. £100 for a good little electropneumatic can't be bad. just make sure the marker is what you want - you definitely want to play in the woods and not on the air field.

it has only a few upgrades at the moment, but there are more due out - notably the eye and board upgrade.

 

[Rag]

I'm a mega noob here, but from what I understand - Smart Parts markers need a lot of upgrading to be competitive.

- This guy looks like he knows his stuff, the Smart Parts bashing (with explainations) begin at 1:40.

I dunno if this guy is actually speaking the truth, but he seems quite famous on youtube for paintball.

-Phil

 

[RainbowShooter]

I'm a mega noob here, but from what I understand - Smart Parts markers need a lot of upgrading to be competitive.

- This guy looks like he knows his stuff, the Smart Parts bashing (with explainations) begin at 1:40.

I dunno if this guy is actually speaking the truth, but he seems quite famous on youtube for paintball.

-Phil

All of their guns work fine out of the box, but many choose to upgrade to get the best out of it, same as cars, as with chavs and cars, many parts do **** all apart from making it look fugly.

 

[balf]

I'm a mega noob here, but from what I understand - Smart Parts markers need a lot of upgrading to be competitive.

- This guy looks like he knows his stuff, the Smart Parts bashing (with explainations) begin at 1:40.

I dunno if this guy is actually speaking the truth, but he seems quite famous on youtube for paintball.

-Phil

He own's a Shocker............

 

[Reppyboyo]

I'm a mega noob here, but from what I understand - Smart Parts markers need a lot of upgrading to be competitive.

- This guy looks like he knows his stuff, the Smart Parts bashing (with explainations) begin at 1:40.

I dunno if this guy is actually speaking the truth, but he seems quite famous on youtube for paintball.

-Phil

The same guy gave the SP Vibe (the internals are the same as the SP-1) a good review however.

 

[Lump]

SP gats are great, IF you look after them. basic maintenance and they will do you fine. its also a good place to start. as you will learn how markers work

 

[scoobytgi]

To be fair, the main reason people on here and also on PBnation in general have a problem with Smart parts is not in reality due to their performance but more to do with Smart Parts past business practices. In an industry where development has been rapid to say the least, Smart Parts has aggressivly defended patents. In the early days of paintball to promote the development many companies shared ideas and the way SP behaved has been seen by many as limiting the growth of the sport, however in any industry companies try to get a competitive edge over others in a similar way.

Smart Parts products are pretty solid, entry level guns like the Ion will keep up with more expensive gats but need a few mods to make them feel closer to their more expensive cousins. While many marker include a clamping feedneck even Sp's top of the line Shocker does not include this as standard, (but it can be bought for around £30) and the board is not as adjustable as the likes of an Angel, Dye Matrix or Ego.

The SP1 is a great starter gun, and will be faster than most in the woods, and you're less likely to break balls in the beach as even though the marker has no eyes (which would detect the presence of a paintball in the breach) it uses a low force bolt which should just bounce off the ball if its part fed.

The gun won't fall apart on you and you'll have a warranty if you buy it new. Its a nice low price gun and if you fancy playing Airball in the future then grab a tourney gat, as that won't cut it, but you're best getting something low price to start with. As much as we all love PB its not perfect for everyone, so play for a while and make sure you love the game, then is the time to invest in better gear.

I hope that helps, PM me if there's anything else I can help you with.

 

[Tom Allen]

As most will know i'm not a big fan of sp, sorry Balf, but in the paintball world you get what you pay for.

Pay £100 on a new marker, and you get £100 worth of crap.

Pay £200 on a two year old second hand marker, and you'll get £500 worth of happiness.

 

[Ninja]

My Main issue with SP is there after sales. Example

I was in Malaga for the first Millenium and i had to markers (ego and a shocker) both of which i wanted shooting on top form for the weekend. Now i'm no tech head when it comes to markers i can do basic stuff but major things i'd rather leave to the profesional's. So i took both markers to there respective tech tents,Eclipse looked pretty busy so went to the SP booth first as there was no one there.
Conversation goes
Me 'sorry guys could you give my shocker a once over make sure it's shooting ok tommorrow as last time i used it it seemed to have a little drop off'

SP guy 'sorry mate dont do servicing it'll probably have something to do with the bolt'

soo thought **** them if they can't be arsed to help me! As i walked away a guy (guessin he was from a SP sponsored team) dump 6 shockers on there table and ask the guy to take a look at them, even though in his words 'there all shooting great but just want them stripped and cleaned' The SP tech could'nt move fast enough to help him

Now flip side of the coin

Eclipse tent

'Hi guys you reckon you can give my ego a little service it's shooting great but has'nt been stripped in a while'

'Yeah no probs i'll stick some new detents in it and put the new softwear on it for you too, pop back in 10 mins'

Now thats more like it in my eye's. To me the fact that a team sponsored by SP who probably either get the stuff free or cheap, get preference to a cutomer who has paid top whack for one of ther markers.

That to me is **** service

which is a shame as they are a good product