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[Konsta Mod] ShengShou 4x4 solution to internal lock-ups

windhero

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I don't think you realise just how cheap cubes are for people who have full time jobs and no kids.

$8 for a SS which is the best available choice! If a 4x4 comes out which is even arguably marginally better for less than $50 I, and many others, would happily spend the money on a puzzle which can give hundreds of hours of entertainment.

£12 to go to the cinema. £5 for popcorn and a drink. 2 hrs of entertainment for the best part of $30. Cubing is ridiculously cheap in comparison.

Some of us value our time more than you do apparently. If it was a 38 dollar cube and I could make mod the SS cube in less than 2-3 hours depending on what you get paid for work, I'd be making a rational choice from an economic point of view. Even if it's a 20 dollar cube it'd still be wise for most to mod a SS v5 themselves.

I agree with cube-o-holic.

60 minutes? In one go!? You'd be surprised how little free time some of us have...



Really bad excuse, anyone can spare 60 minutes seeing as the mod will last for the whole life of the cube. 60 minutes was my estimation of how long it would take at the most. I finished my last konsta mod in around 25-30mins. If you dont have 60 mins how on earth do you have time to cube? Who said you had to do it in one go. Also you are acting as if all cubers are fathers/mothers of 5. Most are barely 20 years old and do have the time. All this was assumed in my first post. I still believe Shengshou will hold the place as the most preferred 4x4 unless this is as good and as cheap. No matter how you put it you are not making the best rational choice if you are paying more for a cube that is not worth the increase in price.

Nevertheless I'm excited to see how this cube will turn out; The X-cube is not used by any really fast people out there and I dont think price really matters to people in that extreme category. If the mech was the best I suppose some would use it. We'll see if this is a game changer. Sub 30 times have been achieved with unmodded SS 4x4s so I dont really see this cubing revolutionizing the market.
 
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sneaklyfox

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Some of us value our time more than you do apparently. If it was a 38 dollar cube and I could make mod the SS cube in less than 2-3 hours depending on what you get paid for work, I'd be making a rational choice from an economic point of view. Even if it's a 20 dollar cube it'd still be wise for most to mod a SS v5 themselves.

Really bad excuse, anyone can spare 60 minutes seeing as the mod will last for the whole life of the cube. 60 minutes was my estimation of how long it would take at the most. I finished my last konsta mod in around 25-30mins. If you dont have 60 mins how on earth do you have time to cube? Who said you had to do it in one go. Also you are acting as if all cubers are fathers/mothers of 5. Most are barely 20 years old and do have the time. All this was assumed in my first post. I still believe Shengshou will hold the place as the most preferred 4x4 unless this is as good and as cheap. No matter how you put it you are not making the best rational choice if you are paying more for a cube that is not worth the increase in price.

Is this a vague reference to someone here? Cuz yeah, I only managed about 50 3x3 solves in the last 4 days (which is like nothing to me). Sunday night I managed about 2 mins of sleep in a bed. Babies were going through a growth spurt arghhh!!
 

windhero

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Is this a vague reference to someone here? Cuz yeah, I only managed about 50 3x3 solves in the last 4 days (which is like nothing to me). Sunday night I managed about 2 mins of sleep in a bed. Babies were going through a growth spurt arghhh!!

No particular reason to why I used that number in particular, maybe popped to my mind subconsciously because I've seen your sig on the forums so many times :D

From what I understand ShengShou is a very typical chinese company, which means a lot of production for cheap but no real room for innovation. I suppose the manufacturing process is harder with rounder pieces or something. I asked Calvin at hknowstore if he could contact SS to ask if they could sell DIY kits instead of assembled cubes (screws are soft, would make lubricating the core much easier even if it's just once) and he replied something much like what I stated; apparently there is no easy way to get them convinced to change anything in their business. MoYu on the other hand seems very flexible. After asking Calvin if he could suggest that WeiLongs were made in primary colour plastic my wish was fulfilled in like a week or two.
 

rj

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No particular reason to why I used that number in particular, maybe popped to my mind subconsciously because I've seen your sig on the forums so many times :D

From what I understand ShengShou is a very typical chinese company, which means a lot of production for cheap but no real room for innovation. I suppose the manufacturing process is harder with rounder pieces or something. I asked Calvin at hknowstore if he could contact SS to ask if they could sell DIY kits instead of assembled cubes (screws are soft, would make lubricating the core much easier even if it's just once) and he replied something much like what I stated; apparently there is no easy way to get them convinced to change anything in their business. MoYu on the other hand seems very flexible. After asking Calvin if he could suggest that WeiLongs were made in primary colour plastic my wish was fulfilled in like a week or two.

Well, YJ is a big company. SS is not. YJ isn't specalized. SS is.
 

windhero

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Well, YJ is a big company. SS is not. YJ isn't specalized. SS is.

On what knowledge do you base this claim? Also smaller companies are more likely to make custom orders/listen customers, because they have to grow. Big companies have no such problems. Especially in the molding plastic business where they make a big profit anyhow.
 

rj

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stoic

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Really bad excuse, anyone can spare 60 minutes
Like I say, you'd be surprised. 60-120 minutes is probably the amount of time I legitimately cube in a week. (I generally only browse the forums while I'm eating.) Out of that time, I'd rather be cubing than modding. I recently changed my sig to Ao50 as the last time I had the time to do an Ao100 in one go was last October.

Also you are acting as if all cubers are fathers/mothers of 5. Most are barely 20 years old and do have the time. All this was assumed in my first post.
No, I'm just relating my own experience. It was you that said:
Konstamod can be done with a single nail file easily in under 60 minutes. So yeah, I'd say everyone can mod cubes and make them better.
 
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On what knowledge do you base this claim? Also smaller companies are more likely to make custom orders/listen customers, because they have to grow. Big companies have no such problems. Especially in the molding plastic business where they make a big profit anyhow.

Well Yj makes many cubes 3 or 4 different types 2x2-7x7 also makes a pillowed 9x9 and many other non-WCA puzzles. SS Mainly makes WCA puzzles and one type at a time.
 

~Adam~

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If it was a 38 dollar cube and I could make mod the SS cube in less than 2-3 hours depending on what you get paid for work.

£6.31 is minimum wage in the UK for someone 21+.
3 hrs modding is ~$30 at that rate, over 3 times more than the cube costs.
I have a painstakingly modded SS4 v3 and it's just not that great.
I believe the person who made it said they spent >10hrs on it to make it perfect.

I know a lot of people want a great (not just passable) 4x4 straight out of the box and are willing to pay more than $8 for one.

Some of us value our time more than you do apparently.

???

Really? How did you get that from what I said?

I have bought 2 SS 5x5s from Florian because I value my spare time highly,
 
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windhero

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£6.31 is minimum wage in the UK for someone 21+.
3 hrs modding is ~$30 at that rate, over 3 times more than the cube costs.
I have a painstakingly modded SS4 v3 and it's just not that great.
I believe the person who made it said they spent >10hrs on it to make it perfect.

I know a lot of people want a great (not just passable) 4x4 straight out of the box and are willing to pay more than $8 for one.



???

Really? How did you get that from what I said?

I have bought 2 SS 5x5s from Florian because I value my spare time highly,

Time = money, you'd rather waste money than save it by paying too high of a price. If the puzzle is 8 dollars and it takes 30 minutes to mod the total cost is 18 dollars with an hourly wage of 20 dollars an hour. If you are willing to pay more than that you are essentially wasting money.

Also the V5 does not need a florian mod to be great, it needs a konsta mod which takes 20-30mins to do.
 

KongShou

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Time = money, you'd rather waste money than save it by paying too high of a price. If the puzzle is 8 dollars and it takes 30 minutes to mod the total cost is 18 dollars with an hourly wage of 20 dollars an hour. If you are willing to pay more than that you are essentially wasting money.

Also the V5 does not need a florian mod to be great, it needs a konsta mod which takes 20-30mins to do.

i dont see what your point is

everyone should mod their puzzles instead of buying new ones?
 

~Adam~

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Time = money, you'd rather waste money than spend it by overpaying. Also the V5 does not need a florian mod to be great, it needs a konsta mod which takes 20-30mins to do.

Cubing is cheap! It might be 'wasting' money but it's not very much money.
You spend hours modding cubes, I pay other people to do it because they charge less per hour than what I get paid at work.

If you read the words I wrote I bought 2 5x5s from Florian.
You can't Konsta mod a 5x5 and the SS4 v5 doesn't respond well to Konsta mod so I have no idea what you're talking about.
 

windhero

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i dont see what your point is

everyone should mod their puzzles instead of buying new ones?

You should read back to my first comment and cube-o-holics reaction instead of making assumptions based on the last page of the discussion.

Cubing is cheap! It might be 'wasting' money but it's not very much money.
You spend hours modding cubes, I pay other people to do it because they charge less per hour than what I get paid at work.

If you read the words I wrote I bought 2 5x5s from Florian.
You can't Konsta mod a 5x5 and the SS4 v5 doesn't respond well to Konsta mod so I have no idea what you're talking about.
This thread is about the new 4x4, which I have compared to a SS 4x4 logically. No one has been talking about the 5x5 except for you. And yes, the SS 4x4 v5 responds well to a konstamod. How do I know? Because I've tried the cube without a mod and with the mod and modded it myself. Which took 30 minutes. Not hours. This is why I said the 4x4 does not need the Florian mod, because Florian mod is the mod that can take hours to make where as the konsta mod is a very minor and short mod that improves the puzzle a lot.

Cubing is cheap was never the point. What is cheap to you is not cheap to everyone. This statement also does not imply that I personally cannot pay for puzzles; I just happen to have noticed that many people on these forums are in their teens and probably do not have the funds to buy any puzzle whether its 10 or 30 bucks. This is where I found my belief. This is why I assume 30mins of work with a nail file on a 8 dollar cube might be the more attractive option compared to a potentially expensive puzzle. But as said in the very first post, we'll see what the price is.

As I stated in the very beginning, I believe that price has a major role to play on how popular this cube will be.
 
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rj

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You should read back to my first comment and cube-o-holics reaction instead of making assumptions based on the last page of the discussion.


This thread is about the new 4x4, which I have compared to a SS 4x4 logically. No one has been talking about the 5x5 except for you. And yes, the SS 4x4 v5 responds well to a konstamod. How do I know? Because I've tried the cube without a mod and with the mod and modded it myself. Which took 30 minutes. Not hours. This is why I said the 4x4 does not need the Florian mod, because Florian mod is the mod that can take hours to make where as the konsta mod is a very minor and short mod that improves the puzzle a lot.

Cubing is cheap was never the point. What is cheap to you is not cheap to everyone. This statement also does not imply that I personally cannot pay for puzzles; I just happen to have noticed that many people on these forums are in their teens and probably do not have the funds to buy any puzzle whether its 10 or 30 bucks. This is where I found my belief. This is why I assume 30mins of work with a nail file on a 8 dollar cube might be the more attractive option compared to a potentially expensive puzzle. But as said in the very first post, we'll see what the price is.

As I stated in the very beginning, I believe that price has a major role to play on how popular this cube will be.

If it is good, I will get it if it's <$20. I'm not rich. I'm 12. I don't have a job. I do odd jobs for people. Teens should get jobs.
 

~Adam~

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Also the V5 does not need a florian mod to be great, it needs a konsta mod which takes 20-30mins to do.

The SS4 v5 comes Konsta 'modded'.

You blame the off topic discussion on me but it occurred because of this post.

Now everything is about the price. If it's much more expensive than a SS v5, I dont see a market for this. Looks interesting though!

Which is ridiculous!
 
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KongShou

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You should read back to my first comment and cube-o-holics reaction instead of making assumptions based on the last page of the discussion.


This thread is about the new 4x4, which I have compared to a SS 4x4 logically. No one has been talking about the 5x5 except for you. And yes, the SS 4x4 v5 responds well to a konstamod. How do I know? Because I've tried the cube without a mod and with the mod and modded it myself. Which took 30 minutes. Not hours. This is why I said the 4x4 does not need the Florian mod, because Florian mod is the mod that can take hours to make where as the konsta mod is a very minor and short mod that improves the puzzle a lot.

Cubing is cheap was never the point. What is cheap to you is not cheap to everyone. This statement also does not imply that I personally cannot pay for puzzles; I just happen to have noticed that many people on these forums are in their teens and probably do not have the funds to buy any puzzle whether its 10 or 30 bucks. This is where I found my belief. This is why I assume 30mins of work with a nail file on a 8 dollar cube might be the more attractive option compared to a potentially expensive puzzle. But as said in the very first post, we'll see what the price is.

As I stated in the very beginning, I believe that price has a major role to play on how popular this cube will be.

tbh 30 dollars is not much at all

i paid 45 quid for GTA 5 and i didnt think that was much

also so did all my friends and they are all in their teens . 30 bucks which i assume to be around 20 pounds ish is not that expensive to the point where people will not buy it cos its expensive
 

windhero

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The SS4 v5 comes Konsta 'modded'.

Have you guys even tried a straight out of the box v5 and a konstamodded one? Yes, the internals are not improved but they are not konstamodded. The cube still needs a minor konstamod to prevent inner lock ups. I know because I have actually tried this out and I have tested it. I've tried the cube out of the box, modded it and tried it again. I also have an out of the box V5 and a konstamodded one right in front of me and its very clear based on performance alone which is which.

The point was never what is expensive as I've said now several times. It is about being rational and not overpaying. Rational choice theory, google it if you dont subconsciously understand it.

Here I am arguing about the difference of modded and unmodded cubes with people that based on their replies have never modded anything. Funny how it ended like this.
 
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~Adam~

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My SS4 v5 didn't have any internal lock ups straight out of the box.
SS modified their design to make the Konsta mod unnecessary.
I've heard that Konsta modding them despite not needing to can result in major problems with the cube.
If you are just tickling the cube with a nail file you probably aren't doing anything that a couple of hundred solves wouldn't.
 

rj

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Have you guys even tried a straight out of the box v5 and a konstamodded one? Yes, the internals are not improved but they are not konstamodded. The cube still needs a minor konstamod to prevent inner lock ups. I know because I have actually tried this out and I have tested it. I've tried the cube out of the box, modded it and tried it again. I also have an out of the box V5 and a konstamodded one right in front of me and its very clear based on performance alone which is which.

That's your opinion, not a fact. Breaking in has the same effect.
 
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