Hmmm, having #1 or your specs's. Maybe someone may be lucky to get both. Wonder who was the first to pay for his rackets upfront That would seem the fairest way to do it.
Forget #1 - I want one that says "DEMO". Or one with no paint on... oh, wait, I've already ordered a racket with no paint on.
I have a good numbers of T2 V3s in available for everyone in BC on BF And I am starting to take pre-order for Panda Power Precision! If anyone is interested please e-mail me at takamsda@gmail.com
Ok I don’t know if this review comes a little late and therefore will bore you folks here who seem to already have a lot of talk about these Panda rackets even the future ones. I’m simply throwing in a “brief” review… T2 Specs: Weight: 83.0 g BP: 292 Grip Size: G6 (smaller than G5 I mean—which is GREAT! Thinking about sanding down all my other rackets to this size) Grip: RKEP’s “Ultimate” replacement grip (thin and nice!) String: Zymax62 at 25lb (= BG65 at 28lb according to Dink, I just broke it with a mishit last week after a month use)/BG66 at 26lb (current string) Before T2: I had used (and sold) Yonex Carbonex 20, Woven7, Goosen Aermet6900 and currently I have Tantrum 200, Nano Fusion 608 Pro, Z-Slash and a 27 year old Victor Columbia (No number after it, it’s 1st generation all graphite) in the bag as my main rackets among my other rackets. My go to racket was Tantrum 200, favorite racket was z-slash (the reason they aren’t the same racket being z-slash is yet to be bridled--especially with a “hard-feeling” string like BG85 on it now, it feels even harder to tame it ). After T2: Go to racket is T2, favorite racket is T2 (sorry z-slash)!!! First Impression: When excitement and high expectation I had Dink hand me the T2 I’ve been waiting for. I’m not big on graphics so I didn’t pay much attention to the looks at the beginning, but I love its name—Trinity! It felt so light when I was slightly wrist swinging it, yet after a few overhead swishes I sensed T2 is a light yet head heavy, very solidly built racket with a stiff shaft. I told Dink it felt very nice--let’s hit a few birdies. Started off with lobbing shots baseline to baseline, I was standing there without my feet moving at all --a simple overhead wrist swing would get the birdie straight to the other side. Sweet. When playing drives it feels very responsive, and clear shots are effortless (except when trying/failing to lift Dink’s 60% power smashes up high, too heavy, can’t blame the racket, Sir Dink’s out of my league ). Then a few warm up smashes, oh my, smooth and powerful. Already I got the feeling that this T2 is probably money well spent. (to be continued...)
Game Time: It’s the lightest racket I’ve ever played, yet who knows, it is extremely powerful ! Along with the unique “squealing” sound and excellent “gripping” of zm62, it seems to be as powerful if not more than my “narrow-sweet-spotted” z-slash with BG66 at 24lb, yet much more forgiving—it’s especially easy to bomb the birdie “straight down” to the ground. 8 out of 10 smashes in the game go down like a shell compared to z-slash’s 6 out of 10 or less. Since last week I put BG66 on it, the smash is still as powerful yet with a louder, more “intimidating” sound (I prefer BG66’s crisp “ding” and smashing “bang” sound to zm62’s). Almost every time I smashed I got people look over to our court—didn’t mean to draw attention, people simply couldn’t help looking over at T2’s “Bang! Bang!” T2’s beastly power being generated with ease makes me feel for the first time the racket is becoming the extension of my arm! It’s the dream of all racket-sport players. In lifting smashes and flat drives, it feels much like z-slash--very easy to maneuver and quick and responsive for the next shot. So I pose a great threat to my opponent when I stand in front, it gives me confidence just like z-lash in counter attack, though for some reason z-lash is probably slightly better. Yet drop shots from baseline are accurate and solid, not like z-slash’s infamous hard-to-master-drop-shop-timing feel. I’m very happy about T2’s heavy power coming with such excellent defense since it’s always a turn-off to find a good attacking racket to be a “dud” in defense, like Woven 7. For me it’s always a deal breaker. Conclusion: “GET ONE.”---It’s definitely a top-of-the-line racket that can compete with well-known brands such as Yonex’s fancy&pricey state-of-the-art rackets. Dink would (or already has in this thread) tell you T2’s state-of-the-art too. An absolute keeper. Power: 9.9/10 (z-slash: 9.85; nano fusion: 9.65; tantrum: 9.7; Woven7: 9.65) Control: 9.8/10 (z-slash: 9:7; nano fusion: 9.75; tantrum: 9.8; Woven7: 9.5) Defense: 9.85/10 (z-slash: 9.9; Nano fusion: 9.7; Tantrum: 9.8; Woven7: 9.4) Paint durability: the only slight complaint I have is its paint, it’s got 2 minor chips already--maybe it’s the concrete floor I accidentally hit it on to blame (here in Texas it’s hard to find PVC court, got to take whatever you have, it’s not California), but my apacs rackets survived hitting on concrete, wood and PVC court floor for over a year and only got s few minor scratches, maybe apacs paint job is too excellent and T2 is normal?
Well, just to be fair to T2, I examined my z slash, tantrum 200 and nano 608, they actually ALL got paint chips here and there :crying:, they are just hid/blended very well with the paint to deceive me !!! To bad my z slash can't hide it very well since it's Bright Yellow. Sorry folks. Jury please disregard the last remark on the paint made by overcomer2037 .
^^^ does not really matter about the paint -job, I think someone already mention that it needed another coating anyway and Dink is working on it. I have not try the T2 yest but from what I heard it is a brilliant racket all round. Although I doubt it would make me a ''Fu Haifeng'' at the back of the court if I switch from AT900P.
Switching from AT900P to T2 might not turn you into Fu Haifeng, but with its faster swing, it may turn you into Cai Yun at the forecourt!
Well, it could be considered a money back guarantee... if you don't like it, you can still sell it "lightly used" for 85% of original price and think of the 15% loss as a stocking fee and a trial fee. (Hehe, I make a good Panda salesman! )
Panda is sure Visor and most of the others know this but will reiterate: a racket only supplements the player, it does not make the player. Unless you are at that level already, no racket, can make you play like a pro. Overcomer: thanks for the detailed review and happy dinking!
Of course, Sir Dink! We were joking around, kinda, and are aware that it is just but a mere instrument... but this beautifully designed instrument can sure release the hidden potential from the player if the specs match the play style. Kinda like the violin analogy: give a Stradivarius to me and I'll make screeching noises, but give it to Itzhak Perlman and heavenly music will flow from his hands.
True, but only a few in this world can truly hear the difference. And even if you can, is it worth it? It's all relative.
Initially I was confused by you response, but now I see that I should not have confused the analogy with cost value of the Strad. What I meant is that a beautifully designed violin (irregardless of cost) is useless in my hands vs. in Perlman's hands. Anyways, I know Panda is humble... I'm not praising you per se, but the beautiful design of the instrument in question, ie. Trinity 2. It has allowed some of us to play with more speed and power than we thought we had before.
Yes Panda understands. Further clarification; what Panda was referring to is: all other things equal, who could tell the difference if Perlman were playing the same arrangement back-to-back, once with the Stradivarius and once with a typical violin? And if you could tell, it's not that significant, relatively speaking. And for non-violin aficionados, we definitely could not tell. Update: just received word the production of the PRECISION is moving along as planned.
Hmmm, OK, analogy not going the way I intended to show my point. The voicing from a Strad in an expert's hands would be more exquisite, at least to those with musician's ears, relative to a cheap violin. Kinda like the difference between Cyndi Lauper's voice vs. Mariah Carey's voice, no offence to fans of Lauper. (OK, maybe I'll change topic back to badminton rackets, which is what Panda is good at and leave music to me instead.) Precision: great! When are you expecting them to arrive to our shores?
