Edit: added video
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q2AlS7-oQm0
OK. First impressions. NICE.
Except for the obvious painted plastic parts, very similar to the Star Trek Experience (Vegas) communicator. Lighter in weight.
The flipgrid IS metal. Painted a dark gold/bronze. The gridwheels and wires are narrower than on the MR and Vegas.
The moire IS motorized. Very dark though, hard to see. A little darker than the Vegas. Taking the comm apart reveals that the 2-part moire is printed very poorly, and the thin lines disappear entirely towards the center. This is why the pattern appears so vague.
The motor is louder than the Vegas, and "grinds".
The motor and lights go off after three minutes of having the comm open, to save battery power. The comm will "wake up" if you press either of the buttons.
All three comms share the same overall size, though the AA/DST gives the impression of being narrower in the face-on view. There is no separate midplate part; the midplate is molded into the front shell and painted silver.
There is NO call button on the back! Instead there is a "hailing function". You press the left control button, and the center red light starts flashing rapidly. If you flip the comm closed while in this mode, it will make the "boop boop!" hailing sound, and when you flip it open, Spock's voice says "Captain, should I beam down an armed party?"
If you press the left button a second time to turn off hailing function, the red light goes out and there will be no further effects after the comm is closed.
The right button randomly plays one of the other voice phrases (the box says "20 in all from Kirk, Spock, McCoy, Scotty and Uhura", but I don't hear any McCoy clips, and there aren't anywhere near 20 sounds in this thing... more research is needed.).
Press and hold the button to get all the phrases one after another.
The leftside yellow light blinks occasionally but I think this is just random. The blue light on the right stays lit constantly while the comm is open. It flashes when voice clips are played.
One gotcha with the lights, is that the entire light, including the "jewel" and the "bezel", is made from one piece of colored plastic. So when it lights up, the entire thing including bezel lights up in the color (shining thru the silver paint on the bezel).
The flipgrid as I say is metal, but the radius of the corners is too wide, giving the grid an overall too rounded look. The profile shape is not correct either, the angles are wrong. The gridwheels have a funky little "step" in them, to limit their travel when the lid is flipped back.
There is (amusingly) a large "do not throw in trash" icon stamped into the back shell. I suppose the comm is recyclable! :lol
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q2AlS7-oQm0
OK. First impressions. NICE.
Except for the obvious painted plastic parts, very similar to the Star Trek Experience (Vegas) communicator. Lighter in weight.
The flipgrid IS metal. Painted a dark gold/bronze. The gridwheels and wires are narrower than on the MR and Vegas.
The moire IS motorized. Very dark though, hard to see. A little darker than the Vegas. Taking the comm apart reveals that the 2-part moire is printed very poorly, and the thin lines disappear entirely towards the center. This is why the pattern appears so vague.
The motor is louder than the Vegas, and "grinds".
The motor and lights go off after three minutes of having the comm open, to save battery power. The comm will "wake up" if you press either of the buttons.
All three comms share the same overall size, though the AA/DST gives the impression of being narrower in the face-on view. There is no separate midplate part; the midplate is molded into the front shell and painted silver.
There is NO call button on the back! Instead there is a "hailing function". You press the left control button, and the center red light starts flashing rapidly. If you flip the comm closed while in this mode, it will make the "boop boop!" hailing sound, and when you flip it open, Spock's voice says "Captain, should I beam down an armed party?"
If you press the left button a second time to turn off hailing function, the red light goes out and there will be no further effects after the comm is closed.
The right button randomly plays one of the other voice phrases (the box says "20 in all from Kirk, Spock, McCoy, Scotty and Uhura", but I don't hear any McCoy clips, and there aren't anywhere near 20 sounds in this thing... more research is needed.).
Press and hold the button to get all the phrases one after another.
The leftside yellow light blinks occasionally but I think this is just random. The blue light on the right stays lit constantly while the comm is open. It flashes when voice clips are played.
One gotcha with the lights, is that the entire light, including the "jewel" and the "bezel", is made from one piece of colored plastic. So when it lights up, the entire thing including bezel lights up in the color (shining thru the silver paint on the bezel).
The flipgrid as I say is metal, but the radius of the corners is too wide, giving the grid an overall too rounded look. The profile shape is not correct either, the angles are wrong. The gridwheels have a funky little "step" in them, to limit their travel when the lid is flipped back.
There is (amusingly) a large "do not throw in trash" icon stamped into the back shell. I suppose the comm is recyclable! :lol
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