At500/at800

[legendarycroc]

Hey guys, Im thnking about getting one of those two, I just want to know which one is more worth the price...What are the main differences.. how much is 800 bettr than its predecessor by? Whcih one do you recommend..

[Pre-emptive]

At800 comes in 2 flavors. DF and OF. They are both good if they suit you. Read the reviews and do a test drive.

[legendarycroc]

Originally Posted by Pre-emptive

At800 comes in 2 flavors. DF and OF. They are both good if they suit you. Read the reviews and do a test drive.

lol, Im not sure what you mean by test drive, if you mean a 'test' i dont really think thats allowed, and does anyone know how much at500 is in china?

[Yodums]

Originally Posted by legendarycroc

lol, Im not sure what you mean by test drive, if you mean a 'test' i dont really think thats allowed, and does anyone know how much at500 is in china?

I think what he's trying to say that stores may allow you to demo the racquet given that you insure it. If not, I'm sure people at local clubs own an Armortec 800 or Armortech 500, so it wouldn't hurt to ask them to try it out for a minute or two just to get a feel for it.

Personally, I don't like the Armortec 500 very much. It's really head-heavy and produces a really heavy weight overall. I find that other racquets which aren't head-heavy produce equal, if not more (depending on the player) power. So I don't find it much of a defense racquet or overall a good racquet to recover from when on the offense.

So I'd go with the Armortec 800 OF or DE, doesn't really matter. I prefer DE because it's more balanced and quite frankly, I don't like head-heavy racquets.

[jsunsun]

I wouldn't consider AT800 "better" than AT500, even though there's a big price difference. They're simply 2 different racquets. I've played with both AT500 and AT800DF (both 3U) quite extensively. In my opinion, AT800DF is a faster and lighter than AT500. However, AT500 has more power and more vibration dampening, and slightly bigger sweet spot. One thing I perticularly find a problem with the AT800 is the different stringing pattern. This string pattern creates a longer section at top string bed where there is only main strings. hitting bird here increases chance of breaking strings very significantly. Thus you'd break a LOT more strings with a AT800. That is the main reason why I sold my AT800 and bought a AT500.

Originally Posted by legendarycroc

Hey guys, Im thnking about getting one of those two, I just want to know which one is more worth the price...What are the main differences.. how much is 800 bettr than its predecessor by? Whcih one do you recommend..

[Noob848]

i own a at500 and i dun agree with the point of at500 being REALLY head heavy, infact its so light it feels balanced, also the at500 is a very nice racquet, because of the fact that its cheaper so basically id rate the at500 8.5/10 and the at800of/de 8.9/10 or so but the price is greatly diverse. IMHO at500 is the better bang for your buck Btw this isn't a biased opinion i demoed both racquets before i finally settled on the at500

[Slammer]

i agree that at500 is a good all round racquet, but if you want to compare it to at800, then you should tell your level and playing-style first...

because at800 is now my favorite, but if your intermediate player i recommend you taking the at500. although i'm sure that both 'flavours' are better than the 500, it just doesn't feel right

[david14700]

Have to disagree with the last post. The AT800 Defensive is a lot easier for intermediates to use because it is head light.

The AT500 and the AT800 OF are favoured by stronger competitive players.

Of course, you always have a few advanced players who have a totally defensive game and have to have a head light racket, but not many. Just look at the what the pros use, almost all of them use head heavy rackets(some of the women doubles players use AT800 DE but I don't think the men do).

[fast3r]

Originally Posted by david14700

Have to disagree with the last post. The AT800 Defensive is a lot easier for intermediates to use because it is head light.

The AT500 and the AT800 OF are favoured by stronger competitive players.

Of course, you always have a few advanced players who have a totally defensive game and have to have a head light racket, but not many. Just look at the what the pros use, almost all of them use head heavy rackets(some of the women doubles players use AT800 DE but I don't think the men do).

I have to disagree.

The AT-800 OF and DE are in fact quite similar. Both are head heavy, stiff and of a similar construction and weight. The DE is slightly more flexible.

The AT-500 is technically a more defensive racquet than the 800 DE.

A few advanced players using a head light? Many players are using the Nanospeed series racquets from Yonex. Chen Hong uses NS8000, for example and he is regarded to be one of the most attacking players around. Nano speeds are head-light but very offensive racquets.

[Slammer]

Originally Posted by david14700

Have to disagree with the last post. The AT800 Defensive is a lot easier for intermediates to use because it is head light.

The AT500 and the AT800 OF are favoured by stronger competitive players.

Of course, you always have a few advanced players who have a totally defensive game and have to have a head light racket, but not many. Just look at the what the pros use, almost all of them use head heavy rackets(some of the women doubles players use AT800 DE but I don't think the men do).

well, it actually depends on your style. if a defensive racquet makes you better on the offense. then theres no doubt that you should take the AT800DE.

you cant just say that womans play with a defensive racquet and the men dont. the main difference between the racquets is just the one that suits you better, no matter how expensive or cheap...

i do agree that the DE is the best all round racquet, but legendarycroc:

simple suggestion: if you are an attacking player with advanced level, take the OF. intermediate with attacking style, take the DE. defensive player advanced, take the DE, defensive player intermediate, take the 500.

the price difference you probably know, the rest is up to you...