Difference between raven and hammer?
- Thread starter Night
- Start date
The difference is the ability to change your rapidfire/fast reload settings on the fly by the addition of the two tactical switches added to the controller. That's the odin's raven. The hammer has the same capibilities of the raven but is a bit more cumbersome to use. Changing on the fly will be more difficult. Conclusion is that you should get the raven. The hammer will eventually get annoying.
IrishStyle
New Member
Raven is the best imo.....the tact switches make it alot easier to use and change modes in a match.
IrishStyle
New Member
For me it is...I am sure you will not be disappointed in it.
IrishStyle
New Member
Oh are you located in UK or canada? One of the members here is located in the UK and may be able to save you some on shipping and customs.
Here is a link to Ben's page.
Rapidcontrollers UK
Here is a link to Ben's page.
Rapidcontrollers UK
IrishStyle
New Member
Oh that sucks....don't think there are any Viking affiliates in canada.....But maybe one of the members will chime in with an alternative.
Shipping to Canada should be around $32. If it's calculating more than that, let us know and I can have our web dev team double check on the USPS shipping API on our shopping cart.
We only ship USPS Express International. Here's why. Here's a breakdown on a 1 lbs. 12 oz. parcel from US ZIP code 99337 to Canada, according to usps.com:
Global Express guaranteed - 1-3 days - Not offered here in Kennewick, WA 99337
Express Mail International - 5 days - $32.20
Priority Mail International - 6-10 days - $20.66
First Class International - 'varies' - $7.95
First Class and Priority Mail services do not offer parcel tracking information or signature/delivery confirmation. Which leaves us wide open for mail fraud. And, I've send Priority Mail to Canada before, it's taken up to 3 weeks - which, coupled with the lack of tracking information, drives customers crazy (even those who told me up front 'Oh I don't mind waiting'
). That leaves us with GXG or Express mail service. GXG isn't offered in some cities (like Kennewick where I live). That leaves Express. Unfortunately it looks like they raised their rates about 10-15% in 2010 to about $32.
I think you'll find that FedEx/UPS rates from U.S. to Canada are about 50-100% more than USPS depending on your location (I picked Dresden, ON out of a hat, and FedEx ground was $46.53). The nice thing about USPS is that their Express mail service rates are the same no matter where you live in Canada (even rural Canada). The only thing that might vary is the delivery time. With FedEx, their rates go up as your address moves out from the cities into the rural areas.
If Viking was a large on-line retailer, we would get better rates from FedEx/UPS that would make shipping with them more economical for our customers. Unfortunately we don't ship enough parcels every month to qualify for their bulk rates.
We only ship USPS Express International. Here's why. Here's a breakdown on a 1 lbs. 12 oz. parcel from US ZIP code 99337 to Canada, according to usps.com:
Global Express guaranteed - 1-3 days - Not offered here in Kennewick, WA 99337
Express Mail International - 5 days - $32.20
Priority Mail International - 6-10 days - $20.66
First Class International - 'varies' - $7.95
First Class and Priority Mail services do not offer parcel tracking information or signature/delivery confirmation. Which leaves us wide open for mail fraud. And, I've send Priority Mail to Canada before, it's taken up to 3 weeks - which, coupled with the lack of tracking information, drives customers crazy (even those who told me up front 'Oh I don't mind waiting'
). That leaves us with GXG or Express mail service. GXG isn't offered in some cities (like Kennewick where I live). That leaves Express. Unfortunately it looks like they raised their rates about 10-15% in 2010 to about $32.I think you'll find that FedEx/UPS rates from U.S. to Canada are about 50-100% more than USPS depending on your location (I picked Dresden, ON out of a hat, and FedEx ground was $46.53). The nice thing about USPS is that their Express mail service rates are the same no matter where you live in Canada (even rural Canada). The only thing that might vary is the delivery time. With FedEx, their rates go up as your address moves out from the cities into the rural areas.
If Viking was a large on-line retailer, we would get better rates from FedEx/UPS that would make shipping with them more economical for our customers. Unfortunately we don't ship enough parcels every month to qualify for their bulk rates.
DO NOT use FedEx to canada. You have zero chance of geting missed by custums, and UPS charges you a $40 border fee. I bought my PS3 off ebay, and it was sent by FedEx. I paid $50 shipping to the seller, and two weeks after I got the parcel I got a bill from FedEx for around $140.
It's about a week +- to Canada. I'd say if I ship on like a Monday or Tuesday it'll be there by the next Wednesday, every 5th or 6th parcel I send up seems to get held up in customs for a couple extra days. Every once in awhile a package eeks through quickly in 4 business days.
"Added 3.5mm jack" vs. "modify PnC port" - my suggestion:
If you use microsoft rechargeable battery packs, or like to use the play n' charge cable to recharge your batteries, go with the added 3.5mm jack option. This maintains 100% normal function on your play n' charge cable.
If you use 'regular' AA batteries, or rechargeable AA batteries in a separate charging station, go with the PnC option. Because you can't actually play n' charge at the same time with this option - it will 'lock up' the right thumbstick and 'button A' because those buttons share the USB port with the Viking mod chip. So having the PnC cable plugged in, the mod chip thinks it's time to communicate with your PC and download a new driver.
"Added 3.5mm jack" vs. "modify PnC port" - my suggestion:
If you use microsoft rechargeable battery packs, or like to use the play n' charge cable to recharge your batteries, go with the added 3.5mm jack option. This maintains 100% normal function on your play n' charge cable.
If you use 'regular' AA batteries, or rechargeable AA batteries in a separate charging station, go with the PnC option. Because you can't actually play n' charge at the same time with this option - it will 'lock up' the right thumbstick and 'button A' because those buttons share the USB port with the Viking mod chip. So having the PnC cable plugged in, the mod chip thinks it's time to communicate with your PC and download a new driver.
You only need to consider the 3.5mm jack option if you ever actually play n' charge your controller at the same time. I don't because I like to have my controller wireless at all times, but some people do like to plug in when they play.
Chrome shells are a pain in the butt to install. And the quality of these aftermarket shells is sometimes crap. We've removed Chrome as an option for the Hammer as well for now while we look for other shell manufacturers. On the XCM chrome shells, we experienced flaking when drilling holes to mount the jacks and tactile switches. On the evolution cases we found the 'fit' wasn't very close to a stock shell, especially for CG2 boards. There's something about microsoft's new 'CG2' wireless circuit boards that don't want to quite fit inside of the new Evo shells. Also the XCM cases now need a little adapter circuit board to make the lights bright enough on the CG2 due to minor changes there.
Anywho, so when we install a Raven with an XCM custom shell and also the light-up buttons mod, there get to be a ton of wires inside the controller - three for the 3.5mm jack, four for the tac switches, and another three fires for the light-up button mods, plus the 15 wires or so that are already there just for the mod chip install. It gets pretty labor intensive to install this thing in the right way so it lasts.
Chrome shells are a pain in the butt to install. And the quality of these aftermarket shells is sometimes crap. We've removed Chrome as an option for the Hammer as well for now while we look for other shell manufacturers. On the XCM chrome shells, we experienced flaking when drilling holes to mount the jacks and tactile switches. On the evolution cases we found the 'fit' wasn't very close to a stock shell, especially for CG2 boards. There's something about microsoft's new 'CG2' wireless circuit boards that don't want to quite fit inside of the new Evo shells. Also the XCM cases now need a little adapter circuit board to make the lights bright enough on the CG2 due to minor changes there.
Anywho, so when we install a Raven with an XCM custom shell and also the light-up buttons mod, there get to be a ton of wires inside the controller - three for the 3.5mm jack, four for the tac switches, and another three fires for the light-up button mods, plus the 15 wires or so that are already there just for the mod chip install. It gets pretty labor intensive to install this thing in the right way so it lasts.