Speedstacks Gen 5 timer

[Tabe]

So... it's clunkier, and it has one countdown light instead of 2?
In all seriousness though the 4 pad thing is sort of cool.(Now we have to put our thumbs even closer to the reset!)

There's a 2-pad mode for cubing so you don't have to put your thumbs there.

 

[Mr. McCubing]

There's a 2-pad mode for cubing so you don't have to put your thumbs there.

Yeah, honestly though I could imagine some little kid at a comp switching it to four pad lol

 

[SH03L4C3]

Yeah, honestly though I could imagine some little kid at a comp switching it to four pad lol

My thumbs are naturally at the 4 pad spot anyway.

 

[Deleted member 55877]

Why should cubers buy a timer that has 4 pads if they're only ever going to use 2 of them?

 

[Mr. McCubing]

Why should cubers buy a timer that has 4 pads if they're only ever going to use 2 of them?

Good point. They should make a cubing timer and a stacking timer, not both in one.

 

[SH03L4C3]

Why should cubers buy a timer that has 4 pads if they're only ever going to use 2 of them?

There's a 2-pad mode for cubing so you don't have to put your thumbs there.

plus its cheaper to manufacture

 

[ImmolatedMarmoset]

If you listen to the most recent layer by layer podcast they talk about other reasons it’s important. Most importantly, you have to hold down the time off and reset buttons for a 1/2 second before it does those actions, making it much less prone to accidents. (and it may be less prone to static, etc.)

 

[SH03L4C3]

I agree. It might be great for Speecubing, but it messed up speedstacking. Plus, they now reset all speedstacking records!!

If you listen to the most recent layer by layer podcast they talk about other reasons it’s important. Most importantly, you have to hold down the time off and reset buttons for a 1/2 second before it does those actions, making it much less prone to accidents. (and it may be less prone to static, etc.)

 

[itscubingtime]

I got my timer around two weeks when it got released, and up until a week ago its been doing fine. but now for some reason the pads are acting up, like it'll randomly register after I've already started, or start while my hands are on it.

I couldn't find anyone else having this problem, so because my timer is literally patient zero here, I just figured to come out myself.

 

[DuckubingCuber347]

I think it's fine the Speedstacks released a new timer but what isn't fine is the price. A timer is not worth that price Speedstacks isn't gorgeously high quality, and they don't need to be because they basically have a monopoly. They can release a new timer make everybody use (In the case of the WSSA, luckily we don't have that yet in the WCA) and thus generating big bucks, the WSSA community doesn't really have a say in it. This also effects the cubing community because the previous timers were not perfect a number of reasons were listed in the Layer by Layer podcast, so the fact that we have a new timer with upgrades seems nice. And since comps have to use Speedstacks they're going to most likely start replacing them with the "newest and best" timer. Not every place can do this though. Take for example African comps, there's not very many cubers in Africa so why would you spend hundreds of dollars to replace functional timers?
It's a good marketing strategy but not a good support strategy. I no longer am a fan of Speedstacks because they have become exactly what Rubik's and V-cube were, Rubik's is now mostly ridiculed and V-cube is basically dead.