q catalog advertisement--- you'll love this

[brina]

this is from the spring 2004 lifestyle fascination catalog

Revolutionary "Body Engine" personal transporter zips along at 10 mph! Carries 300 lbs.!

Riding the body engine feels like your own personal moving sidewalk, so you can move along on your own two feet at up to 10 mph. In fact yhat is pretty much the case-except that the two wheel motors are attached to a platform just under your feet! It's terrific for errands and getting around locally, and is more sensible than a car for distances less than 20 miles (no fuel, no registration, no parking lots). It doesn't take up anymore room than you do with out it-so you can use it places where you wouldn't use a scooter. You'll drive the stable, silent platform with virtually no learning curve. It can double as an electric dolly for moving packages around effortlessly. The Body Engine doesn't need to be balanced by a computer, because it has two large drive wheels and a second pair of small wheels hidden under the desk for stability and steering.

Heavy-duty construction!

Durable 108-lb. construction and the two 150-watt motors easily manage a 300-pound load. Its 24-volt battery give you up to 15 miles on a 8-10 hour charge. The Body Engine is equiped with a parking break, headlights, turn signals, electric horn, thumb throttle, and a adjustable height handlebar that folds for easy storage. It will travel forward at up to 10 mph and reverse up to 6 mph. Rugged pneumatic front tires measure 16"H x about 2"D. Rear (balance) tires are 6"H x 2"D. Overall dimensions: 29"L x 24"W x 48"H. Folds to 29"L x 24"W x 18"H

$1,299.95



----can you beleive this, except for a few things in there i could sware they were trying to sell segway.

and i have no idea why its was being called a Body Engine, but it is definately a q.

[mrleisure]

quote:Originally posted by brina


and i have no idea why its was being called a Body Engine.


It's right out of the "How dirtbags market a knock-off" playbook. They are using synonyms to position their crappy scooter as being similar to a Segway.

Human = Body
Transporter = Engine

It's a good strategy. They were smart enough to not pitch their machine as way better than other scooters. They're pitching it as almost a Segway but way cheaper, and with lights. Big difference in perception there.

[BruceWright]

It does everything a Segway does.

Except if you live anywhere there's a hill, rain, leaves, uneven surfaces.....

-Bruce Wright

Segway: Vehicle of Dream

[wayne]

I must have seen another program on the Q and the Seg. From what I saw the Q did as well or better than the Seg with the exception of the Drag Race and on Grass.
I'm sure the manufacture could or will make improvements over the next year.
I believe more kids will end up with the Q and more thirty year olds and up will end up with the Seg.
I look for another company to come out with a higher performance knock-off within the next couple of years.


Seg-On
Wayne

[SegwayUtah]

Comparisons are very interesting.

In reality, the Q is a big loser:
Rad2Go ZZCruiser
$229
14mph

"Tests" can easily be designed to prove why one option or another is better.

For instance, the "Q vs. Segway" stand-off test featured:
* Mostly pavement
* Cones that were the perfect size for the Q's turning radius (so as to not show that it can't turn in place like a person)
* A "speed test" against a similar-speed conveyance

It seemed like the Rad2Go guys wanted to play on the "we're a more affordable, but almost as capable" line of thought. Thus, they showed that you can't ride across grass, and that it couldn't take hills _quite_ as fast.

Now, if you wanted to run a test which proved the superiority of a self-balancing robot transporter vs. a stand-up scooter, it would feature:
* My commute every day :)
* Moving in a big crowd of people
* Off-road terrain
* Hills
* Grass
* Controlled quick stops, including while going down a big hill

To show how the Segway is in a completely different ballpark than the Q, all one would need to do is:
1. Give "test rides" to normal people--record their feedback
2. Give normal people 3-4 hours of experience on each machine
3. Take those 2 people out for the day on a normal commute
(and film the whole thing :) )

Or, just give me the skateboard-skill rider that Rad2Go provides and let me go out for a day with him ;)

If anyone here has a Q and would like to make a video, I'll film and edit it.

Chris

[BruceWright]

quote:Originally posted by wayne

I must have seen another program on the Q and the Seg. From what I saw the Q did as well or better than the Seg with the exception of the Drag Race and on Grass.



Hi Wayne.

I saw the same spot you did. Except I was in it! That was me on the Segway.

There's a lot about the Q that I discovered that day, that wasn't on that spot.

If you think the Q does as well or better than a Seg in any functionality at all, I'd love to see you try one. I tried it. I put it through its paces. There's not anything a Q can do better than a Segway, except perhaps tip over!


Yes, there will be improvements. More power will be one, but they'll need better brakes then. Hopefully they can handle uneven surfaces better without tipping over. Hills, I'm still not sure they can do even if they fix the power issues, instability is a huge problem.

-Bruce Wright

Segway: Vehicle of Dream

[brina]

ok why dont we leave the actual functionality of the q alone, except that it keeps being compaired to the segway when there are just way to many contingencies for it to opperate as it is advertised, as brucewright keeps bringing up.

i hear a lot about it being similar to compairing apples and oranges, but how about this:
to me it seems more like compairing that cute lil fisher price work bench with all those cute lil plastic tools, where yes they technically work as long as your only trying to rotate the lil plastic screw with that lil platsic screw driver and my pretty lil craftsmen tool kit that does, well every that you would expect it to.

but come on "personal transporter", what the bloody hell is that about.

and for trips under 20 miles...than up to 15 miles per charge.
any company that wants me to get stranded 15 miles from home and 5 miles from my destination, is not ok with me.

and im not sure, its been a while since ive seen it in person, but 29" x 24" seems like it might occupy a lil more space than a person standing alone.

and its movement does look a bit jerky, it certainly doesn't seem to have that smooth gliding action that we all know and love.

...but hey thats all alright because it come with all those spiffy lil lights right.


--im going to my happy place...im going for a glide

[BruceWright]

Chris,

I'd LOVE for you to do a real side-by-side.

As far as hills, it did look like the Q couldn't do hills quite as fast. What it didn't show is that that hill was not steep at all. Normal hills like we have here in Southern California would completely stop the Q, or force the rider to do switchbacks.

-Bruce Wright

Segway: Vehicle of Dream

[terryp]

quote:Originally posted by SegwayUtah

* My commute every day :)
* Moving in a big crowd of people
* Off-road terrain
* Hills
* Grass
* Controlled quick stops, including while going down a big hill


* Gliding in heavy rain and through puddles

Practicing safe Segs in Seattle

[SegwayUtah]

Oh yeah, Terry. Good point. Hey, I just went and grabbed lunch. There was a bunch of rain and puddles, and I didn't even think a thing about it (other than making sure there wasn't anything to trip me up in the puddles :).

Chris

[smoother]

I watched and re-watched and watched in slow motion, the "comparison" Tech TV did (I Love TiVo). Even though it was edited down to almost nothing due to their time constraints, there was one major flaw in the Q that couldn't be concealed. Even before I went into intense review mode, I did observe this HUGE glaring obvious problem with the Q that was obviously so bad that no matter how the raw footage was edited one could not edit it out. WHAT"S THAT YOU ASK??

WHEEL SLIPPAGE.!!!!

In almost every scene where the Q is turning, the inside wheel is free spinning, ie losing grip with the ground. Even going up the ADA wheelchair ramp one wheel is slipping, right b4 it hits the grass and just DIES. How bad can it be that it just dies on grass. Is grass Kryptonite to the Q?

When was the last time (dry) grass bothered an HT rider? Last Sunday the Houston group descended and ascended HUGH grass hills several times. All hills were completed and there was only one (minor) fall, and that was going straight up a wall of grass that really needed knobby tires. But guess what w/knobbies he would have made it. The HT has hugue torque. Try this if you don't believe it:

(with a spotter to help) Get your HT in balance mode and sit down on it like in the extreme Seg video. Now get a good grip of both wheels (grab the "Holes" for grip). Now lean forward to induce forward motion whilst trying to prevent the wheels from turning. You can't do it. The HT has hugue torque. And the Q---STOPS ON LEVEL GRASS. Pleeeaaassseee!


And all this wheel slippage came whilst being piloted on near pool-table smooth surfaces, by an experienced Q'er who, acording to Bruce, had the balance of a skateboarder. God help the rest of us uncoordinated oafs out here in the real world.

Next time I steam up 7 flights in a local parking garage, at full speed, just for fun (after business hours, no scoldings please) I'll be thinking about a Q, dieing about 2 feet up the first ramp, and then tipping its rider off backwards.

Why only 7 flights? It only has 7. I can't even imagine the fear of riding a Q down one of those ramps. Think of a rollercoaster w/o safety features, and w/o rails. YAOW!!

John Out.
"Live to glide, glide to live"

[wayne]

[/quote]

There's not anything a Q can do better than a Segway, except perhaps tip over!

Segway: Vehicle of Dream
[/quote]

That must have been when I answered the phone. I didn't see it tip over. I did see it go in and out of the course that you were trying out.
It sure looked like it moved good. I wish I had seen it tip over.

I went to Pep Boys Saturday to see one but none was there.
I would like to try out one.


Wayne

[Sal]

Wayne,

The Q didn't tip over, although by all intents and purposes it would under certain "routine" circumstances for the Segway. Like going down a hill and having to stop relatively abruptly.

-Sal


Think Different
www.apple.com

Answers that Matter
www.lilly.com

[BruceWright]

You know, Wayne, I was there. I saw things happen when the camera wasn't running. You know those tricks where he rides it on 2 wheels? There were about 10 different times when it tipped over and he wound up hopping off to keep from falling.

It's not a self-balancing device. It tips over easily. The rider in the video has skateboarder-like skills, and so he was perfectly at ease on it.


You don't have to believe me, but I was there, and I rode it, and I'm not making stuff up. It does tip over easier than a Segway.

-Bruce Wright

Segway: Vehicle of Dream

[Sal]

Sorry for the double post... I posted this in the wrong thread before by mistake:


I think that these Q and Segway comparisons are just something at the forefront for media to write about, so they can get ratings/readership. I think that anyone with common sense knows that the 2 are more different than alike. Although the CEO of Q didn't fully admit it, he did a pretty good job of giving Segway it's due.

The Q and the Segway are almost nothing alike, except for their intended purpose. Put them to the test, and it's no contest.

The FDA won't allow any drug company to compare their products with those of another with the same indication without head to head clinical trials, even if the 2 medications are in the same drug class.

I think BruceWright is probably the only one of us who has the unequivocal authority at the moment to formulate opinions about the Q and the Segway and compare and contrast the 2, because he performed a "clinical trial" of both machines. And the Segway won handily.

I don't think TechTV aired anything of the sort on their edited clip. And I doubt that the Segway will get a fair shake from the media with regards to the Q, just because the price point is far too disparate.

They are NOT the same. Compare the Q to a motorized seated scooter, that seniors use, there are plenty more similarities between those two devices than the Segway.

It looks like a Seg from the front... so what?

It may look like a duck, does NOT quack like a duck, and certainly does not smell like a duck... It ain't no duck.

Let us Segway owners not be defensive about the Q. We have a machine that just cannot be compared. It's a different animal completely. Let's be proactive about the strengths of the Segway, and let the Q people be defensive.

I'm not trying to start a Q vs. Seg war, but too often the apparent underdog (from the media's perspective) in order to sway the public doesn't take a stand... I think we have a hands down winner with the Segway, we know it... Let's show the public what we're made of.

Besides, time will tell. When people buy the Q, and see what they CAN'T do with it.

Think Different
www.apple.com

Answers that Matter
www.lilly.com

[Sal]

Sorry Bruce... I didn't want to contradict you about the Q not tipping over... I was letting Wayne know that in the TechTV clip they edit the tipping out.


Apologies

-Sal

Think Different
www.apple.com

Answers that Matter
www.lilly.com

[statmed]

We all saw it and we all agree there is no comparison.

So why are we wasting bandwidth comparing and defending our Segways to this thing. There is no comparison and thus we don't have to defend ourselves, and our choices for buying our Segway.

I personally have no desire to try one of them and would turn down an offer to ride one. (Having too much fun on the real thing).

And in my humble opinion, after a few serious accidents, and large lawsuits, you probably won't see them around anymore. Here today, litigation tomorrow.

Just my .02 cents................






H.M. Stern
statmed@optonline.net

I Love It When A Plan Comes Together (Hannibal Smith)

[wayne]

Thanks Sal,

I didn't think I missed much. Oh well I'm not going to purchase one anyway I don't have enough time to ride the two I have.



Wayne

[Mr_Laurenzano]

Whats a Rad to Go ~~~~Ive been riding my segway~~~~What happened?

Find the way. Everything comes full circle.