Hello everybody, I'm just new here. I used to do a lot of Lego Technic a long time ago, and now, due to Corona-unemployement, I'm planning on piccking things back up.

I am quite interested in the whole RC, power functions,... thing, as I never used those earlier. I want to experiment a bit with motors, controls,... I would prefer a non-IR interface, so I found a lot of reviews about the BuWizz 2.0. However, due to the price, I'm a bit hesitant. Also, since there seems to be a bit of chatter about a possible 3.0 version, I would maybe wait for that to arrive? Anybody knows when that is planned to come out?

My prefered type of vehicle is a buggy or similar off-roader. (that's why I don't like IR interface)

Any tips you guys can give me?

You seem to be in a similar boat to me a month or two ago.

I bought a MOC kit of didumos's greyhound on Amazon and bought didumos's instructions on rebrickable. Important to note, if you have to buy offbrand bricks, it's good to go get the original instructions otherwise what incentive does the designer have to design and share more builds in future?

The kit came with a Bluetooth battery box and a ton of motors. While the battery box is better than Lego's options (rechargable, Bluetooth), it only does on/off rather than proportional steering and acceleration and only gives 7.4v where buwizz can give 11.1v.

So I bought a pair of buwizz blocks... They're in that model for now and it's much better for it, but they are also easily transferable into any model. And if I get bored of Lego they'll be worth good money still.

The problem then was that Chinese motors aren't as efficient as Lego motors and the servos can only do digital steering. So I have ordered a full suit of those too. Four L's and a servo.

If I were starting again from scratch on a limited budget I'd still buy a moc kit from Amazon, but without the motors. Or find an interesting MOC which motorised an existing Lego kit and get yourself that. Then add a buwizz or two and original Lego motors.

Even so, I now have a full suite of Chinese pf stuff that cost me not much which is free to put in other models or MOCs at least as placeholders.

Why not get yourself 42099 from Lego? There are some deals to be had on it. Then you can build the excellent Rocky model from didumos.

 

Once you go buwizz, you never go back.. Trust me. Buwizz is amazing. Great battery life. Great power. Simple to use and doesn't take much space!

2 hours ago, Mechbuilds said:

Once you go buwizz, you never go back.. Trust me. Buwizz is amazing. Great battery life. Great power. Simple to use and doesn't take much space!

But what will happen when PF motors are not available any more?

Looks like Lego has stopped manufacturing them! 

My personal backlog is limited and I'm not going to dismantle my MOCs.

Edited April 14, 20204 yr by Parazels

I think it'll be a while until there's none left on bricklink. Even when that happens it'll be a very long time before China stops making PF motors. The drive motors are OK-ish, even if the 3 position servo motors are junk. But in that case you could get a replica to put into official Lego models and it'll be just fine with a 3 position IR remote, giving you back official servos to use with buwizz enabled MOCs.

2 hours ago, Parazels said:

But what will happen when PF motors are not available any more?

Looks like Lego has stopped manufacturing them! 

My personal backlog is limited and I'm not going to dismantle my MOCs.

Will Buwizz not make a new unit that will be compatible  with the new motors?

13 hours ago, amorti said:

Why not get yourself 42099 from Lego? There are some deals to be had on it. Then you can build the excellent Rocky model from didumos.

 

That is a good idea, I'll look into buying this set. It costs 229€ I saw, maybe if I can find a second hand set, I'll be able to get a Buwizz as well.

You can usually get current or recent sets cheaper.

https://www.brickwatch.net/en-GB/set/42099/4X4-X-treme-Off-Roader.html

2 hours ago, Parazels said:

But what will happen when PF motors are not available any more?

Looks like Lego has stopped manufacturing them! 

My personal backlog is limited and I'm not going to dismantle my MOCs.

There is still a mass of PF motors being around.. But i'm sure somebody will figure out an adapter that lets you hook up powered up motors into buwizz. Also buwizz can be updated via micro usb cable so i'm sure the buwizz team is already working on it. 

On 4/14/2020 at 2:55 PM, Jimrask said:

Will Buwizz not make a new unit that will be compatible  with the new motors?

That is a good idea, I'll look into buying this set. It costs 229€ I saw, maybe if I can find a second hand set, I'll be able to get a Buwizz as well.

As of now, BuWizz only work with the PF system. 42099 uses the new Control + motors. I have 2 BuWizz, it makes even the M-motors models (like 42065) much more enjoyable, especially outside. I am working on a larger model now using 3 Control + motors and 3 PF's, BuWizz allows me to control them all from the app also.
If you can afford it, it's worth it.

 

Bought two M-motors today. I'm developing a very special RC model (like all my MOCs) and the PF system is still the best!

Buwizz would be worse in my case. 

Beste ik zou graag een buwizz accu willen aanschaffen, mag de 2.0 zijn , wie heeft hem in de verkoop ik zou hem graag voor een leuke prijs willen kopen.

Alvast bedankt.

11 hours ago, Marcooo said:

Beste ik zou graag een buwizz accu willen aanschaffen, mag de 2.0 zijn , wie heeft hem in de verkoop ik zou hem graag voor een leuke prijs willen kopen.

Alvast bedankt.

Welcome to Eurobricks, please could you translate this message in english and use english for all of your future messages in an effort to promote mutual understanding.

Thank you.

On 4/14/2020 at 1:55 PM, Jimrask said:

Will Buwizz not make a new unit that will be compatible  with the new motors?

They already did... https://buwizz.com/de/shop/buwizz-3-0-pro/

Really expensive, but so useful! The app is self-explanatory and waaay better than the Lego Control+ app imho.