Originally Posted by Hayabusa Heli

Does Syma even have an official website like other RC manufacturers?

http://www.symahelicopter.com/

Originally Posted by Frank_fjs

http://www.symahelicopter.com/

I've seen this site before. But these days people are saying you can't even tell a clone from the real McCoy ... hard to believe there isn't something that doesn't give a clone away.

@laarj IMO that is the real thing, probably just one of the first examples of the third production run (R3, R5, R12?). I'm very curious about the piro rate! Could you maybe do a 30 second test? I mean, once you get the hang of flying it, of course.

@Frank_fjs I don't think that http://www.symahelicopter.com/ is the real official Syma website. It is a "clone"!
AFAIK the Syma page on Alibaba is the most "official" Syma website.

Update: Syma Toys' real website

If the clone is really indistinguishable from the real deal, is it still a clone?

Originally Posted by Quagga

AFAIK the Syma page on Alibaba is the most "official" Syma website.

They might not even have a domain name at all.
I see a web page for the Shanghai toy exhibition, and in the list of exhibitors, Syma's email address is given as symatoys@126.com.
Now it happens that 126.com is like a Chinese version of hotmail.com. Email, file hosting etc...

Edit: scratch that, at the alibaba site, if you READ MORE, it lists http://www.symatoys.com/

Rev12... Lets hope its a good one.

Getting a replacement S107 for Christmas, I know it's in a box on my sofa right now but if I look at it now I won't have the suprised of hat colour it is (I know it's nit blue as red5 and all other uk shops only have red or yellow. And of course is it a R3 or R5, last time I looked red5 were still selling the R3.

I think as it's not from china (my 1st was from china so with virtualy no warranties I heavily modified it and it a little carried away, Do a "search this thread" with my username and the word "mod" and you should find what I've done) I will be leaving this one completly stock and just enjoy flying it as it is.

Hi Guys. New to forum so please be gentle. Got myself a 107 yesterday and love it. My only concern would be it's pretty slow forward and reverse movements. does anyone else find this?.

The S107 isn't known for its blazing turn of speed... Perhaps you should have a look at the S107 SpeedMods thread to trade some precision and stability for quickness.

Hi All

Been flying my S107 for a few weeks now. What a revelation compared to the Air Hogs. Mine were bought from a local discount store. The boxes all said S107, they all have round plugs, but two different boards, 2 with no ID that I can find and the other 2 with HT B301R. These were in the same batch. Another store in the same chain had the same heli with a different name on the box and the helis had square charge plugs. The boxes say that they were manufactured for the store and since the website [Alibaba] says Syma offers contract/OEM service I would opine that for a large enough order can have Syma make it your way.

I think the proliferation of different boards is possibly because they may just be surplus toy tank parts. 2 treads = 2 sets of rotors, plus turret = tail rotor. Just my 'think' take it for what you will.

I did buy a 052 Interceptor [AKA Costco] as a next step up and do not recommend it unless you like frustration. I'll stay with the S107 till I learn more, but its safe to say this sucker is hooked.

Richard

Round charging plugs are usually a sure sign of a clone. It may be different in your case but I've never known of Syma to use the round charging plugs in any of their products.

Originally Posted by The Tellurian

Hi All

Been flying my S107 for a few weeks now. What a revelation compared to the Air Hogs. Mine were bought from a local discount store. The boxes all said S107, they all have round plugs, but two different boards, 2 with no ID that I can find and the other 2 with HT B301R. These were in the same batch. Another store in the same chain had the same heli with a different name on the box and the helis had square charge plugs. The boxes say that they were manufactured for the store and since the website [Alibaba] says Syma offers contract/OEM service I would opine that for a large enough order can have Syma make it your way.

Richard

Greetings Earthling, if your helis fly and continue to fly I would not worry too much whether they are genuine or clones
The clone question has been the cause of many a debate here so don't be surprised if it all starts up again

Originally Posted by scotsoft

Greetings Earthling, if your helis fly and continue to fly I would not worry too much whether they are genuine or clones
The clone question has been the cause of many a debate here so don't be surprised if it all starts up again

Hi scotsoft

Actually the proper name of this spitball is Tellus as in Mercury, Venus, Tellus, Mars etc, but if you all want to call yourselves earth or dirtlings that's up to you.

No sorry I did not want to restart any debate over the clone issue. Especially since in China that's all a big joke. Clones are a Western mentality not Chinese. In China if you can make it you can sell it and the way to keep others from making them is to flood the market with your own [clones] cheaper than the other sweat shop down the road.

As you say they fly great, and if the Chinese like cutting their own throats that's their problem. What I was saying is that they may all be made by the same people anyway.

Richard

@The Tellurian LOL I love the Toy Tank Theory. Where did you get that from? Some arcane inside info directly from the horses mouth, or just crazy guesswork? And why a tank specifically?

Anyway, I think you might be close to the truth regarding the OEM services: Syma make a more expensive, higher quality version (HeliZone's FireBird), so it is quite likely that Syma also make cheaper, nastier versions for someone else. The "genuine" Syma S107 actually has a pretty good reputation for quality and reliability, so it seems natural to try to identify (and avoid) "clones".

I found this statement very interesting:

Originally Posted by The Tellurian

...in China that's all a big joke. Clones are a Western mentality not Chinese. In China if you can make it you can sell it and the way to keep others from making them is to flood the market...

We (westerners) seek out a specific brand because we associate certain qualities with it, and we don't mind paying a premium for that peace of mind. Even if the reality does not always match the advertised values. The Chinese seem to have a more pragmatic approach!

Do you have personal experience of Chinese culture? Anyway, interesting post!

Originally Posted by Quagga

If the clone is really indistinguishable from the real deal, is it still a clone?

That's what they were always trying to figure out in "Blade Runner".

just ordered one of these........will spend the next few days going through all these threads and seeing what all I'm going to do with it......

one thing I'd really like to do is be able to use my dx6i with it......I saw where someone had done it...... but not sure what all has to be done.

I know I'll be lightning it up for sure, and I'm sure I'll be adding a small bit of weight up front for a little more speed.

I've had a blade msr, (which was very cool and probably my favorite heli), I also had a walkera 180z....... junk!!!!! I moved up to a blade SR, and after almost killing myself with it I decided big helis are not for me. :-) since then I've been making airplanes from scratch....... but need something to keep me busy inside....

anyway, can't wait...... going to start looking at all the mods now...

38 years old going on 13......... maybe 12. :-)


ps: my girlfriend will be happy again, I'll be hovering over her while she's sitting in her chair reading....... I'm pretty sure she enjoyed that even though she didn't exactly express that to me. lol