ESC oppinions/ preferences? Cheap turnigy and brushless hobbies?

Hey everybody. Was wondering if any of you have used a brushless hobbies esc, or the cheap turnigy esc's. If so, what is your experience? Or your oppinion? 

I have two castle esc's (element and mamba monster) and a vxl system, all great so far. The one cheap chinese zd racing one I had crapped out almost right out of the box and fried my brushless motor. Any feedback is great feedback!

I like to build rc's, haven't gotten into racing them yet so I guess you could say my purpose for these car's is "bashing" although I don't run them too hard.

Mine and my friends have all had pretty good luck with the Turnigy ones from Hobbyking and the EZ- Run systems. Honestly I have had more problems and dead Castle units than the Chinese ones. Just make sure you get the proper program card for whatever you get as there are a lot of different ones and they don't all work with each other. I had a turnigy sensored system in my wraith for a while that was amazing. In fact i have had all sorts of setups from Tekin, Novak, and castle in there since and none have even came close to the low speed control or top speed of the cheap parts.

Good to know. Was hoping somebody had experience with them. I'm all about saving money but also don't wanna buy complete junk.

Turnigy is a private label name for HobbyWing ESCs sold by HobbyKing.  I have found HobbyWing to be excellent in quads, helis, and planes.  I'm sure they're good in cars, but I have not used any of those.

...Tiger

To be fair and tell all the facts out of about a dozen different escs and motors between me and friends I did get 1 unit that was D.O.A. It was a $25 unit so I wasn't worried very much and it was eventually replaced. I will definatly buy more in the future and encourage others to also if you like to save a few $$$. Now I just order 2 of everything I want to be safe ;D

Well thanks guys, definitely makes me feel A LOT better about ordering something like that. I had a fried castle mamba max in my revo and they replaced it for 70. Have heard those are notorious for goin bad.

i can speak of the Xcelorin, Castle creations/HPI flux Motiv, and Hobby King 60a with programming card. like this  http://www.hobbyking.com/hobbyking/store/__11743__HobbyKing_Brushless_Car_ESC_60A_w_Reverse.html  from first hand experience.
I like the HK esc  second best of the esc i have. Mostly becuse the FLUX/CC has some weak BEC in my mind and makes my steering servo way slower than my other cars.
I do know of friends that have bought the hobbywing setups and been pleased with no issues. Get the most recent version (v2.0 etc and the programming card).
the HK has been reliable, even after being submerged in water and i have been rocking it for over a year now with out a single issue. honestly. I would buy one again.

Wow, I had no idea anybody made ESCs that cheap...

I was just about to suggest you just spend the extra cash on a "reliable" name like Novak, Tekin or LRP before I knew these cheap things even existed. If people say they work and they're that inexpensive, I can't see you going wrong.

For what it's worth I've always ran Novak ESCs and I've always liked them. Made in the USA (still!) and excellent customer service. They replaced a battery charger for me out of warranty, for free, and even sent me a free t-shirt!

Yeah for as cheap as they are I'm willing to give it a shot. I bought a zd racing buggy for cheap and the esc crapped out. Funny thing is I see them go on eBay for what I think is an absurd amount. Oh well live and learn.  Thanks for all of the input.