I think I'm going to pull the trigger on a Silent Partner Edge Lite.

[guitarplayer]

Sure has a lot of features for the price. In fact, I wish it was in my possession right now. I'd be smacking balls vs. posting here!

Thoughts?

[beernutz]

FWIW, I have an SP Star and I am really glad I spent the extra $100 for a remote, which is the only difference between the Star and the Lite. I've had mine since February 2010 and used it on average about an hour a week and it still runs great. I used it this morning in fact.

[guitarplayer]

Thanks for the input

[myusername]

Get the Star, Don't get the lite, unless you are too weak to lift 45 pounds. It's less battery life. I know you are thinking that 2 hours should be enough. But that might be an average battery life per session. Cranking up the MPHs and having the oscillator going my heavy duty battery doesn't last the 4- 6 as advertised. The 2 button remote is worth it. I bought 1.5 years ago and it seems prices have gone up a bit with the improving economy, but when I did my research silent partner had the most features for the least money. Treeton X Balls are the best practice balls all the others feel like you are hitting rocks.

Love my ball machine and I love my one handed back hand since I got my ball machine.

Tom

[dak95_00]

I was telling the OP that there was a guy selling a Lobster Elite 2 nearby for $800 w/ remote. What do you think? Buy new Star or get Lobster used? I'd bet he could negotiate up to $150 off of the price too.

[3fees]

I'd stay away from used tennis ball machines plus look at the service cost,,shipping,wheels,ect.

Cheers
3Fees

[myusername]

figure it costs $80 plus shipping for a battery

[Chas Tennis]

Originally Posted by myusername

figure it costs $80 plus shipping for a battery

The Lite battery is $30 and the larger battery is $85.

http://www.sptennis.com/ballmachines.asp#accessories

[Delano]

Originally Posted by myusername

Get the Star, Don't get the lite, unless you are too weak to lift 45 pounds. It's less battery life. I know you are thinking that 2 hours should be enough. But that might be an average battery life per session. Cranking up the MPHs and having the oscillator going my heavy duty battery doesn't last the 4- 6 as advertised. The 2 button remote is worth it. I bought 1.5 years ago and it seems prices have gone up a bit with the improving economy, but when I did my research silent partner had the most features for the least money. Treeton X Balls are the best practice balls all the others feel like you are hitting rocks.

Love my ball machine and I love my one handed back hand since I got my ball machine.

Tom

I have the lite. It's the cheapest thing available, and it's definitely a good machine. It will send you just as good a feed as anything out there. The difference between the SP lite and the more expensive machines is features (some of which I'll admit would be nice to have).

I actually consider the smaller battery to be an asset. I tend to use the machine on public courts, which means I have to haul it around a lot. You can buy replacement batteries for about $30, and only the smaller batteries can be replaced without opening up the machine. This means you can buy an extra battery or two and charge them up externally if you think you occasionally want more hitting time, but keep the machine light if you're only going for a short hit. This works for me, but wouldn't for everyone - if you usually need a longer battery life, though, you'll want the heavy duty version.

The remote would be nice, but the real feature that distinguishes the expensive ball machines from the sp lite is "vertical oscillation." With the sp lite, you tilt the machine to the angle you want, then set the spin and pace (which can be impressive with this machine). Beyond that, your options are "horizontal oscillation" (ie., the machine goes back and forth shooting balls to different sides of the court) or no oscillation (ie., the machine doesn't move and shoots to the same spot over and over). "Vertical oscillation" (which the sp lite doesn't have) means that the machine can feed short and long as well, as well as (for the high end machines) varying the spin. Obviously, this opens up more options for practice.

A machine with "vertical oscillation" and the ability to randomly change spin puts you into a completely different price range and will run you a couple of grand or more, from what I've seen. I'd like them, but it's a lot of dough. Even without it, my SP Lite has definitely helped my game, I'd recommend it if you're looking for a relatively inexpensive ball machine.

[beernutz]

Originally Posted by myusername

figure it costs $80 plus shipping for a battery

FYI, I replaced the SLA battery on my SP Star a couple of months ago for $52.80 including shipping and got a 22Ah instead of the 21Ah that came with the machine from Batterysharks.com. You have to also buy 2 NB to F2 Terminal Adapters, which I found for $.56 each with free shipping from Impact Batteries. YMMV. No affiliation disclaimer, yada, yada, yada.

Universal Power UB12220 (40696) Battery (Replacement) $40 + $12.80 S/H

The SP Lite uses a lower capacity battery than the Star which should be cheaper than that.

[gmatheis]

I had Star and it was definitely worth having the remote.

It was a great machine ... only reason I sold it was that I find myself playing 5+ days a week now so I had very little need for it and I needed 2 more rackets.

[Miles267]

Pulled trigger on the STAR. Arrives tomorrow. However been having second thoughts that I should've gotten the QUEST instead.

Like the idea of remote control height adjustment and random horizontal and vertical oscillation for drills. 6 hrs of battery life (STAR) is more than sufficient vs. the 8 hours (QUEST), but not sure this warrants +$550 as a personal ball machine. Though I have read that the circuit board and remote in the QUEST can be easily upgraded to the SMART for only ~$300 in future if desired.

Has anyone else considered these two models or made the upgrade from STAR to QUEST?