"The latest incarnation of the most popular tournament marker in the world" - Planet Eclipse
It's hard to believe that Planet Eclipse already released their 5th generation paintball gun, the Ego 9. In 2004, the first Eclipse Ego debuted and captured the attention of most professional players and high-end gun users. Planet Eclipse built a gun around weight, air efficiency, size, ergonomics, and accuracy. Over the last 4 years, Planet Eclipse has been making some very aggressive moves in the high-end paintball gun market. The Ego came in and swept away "old technology" in paintball.
Right now the leading manufacturers in the high-end gun market are Dye/Proto (DM9/PM8), Smart Parts (Shocker), and Planet Eclipse (Ego). Say goodbye to WDP (Angels) and WGP (Autocockers), they will soon become antiques. The Eclipse Ego can be partially blamed for this but good riddance. Planet Eclipse has been building their guns around the same solid foundations of reliability, performance, light-weight'ness and simplicity. You can expect the same features, and more, with the new Ego 9.
MSRP: $1499.99 ($1,250.00)
Read the rest of this entry » Posted in Guns | 6 Comments »
The Eclipse Ego has always been built around the solid foundations of Reliability, Performance, Light-Weight and Simplicity. And the Ego9 is no exception. It is obvious from the outset that the ground-up re-working of the Ego9 was undertaken with the sole purpose of improving on every one of those key aspects. In fact, performance in almost every area has been increased substantially over the previous generation of Ego.
The major difference with the new Ego 9 compared to its predecessors is that it no longer uses QEVs (Quick Exhaust Valve). Instead, PE integrated a brand-new "bespoke solenoid valve" which is mounted and ported directly into the rammer chamber. You still receive the same cyclic speed and performance you would have when using QEVs, but this ground-up solenoid design gives the Ego 9 "absolute maximum performance" in terms of response time and flow rate for your gun. So instead of having to run a hose from the QEV to the solenoid valve, you just have one hose that runs from the LPR down to the new solenoid valve. This new design by PE improves over air efficiency and response time, as well as physically optimizing the gun. Simplicity and efficiency rule the game.
Ego 9 Specifications
# Poppet Valve Design
# Off-Set Lower Bores (Reduces off-axis forces)
# Low Pressure operation (160psi @ 290fps)
# Air Efficient 1700+ Shots (from 68/45)
# Ultra High Performance Solenoid Valve
# Direct Porting System for Solenoid Inlet and Exhaust Pathways
# 2.5 x Larger Air Flow from LPR to Solenoid
# Zick Rammer Assembly
# 30% Increase in Valve Chamber Volume
# Cure2 Bolt
# Integrated LPR Assembly
# Eclipse Family Features
# BBBSS (Break Beam Sensor System)
# Black-On-White Transflective LCD Module
# Def-Tek Offset Feed
# C-Lever Clamping Feedneck
# Dual Selectable Trigger Switching (Opto and Micro Switches)
# Dual Trigger Return Mechanisms (Spring and Magnetic Return)
# Integrated Audible Beeper for Alarms and Actuation
# Capped and Uncapped Ramp Modes
# All Major Tournament Presets
# 9 Preset Debounce Modes
# 5-Point Adjustable Trigger
# T-Rail Mounting System
# OOPS (On/Off/Purge) ASA System
# S3 Self-Purging In-Line Regulator
# 14” Shaft3 2-Piece 0.693” Barrel
$1500.00, Buy now
You can almost see the brilliance coming from the DLX Luxe, Smart Parts newly manufactured high end paintball gun. The DLX Luxe (pronounced "Lukes") has already debuted at the NPPL Huntington Beach event in March, catching the attention of most of the paintball industry. Other than its shilling beauty, the Luxe is loaded with all of today's fancy technology, putting it ABOVE the "high-end" gun class and into its own luxury brand. Sure there might be a lot of "hype" built around this gun right now, but you must admit that it's p.i.m.p. The Luxe was designed to perform for tournament play, keeping in mind every player's need for general maintenance, cleaning, and configuration while under little to no time.
How much?
$1500.
Under the leadership of the DLX Technology group (owned by Smart Parts), the combined efforts of designers, pneumatic, mechanical, manufacturing and software engineers, multimedia developers, linguistic specialists, professional paintball players and leading paintball field and store operators have culminated in the development of the ultimate luxury paintball marker – a synchronization of style, raw performance and unparalleled customer support.
DLX Luxe features:
- Audible voice is used to denote marker status, adjustment mode, etc
- Tool-less field strip for the firing assembly and eye/detent covers.
- Optional grip-routed air supply through the frame (LE only) using the special Luxe foregrip regulator, no macroline.
- Compatible with a standard vertical regulator and screw-in ASA combo if needed (uses macroline).
- Beam-break anti-chop eyes.
- Integrated piston detents.
- Cam-lock feedneck.
- Five available languages (English, French, German, Russian, and Spanish).
- Multiple adjustment settings, and a variety of base firing modes (semi, PSP, NXL, fullyauto, etcetc).
- Rechargeable Lithium-polymer power source, yields approximately 25,000 shots per full charge.
- Battery charger and one spare battery included.
- Smart Parts barrel thread (fits Ion/XE/SP1/SP8/Vibe, Nerve, Shocker NXT, Impulse).
- Freak barrel included.
- Fully adjustable trigger (post travel, pre travel, firing point, retention weight)
- Indirect-acting solenoid (Parker model, low power use, easy serviceability).
- Weight is 27.3 ounces, or 774 grams.
- Carrying case and spares kit included.
DLX Luxe Website: LuxePaintball.com
Season 2 of Xtreme Paintball airs today at 4:30 on Fox Sports Network (FSN). Check your local TV listings for time changes since it varies based on your location. Xtreme Paintball is one of the very first television shows ever made centering entirely around the sport. Not only that, but the show gets a bit more "personal" with the players through interviews, stories, and other experiences. It's not 100% tournament play - you get some drama along with the action
Check it out.
In just under 24 hours the Bolingbrook Aquatic Center will be swarming with paintball enthusiasts and sounds of buzzers and flying paintballs. The 2008 Chicago Open is a national paintball tournament hosted by the PSP, and will take place June 25th-29th. Last year the Chicago PSP event consisted of over 2,400 players in the tournament, and this year is expected to be even bigger. The Chicago PSP event has historically been considered one of the bigger tournaments of the year, so you should expect to see some real competition on the field. Dynasty, Ironmen, X-Factor, Red Legion, and all the other big team names will be playing at the event among the rest of the lower divisions.
The Chicago event is ironically located in Bolingbrook, IL, a close suburb of Chicago. Its location is perfect for anybody of any age to come and watch the games for FREE. Personally, I was first introduced to the sport of paintball by simply watching the tournaments at events like these. It's truly something you need to experience in the first person, especially while it's summer.
For the people curious as to what the teams are playing for, here is a list of the prizes for each division:
Read the rest of this entry »
Buy New & Used Paintball Guns
