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what are your thoughts on Hoverboards? the little segways-ish

D

dan330

Extreme Android User
hi,

I have been thinking about getting the mini segways.. hoverboards.. hover boards.
you see them here and there...

many places try to sell them for around $1000.
and some sales have them around $500.
on amazon I see them for $300 and up.


there seem to all look very similar. I heard it was only 1 place in China that makes them.
they just make many different models. Some with good parts.. some with weaker.

I also hear some with cheap batteries that might catch on fire while charging.

anyone know the real 411 on these things? and what to look for when shopping around?

thanks
 
Be very careful with these. They have been banned in NYC. The major airlines also won't allow them on planes. There have been a a few clips shown on the news of these things going up in flames. :(
 
All these things come from China of course. Sure there's more than one company actually making them, mainly in Shenzhen, Dongguan or Shantou probably. So I do think this thread applies as much to hoverboards and self-balancing scooters, as any other piece of cheapo off-brand tech, like tablets and phones.
http://androidforums.com/threads/off-brand-phones-and-tablets-worth-the-low-cost.631594/

Also FYI:
http://www.engadget.com/2015/12/03/trading-standards-seize-hoverboards/
Officers have examined more than 17,000 "hoverboards" at sea ports, airports and postal hubs since October 15th. Of these, more than 15,000, or 88 percent, were deemed dangerous due to "a range of concerns" related to internal batteries and cut-off switches, chargers, plugs and cabling.

If I were to actually buy one, think I'd choose Ninebot. At least they're reputable, and they did buy out Segway. Unlike the UK, they are street-legal in China, but then no one really cares about things like that much here. :thumbsupdroid:
 
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Pfft!

Those are for the Fred Flintstones of the world....

Try out a REAL hover board!

.... but try not to crack your head open when you can't control it... because not even Tony Hawk himself can control it that well by the looks of things...

just take out an outstanding medical aid before you do it :)

 
Amazon just took some of them off the site because of their tendency to explode.
NYC didn't just ban them, they have simply been publicizing the fact that they fall into a category of motorized vehicles that cannot legally be used on a public street. This also includes electric scooters, motorized bicycles, and genuine Segways.
 
Fox Mulder said:
Amazon just took some of them off the site because of their tendency to explode.
NYC didn't just ban them, they have simply been publicizing the fact that they fall into a category of motorized vehicles that cannot legally be used on a public street. This also includes electric scooters, motorized bicycles, and genuine Segways.
Click to expand...

It's same in Hong Kong, just don't see these things at all there. Mainland, they're everywhere, electric bikes and scooters are a very common way of commuting, and just getting around in general.

In the UK electric bikes are road legal, provided they're fitted with pedals and can't go any faster than 15MPH. But not Segways, genuine or otherwise, and not hoverboards either.

BTW Segway Inc. was bought by Ninebot earlier this year, a company that was making clones. And Ninebot is actually backed by Xiaomi.
 
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Judging by the video clip, looks slow, uncontrollable, and really not that much fun, compared with a wheeled skateboard.
A case of technology just for the sake of it?
 
LV426 said:
Judging by the video clip, looks slow, uncontrollable, and really not that much fun, compared with a wheeled skateboard.
A case of technology just for the sake of it?
Click to expand...

IMO a fad, and not a serious form of transport. Another thing with hoverboards, unlike a skateboard once the battery dies, it's completely useless and you got to carry it, and some of them are actually quite heavy as well.

Reminds me somewhat of this thing I was looking at a few months ago:
bike3.jpg


It's not particularly comfortable, tiny wheels are bad on the potholed roads where I live, and again once the battery is dead, have to carry the thing and it's rather heavy as well. At least with an electric bike, has large wheels and can still pedal and ride when out of power, likely much safer as well.
 
I was wanting to see the rather overweight security guard in the blue shirt ride the thing. LOL I'm 6ft 2in, and it felt rather toy like when I was on it.

Besides the C5, which he is was infamous for, Sir Clive had a few less-than-successful goes at new powers in personal transport, Zike, A-Bike, Zeta. I believe the C5 ran on basically a car battery and had a washing machine motor or something. I can remember at the time Comet stocked them, and they were heavily discounted very quickly to get rid of the things.

Apparently even Segway Inc. wasn't profitable, and that's why Ninebot of Beijing bought them out. :thumbsupdroid: They'd been making Segway lookalikes for a number of years, good luck suing in the PRC.
 
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The original Segways were actually quite expensive, around about $7000-8000 bucks AFAIK. Ninebot are selling theirs for about equivalent of $1000-2000 here. Illegal for street use in the UK and probably many other EU countries, and accordiing to @Fox Mulder, illegal on the streets in NYC as well. I believe sales weren't as good as they hoped. Another thing, although IANAL, US Patents don't tend to carry much weight here in China. :thumbsupdroid:

http://www.ninebot.cn/index.html
...they're not using the Segway brand here, but they do link to Segway US.
 
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it is all about.... patents don't mean much in CHINA!!!
CHINA is the problem here.

what the innovators charge for their gadget.. does not matter. it is their gadget.
let Supply & Demand .. dictate their success.

when you throw in CHINA .. copycat .. illegal activities into the mix.
it completely .. F-cks up everything!

I am very disappointed in this situation!
 
In the end though, consumers have a choice. Either pay cheaper for a possibly inferior product, which may break. Or buy authenticate product, with the full support of the original manufacturer.
But am I wrong in thinking that the copied products are of inferior quality?
 
the risk are just as high as skateboards.. snowboards.. bikes.. etc...

it is how you use them. and of course good equipment
 
Just for the record, whatever happened to walking?

I think these have all been designed by a secret society of lawyers looking to bolster the product liability and personal injury industry. Of course all the evidence will be live video feeds from drones that everyone not on a hoverboard will be controlling from a table in Starbucks while sipping a $10 cup of coffee. :eek: :rolleyes: ;) :D
 
Ahh there is just something "unique" about the horrifying stench of (bad) (oh my god don't go there Stinky!) lawyers that makes the once caring mind go down a road not really desirable by any person worth even 1 dollar... can you buy decent compost in the states for approximately one dollar?

I think they look really awesome though :)

That hendo hover is just the beginning!

And we haven't even started on all the incredible practicalities of an almost 0000 friction less surface!!!

Imagine how awesome some types of obsolete modus operandi transport could be totally pathetic and utterly useless once actual hovering technology is now the norm!

Wow now THAT would kick ass!!!!!

It is in it's infancy but not too long down the line it can be automated with it's own software etc etc...

But is it really ready for main stream transport?

Also is it even technically poewr efficient or is it extremely bad or not yet as effective as current modes of transport?

Hmmmm... very cool stuffs indeedz..... hmm yes herp the derp.... I wonder hmm yes....

If something only needed to hover and didn't even need to have large combustion like that... and just need a light push... imagine the possibilities!!!! :)

Hmm but is it ready yet?
 
Well first of all: those AREN'T hoverboards, they're a poor version of a scooter. And I'd rather walk instead of trying to use one of those things to get around anyway.

Also, did Mike Tyson try to use one recently?
 
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