toddicon wrote:
Hey everyone,
I'm a bit lost on what TT robot to get. I have a decent budget (I would like to keep it around 1k give or take) and I think I am specifically looking for the most realistic feeling robot out there. Something that can serve up a random sequence with as much variation as possible... I'm fairly new to the sport but I have been working with a coach so my skills are slowly getting there... I just want more!
What's the best robot out there? With so many to choose from and new models coming out all the time I'm finding it very hard to choose. Any help would be greatly appreciated!
IMO--the Newgy Robo-Pong 2050 is the most
useful robot there is. Yes, it is a 1-wheel robot, but I don't see that as being a disadvantage, particularly when compared to these two (and now even 3) wheel robots that spin the wheels only forward. You can read my opinion of this 1 vs. 2 wheel debate on another current thread:
viewtopic.php?f=67&t=23868#p257814The reason why I say the 2050 is the most
useful, is that I believe you will spend more time actually using the 2050 compared to other currently available models. For drill mode, simply select a number of a drill (we provide a diagram of each drill to help you choose a drill), set the head angle and spin correctly (maybe 30 seconds or so), press start and you're playing a drill. We've got a wide variety of drills already preprogrammed from some of the best coaches in the US and Europe. And if these aren't enough, you can program your own on a PC or have a coach with a 2050 (like Samson Dubina--http://samsondubina.com/node/67) send you new drills that are easy to download to your 2050.
Drills are adjustable to large degree--you can speed a drill up or down to match your current level so one drill is challenging for a wide range of players or to keep challenging you as your skills improve. The 2050 also has great random controls--more so than any other robot in the world. You can randomize ball placement, ball speed, duration between shots, and number of shots thrown to a location. You have excellent control over how much randomization to have in a drill. For instance, you could vary side-to-side location by 2 inches or almost 60 inches (wide FH to wide BH). Or throw 1-5 balls to the BH before throwing a ball to the FH. Or vary shots only to FH corner, centerline, or BH corner and nowhere in between. Or giving yourself 1-1.5 seconds between each ball to make it more difficult to
groove into one timing. You can randomize one, two, three, or all 4 parameters at once.
I think the Newgy interface is far superior to the other interfaces available with competing robots. I believe you will find it much easier to make the 2050 do what you want it to do than with others and there's a lot more resources for learning how to use the Newgy robot more effectively than any other.
Lastly, there are two types of robot randomizations that I don't find particularly useful. The first is spin randomization. Without the usual visual and auditory signals that you pick up when racket contacts ball, you will be guessing as to what spin is on the ball. The other is presented by the two-headed robots. If I set one of these to randomly shoot a ball, I find it very disconcerting to have to focus on two different projection points. It's something I would never have to do in a real match.
Hope this helps. Good luck with your search.
Larry