I'm throwing this out there for all of the new guys talking about the ION and wondering about getting it; and to the guys who just are suckers for Smart Parts and their marketing. I want to clear up a few points.

First off there's this thing going around that the ION is a professional grade marker at a entry price. Basically people are saying you get something for 300 bucks that gives you about 800+ worth of performance. I beg to differ. But before you get mad I am not saying the ION is terrible, just over-hyped simply because Smart Parts has the power to do so

A stock ION has some good qualities.. it is pretty quick.. especially for 300 dollars but there's some stuff not so good. Not so great grip, iffy reg, crap trigger and a really not so great feedneck. Otherwise it's good though... those problems don't drag it down and are all addressable.

So hey, 300 bucks and you get an electro with ACE ready to shoot. Nobody else comes close to offering that right?

WRONG

You've fallen for the advertising game. There's this company called PMI making this nice gun called the Pirahna. Now the EVO which is their top gun is 20 bucks or more, cheaper than an ion and comes with everything the ION does except here's the difference. The reg is great, feedneck fits good, grip isn't too bad.. and it's not made of friggin composite.

In my educated opinion, Smart Parts put the cheap composite replaceable *extreme* body on the ION for one reason. To market to completely oblivious 12-15 year olds that get sold on crap like fancy colorful bodies made of crappy material that looks "extreme". It's the same reason those grips with nekkid chicks are made. It's marketed to the sprouting hormone driven kids who couldn't recognize a good grip from a hustler page.

With all the advertising... companies like PMI get kinda boned and the end result is what you see around you. Most of the people on this forum won't know a thing about a PMI EVO. They'll just figure since they haven't heard of it.. and it's only 260 bucks that it automatically sucks because apparently the ION is the only gun to give hi performance and a super good price.

PMI isn't the only company. People need to actually start researching and not just sticking to the latest colorful ad.

And if you're going to quote any part of this post be sure to quote a strong point I'm trying to maintain. I don't think the ION sucks, I think it's over-rated, inflated, advertised falsely and that most kids don't have the ability to recognize that

Yawn... Ion threads make me sleepy.

But I do agree with you on the point that they are not gods gift to paintball.

Mad Psience wrote: I don't think the ION sucks

I do.  

Yes, the Ion has it's weak points, easily replaceable.

1. You said that the Ion is made out of cheap materials, yes thats true, but then again whats the MSRP on it again?  I've seen no problems so far, and *note* I say so far, with the materials of the Ion.  I realize that it's only been a month or so that I've had it, so we can't really judge that factor of the Ion yet.

2. False advertising, umm... Let's see what the Smart Parts website says:

Our Features Presentation

— 17 balls per second semi-auto rate of fire with 3 shot burst, full auto and our Rebound firing mode.  <Ion does exactly what it says.
— Break-beam Vision Anti-Chop System Reliable and durable, the eyes are mounted on a separate board for perfect alignment and not affected by paint or body color. Just clean and replace (in minutes). True, I im very pleased with the Ion's Vision.
— A Featherweight Prizefighter At 2.2 pounds, the Ion is among the lightest high-end markers made, and it’s tube design imparts an ultra low profile. Going from an A5 to this, it's unbelieveable how light the Ion is.
— Reliability The Ion was engineered to stand up to the demands of professional players. It will outlast what used to be considered high-end and won't break down the minute you get it home. Once again, to be determined in the future, but no problems yet.
— Improved Ball Detents Approximately 10 times the service life of current detents.
— Great Efficiency Expect a reliable 1000-1400 shots from a 68ci, 4500psi bottle without any modifications. No objections.
— Accuracy & Range The trademarks you expect from Smart Parts. As Jeep explained, the stock barrel is pretty good, an aftermarket barrel wouldn't hurt though.  I, myself, am planning to hook mine up with a Freak in the near future...
— Body Kits A first for paintball. High-quality aluminum internals are protected by composite shells, allowing you to instantly change the color or look of your body. Tired of blue? Switch to red. Or black. Or yellow. And there are more body styles in the works... It's exactly what it says, I guess if you think that is somehow decieving and just  suckers little kids into buying one, that's your opinion.
— Feed Tube with O-Ring Seals Fits a wider range of hoppers than most guns in this price range. Feed Tube is pretty tall, and I needed to take out the o-rings to fit my Halo into it, but I would recommend an aftermarket feed tube anyway, as I'll do in the near future once I get some more money.
— Tools 1/8" Allen wrench is all you need for primary disassembly--and it’s included, along with trigger and velocity adjustment wrenches and a handy parts kit.
— Impulse Threads Take advantage of the barrels and feed tubes you may already have.

I don't really see much false advertisement here.

Now my opinion on the Ion, it does exactly what it says, for the price, you can't really ask for more from it.  I have little complaints and am very satisfied with it.

Open for debate...

I'm trying to decide if I want an ION or to continue my own Impulse kit project that is dragging from last season.  Too many hobbies and not enough time.

The ION is hard to ignore all things considered.  But still if you replace the reg.  $80.00, trigger 25.00, and feedneck 20.00 it's almost a 350.00 gun.  These are very rough price estimates.

If the trigger stinks, even though it had ramping and modes some fields don't allow these features and I would replace it if I didn't like it.  Will some fields not allow you to play with a gun with these features?  My buddy had a heck of a time getting a field owner to let him play with an RT on his A5.

Is it still the best deal in that price range?

Lightningbolt wrote: I'm trying to decide if I want an ION or to continue my own Impulse kit project that is dragging from last season.  Too many hobbies and not enough time. The ION is hard to ignore all things considered.  But still if you replace the reg.  $80.00, trigger 25.00, and feedneck 20.00 it's almost a 350.00 gun.  These are very rough price estimates. If the trigger stinks, even though it had ramping and modes some fields don't allow these features and I would replace it if I didn't like it.  Will some fields not allow you to play with a gun with these features?  My buddy had a heck of a time getting a field owner to let him play with an RT on his A5. Is it still the best deal in that price range?

Keep this in mind too....

http://www.countypaintball.com/product_description.asp?item=3590 - http://www.countypaintball.com/product_description.asp?item= 3590

300$

Lightningbolt
says

The ION is hard to ignore all things considered.  But still if you replace the reg.  $80.00, trigger 25.00, and feedneck 20.00 it's almost a 350.00 gun.  These are very rough price estimates.

if you add that up it comes to $425.00

$299.00+$80.00+$25.00+$20.00+$425.00

learn how to add, please

yes it does.

Ok my math was wrong but............

it doesn't need a new reg. so the number stands at about 350.00

I'm right, you're wrong  350.00

I think everyone that knows me knows that I HATE the way SP has done business.

Here is my take on the Ion... I was guilty of the "marker snob" mentality, not so bad as others as I still own a Tippmann 98 (E-Bolt, Center-Feed, etc...).

However, at a Tourney about a month ago, one of our Timmies went down and a teammate ended up shooting an Ion all day... not one problem. Fast, accurate and durable. The eyes worked and not a single chop.   And as I mentioned above, even though I am staunchly opposed to the Gardner's business ethics, my opinion of the marker went WAY up.

Additionally, the SP Factory team based here in Dallas has been shooting them for a while and they LOVE them.   Rich and Gerald Garcia will be shooting them along with a couple teammates on the Philly Americans.   This is by CHOICE, not because they have to.   Based on this, the durablity and reliability have been proven.

Last week, I had the opportunity to check it out more as myself and Eric Hoffmann of Paintball and More in Euless took one apart. The electronics are not real impressive... the board is about an inch long and a half inch wide. The microswitch is part of the board assembly and looked pretty fragile. The Eyes look like the old Revvy eyes; just a "U" shaped board with an eye attached to both ends.  Not "normal" high end quality, but then again, not "normal" high end pricing either.   The GOOD things I found were the bolt, which is a pretty good design similar to the Shocker (and NOT plastic).   The feedneck is an Standard Impy thread and can be easily switched for something more appropriate.  The Reg is a simple and effective design and seemed fine... replace it if you want, but don't hold that against the Ion, people replace regs on the most expensive of markers.  I was about to buy one and decided against it at that time.  

As I left the shop, I was still thinking about it... I own a DM4 as my main marker and an Empire Timmy as a back up. With already well over $2000 invested in markers, why the heck would I NOT spend $300 for an Ion.

All you need to do is keep less than $100 in parts around and you can rebuild whatever might go wrong immediately. On top of that, you have a fairly inexpensive "loaner" gun for when friends markers go down and when you take new people to play.

Bottom line, I will own one very soon.

well first off, the ion's arent entirely plastic. Though the grip frame may look plastic, it is in fact powder coated aluminum. The shells are, however, a very durable plastic, and even if the body were to crack, what's 30 dollars to get a new one?

Secondly, why the hell do yall have beef against SP. Is it because they give the consumer everything they promise? I own a 03 shocker and it has become everything i'd expect it to be.

And it's not like SP could care less about what the consumer thinks. Every problem that the shockers have had have been delt with by SP. If a part on my shocker were to break, I could send it to Smart Parts and they would replace it for free as long as the warranty is still active.

Honestly, if we're gonna go around flaming pb companies, lets talk about Tippmann. Each part that I bought from them when I had a Tippy gave me half the performance that was promised to me.

GTA Exp Chamber Kit - Consistency was unchanged, but hey, now I had a foregrip that froze the crap out of my hand when I shot continuesly.

GTA Flatline - Who doesnt love screwing in 2 allen screws and spending five minutes to make sure the barrel is perfectly alligned otherwise performance will be widely ascued. Then repeat these steps after every ball break and/or every other shot.

GTA 2x Trigger - Performance is fine, but the instruction manual left out the step about spending an hour filing out your grips so the kit will actually fit.

GTA E-bolt - if I had a dollar for every time the wiring broke on this thing I would be a made man. and for 300 bucks, couldnt I get a little more than 13 bps. Then again, without a powerful forcefeed hopper it was next to impossible to reach speeds of 10+ bps due to Tippmann's horrible blowback issues. My Egg w/ Y-board couldnt even deal with the blowback even after multiple blowback mods.

Smart Parts really isnt lookin too bad right now....

I'm not known for flaming, but if you post ^^^ in a Tippmann based forum you deserve it.

Squirrel Master wrote: ...why the hell do yall have beef against SP. Is it because they give the consumer everything they promise? I own a 03 shocker and it has become everything i'd expect it to be.

No, the beef is not about their products, it is about their "questionable" business tactics and lack of professional ethics.

And it's not like SP could care less about what the consumer thinks. Every problem that the shockers have had have been delt with by SP. If a part on my shocker were to break, I could send it to Smart Parts and they would replace it for free as long as the warranty is still active.

Ummmm.... isn't that what you would expect from a WARRANTY?

Honestly, if we're gonna go around flaming pb companies, lets talk about Tippmann. Each part that I bought from them when I had a Tippy gave me half the performance that was promised to me. GTA Exp Chamber Kit - Consistency was unchanged, but hey, now I had a foregrip that froze the crap out of my hand when I shot continuesly.

The point is that you were able to keep shooting, consistency is not affected by an X-Chamber.   Without it, the C02 would have froze your internals and you wouldn't have been shooting at all.   n00b.

GTA Flatline - Who doesnt love screwing in 2 allen screws and spending five minutes to make sure the barrel is perfectly alligned otherwise performance will be widely ascued. Then repeat these steps after every ball break and/or every other shot.

If you can't figure out how to align a barrel, you shouldn't be using the FL.   Its performance is just fine if you take time to learn it.   Kinda like driving... if you don't keep that pesky steering wheel straight you keep going into a ditch.

GTA 2x Trigger - Performance is fine, but the instruction manual left out the step about spending an hour filing out your grips so the kit will actually fit.

Hmmm... my instruction manual told me to mark where the slot in the frame was that accepted the lower part of the trigger guard.   Then make a notch for the guard to travel through.   Although I found that bit unnecessary since it seems to be common sense.   If that takes you an hour, then you better pay someone to do anything harder than change the velocity on your Shocker.

GTA E-bolt - if I had a dollar for every time the wiring broke on this thing I would be a made man. and for 300 bucks, couldnt I get a little more than 13 bps. Then again, without a powerful forcefeed hopper it was next to impossible to reach speeds of 10+ bps due to Tippmann's horrible blowback issues. My Egg w/ Y-board couldnt even deal with the blowback even after multiple blowback mods.

How the heck were you breaking the wiring?   And why did you pay $300 for the E-Bolt?   That may be MSRP, but they can be found for $165 or less.    Further, without a forcefed hopper, it is difficult to reach 10+ BPS on ANY marker.   And the Egg problem is simple to fix... throw it in the trash where it belongs and get a Halo B.

Smart Parts really isnt lookin too bad right now....

True... but you look like an idiot.

** Editted to tame it down.

No, the beef is not about their products, it is about their "questionable" business tactics and lack of professional ethics.

So saying they will provide their consumers with something good and actually doing so is "questionable" business

Ummmm.... isn't that what you would expect from a WARRANTY?

yes, hence it's presence in my post....

The point is that you were able to keep shooting, consistency is not affected by an X-Chamber.   Without it, the C02 would have froze your internals and you wouldn't have been shooting at all.   n00b.

The point of an exp. chamber is to give the CO2 room to expand before reaching the valve. The purpose of this is to prevent velocity spikes which are a result of....can anyone guess? That's right!! poor consistency

If you can't figure out how to align a barrel, you shouldn't be using the FL.   Its performance is just fine if you take time to learn it.   Kinda like driving... if you don't keep that pesky steering wheel straight you keep going into a ditch.

I took plenty of time to align the barrel and when I did, it had no problem shooting the balls a farther distance. But anyone will say that after awhile, it becomes very annoying to have to go through so many steps just to put on a barrel.

Hmmm... my instruction manual told me to mark where the slot in the frame was that accepted the lower part of the trigger guard.   Then make a notch for the guard to travel through.   Although I found that bit unnecessary since it seems to be common sense.   If that takes you an hour, then you better pay someone to do anything harder than change the velocity on your Shocker.

Did I say it was hard, no, but just like installing the flatline, it's like a little too much effort just to install a trigger. And it shouldnt be called a drop in kit when you have to mod any part of the marker for it to fit. And I'm all for taking my time to do something like clean the noid on my shocker, lube the bolt or sweetspot the dwell and output pressure.

How the heck were you breaking the wiring?   And why did you pay $300 for the E-Bolt?   That may be MSRP, but they can be found for $165 or less.    Further, without a forcefed hopper, it is difficult to reach 10+ BPS on ANY marker.   And the Egg problem is simple to fix... throw it in the trash where it belongs and get a Halo B.

Excuse me, I paid 240 for it, and that was last summer. But if you'd actually take a look at the e-bolt kit, the soder job on all the wires are very weak. while installing it, the wiring around the on/off switch broke mutliple times while I was simply taking out the battery.

And as for the egg comment. Any knowlegdable egg owner, aside from the ones that just buy one expecting it to feed 20+ bps right out of the box, will tell you that with a few simple mods, ie: revvy impellor mod, servo mod, the egg will be feeding just as fast as a Halo B.

True... but you look like an idiot.

Thank god I dont take internet posts personally....

Bauerp0weR 18 wrote: the grip is aluminum, the body is composite, lightweight... not your everyday plastic

Nice try at bending the facts but its still plastic and if you look around the good guns out there (even the lower end ones) are not made of plastic.

Bauerp0weR 18 wrote: easy way to prevent this, don't be an idiot

again this proves the cheap quality of manufacturing. A good quality gun doesn't leave important parts hanging out fully exposed so they can easily break. 

Bauerp0weR 18 wrote: still waiting

You won't be waiting to long take a look around people are already complaining about having solnoid trouble. The gun is to new but soon enough people will start to have random noid blow outs just like they did with the shocker and the Impy

The ION reg is junk and constantly creeps the Ion also is known for randomly blowing hoses..proof again of the trashy quality of this gun.

ScarFace22 wrote: The ION reg is junk and constantly creeps the Ion also is known for randomly blowing hoses..proof again of the trashy quality of this gun.

Thats true... I heard some people having some problems with the hoses after airing it up out of the box... not me though!