PuzzleProz.com

[brunson]

I just received my cube and thought I'd start a thread on my observations of the differences between the two different DIY kit's. I will try to be qualitative and objective, I want this to be useful to people deciding which to buy, but of course some of my personal preferences will creep in.

First of all, and mostly unrelated, David said he shipped my cube on Saturday and I have it in Denver on Monday. The USPS is freaking awesome.

To begin with, I just finished my DIY cube from Rubiks dot com and I'm pretty unimpressed. Two nights of sanding with 320, then 600 grit sandpaper and I realized the main problem was that the open sides of the edge cubies allow the center cubies to drop into them causing most of the problems in turning. Pop an edge piece from your factory cube and you'll see what I mean. Something about the height and width of the center pieces and the size of the pocket in the open internal side of the edge piece makes the edge want to suck the center into it. I put my Cubesmith tiles on Sunday morning and was very disappointed. It's was almost as good as the factory cube I've been breaking in since Xmas, but quite and it was almost all because of this center sucking action.

Coincidentally, today I had just finished using an emery board to smooth out the inner edges of the edge pieces to try to make the center suck action less apparent, when my wife walked in the front door and told me my new cube had come. I reassembled the old cube and it is definitely better, I think I couple days of use and it will be better than my Xmas cube. But then I dug into the new kit and the first thing I noticed was the corner pieces have a small insert to make them solid from the outside (they're still hollow, just like the Rubik's are hollow but with no way to get to the inside cavity) so that's an extra bit of assembly, but I think it'll be all of a minute. I immediately started searching the bag for a similar insert for the edgies, but there are none. However, on close inspection the walls of the edgies seem slightly (like a hair's breadth) thicker than the Rubik's, but without a caliper I can't be sure.

The main difference between the kits comes in the center pieces. The PP centers seem higher (arch to top), but the walls are definitely thicker (like 3 times) and the caps have a much deeper "plug" type extrusion that goes into the cube, which I'm sure accounts for the better retention sans glue (I glued my Rubik model caps on, there was no way they were staying on without it). Also, the exterior face of the center cap is much thinner than the Rubik's, so even without the cap on it the center doesn't want to drop into the empty cavity of the edge which seems to be the biggest problem with the action on the other DIY cube. I have high hopes that this could be the major advantage of the new cube. BTW, all of my cubes, the Rubik's DIY, my three Toys-R-Us cubes and the PuzzleProz have essentially the same arch on the center cube that both DIY kits tout as being a great feature that prevents popping and both imply is not a feature of the store bought units.

The flash from the molding process (the little bits of plastic that squeeze out between the pieces of the injection mold) is a little less apparent on the PuzzleProz, but definitely, 100% still there, and in the same places as on the Rubik's pieces. The most egregious is on the non-hollow face of the edgies that will occlude the center. They will definitely have to be removed with sandpaper before I can think of assembling. I may try taking a fine grinding tip on my Dremel and removing that while not touching the rest of the face.

Finally, the hardware is much better than the Rubik's. The screws are finer thread which will make fine tuning the tension much more precise. They come with a large washer to go under the pan head of the screw, while the other kit had a screw with an extra wide head, like the washer was integrated. I'm not sure how much difference that will make. The springs are beefier and the bushing that goes between the spring and the center cubie is metal rather than plastic. This is a good point to interject that some articles I read said that the Rubik's DIY didn't have a bushing at all, but that is false. Still, I think the metal will be better and more durable.

The stickers are much better quality than that crap Rubik's uses. I think I'll actually use them just for variety and if they don't hold up, replace them with Cubesmith tiles (since I have three sets on a shelf).

Overall, I have mixed feelings at this point. I think I was expecting to open the envelope to a bright, shining light and a chorus of angels, but that was definitely not the case. I am encouraged by the major differences of the center cubies and really, my only disappointment with the PuzzlePros is the flash. Still, my expectations were very, very (probably a little too) high, so a little letdown is to be expected and isn't a big deal at this point.

I will close with one last point. All those tricks he does with the cube in his video on eBay, I can do with my broken-in Target cubes. If you put enough TLC into a store cube, it will get fast.

I'm going to reserve the next two posts so I can post my experience assembling and then again after I have a chance to really break them both in.

Edit: After a couple of comments from my friends I'd like to qualify my statement about my store bought cubes being fast. It took me months and months to break my Target cubes in with lots and lots (like half a 4oz bottle) of lube and lots of solving. 50-100 solves a day for 3 months before they were really adequate and another 3 months before they were good.

[brunson]

Well, my friend in Florida pestered me enough today that I assembled my kit. It went very well.

First of all, I took some flash (left over plastic) off some of the cubies with a scalpel. Only 3 of the edge pieces had any flash on a face that would occlude another piece and there was one center that had some gunge around the injection point, but that came off with a thumbnail. There was some flash an external face several pieces, but since it wasn't going to impede the action, I left it.

+1 PuzzleProz

Assembly went well, I had the cube together in 30 minutes. I've messed with tension enough in the past that I only spend about 10 or 15 minutes playing with it. I know what I like, so it didn't take me long.

Here's an important note and a large distinction between the kits. The Rubik's DIY kit *cannot* be effectively tensioned without the caps on, the centers getting sucked into the edges just make it impossible to get an accurate feel for what it's going to be like without the center caps. Additionally, the caps don't stay on worth a crap without glue, so you've got one shot to get it right. The PuzzleProz cube's design of the center cubies makes it spin almost exactly the same, caps on or off, plus you can take the caps off at a later time. This in itself is a Major advantage. I like my cube tight and crisp, so I may have over adjusted the tension, but that's okay because if the springs don't start giving a little as they age, it'll be a cinch to open it up the caps and change the tension.

+1 PuzzleProz

I noted in my first post that the PP screws were quite different that the Rubik's kit. They are what I would call "machine screws", i.e. they don't have a point and have a much tighter, finer thread than the drywall screws Rubik's includes. Makes for more accurate tensioning. A tip to getting them started is to push down on the screw head after it's inserted into the center cubie and rotate the core until it catches, then switch to a #2 phillips head.

Better screws = +1 PuzzleProz
Metal inner spring bushing = +1 PuzzleProz
Beefier screws = +1 PuzzleProz

Finally, the stickers are thin, solid, rubbery plastic (PVC) rather than the clear plastic over paper sandwich that comes with the Rubik's kit (the same crap that's on the store bought cube). My daughter is wearing the Rubik's stickers all over the front of her dress, I couldn't be bothered to put them on that kit. I went straight for the Cubesmith Lexan tiles. I went ahead and tried the PP stickers. They went on well, they're not nearly as nice as the tiles, but they're head and shoulders above the Rubik's. Plus, Cubesmith's are $4.50, PuzzleProz' are free. I'll have to see how they wear, but for now, definitely:

+1 PuzzleProz (+2 Cubesmith)

Edit: I mentioned not removing the flash on the exterior faces above with the intent of saying this: I wish I had taken it off before applying the stickers, the definitely get in the way. No big whoop, I'll probably remove it if I replace the stickers with tiles and on any future cubes. It would have take me two more minutes with the Xacto, tops.

So, I spun the cube a little while, I was actually quite impressed. It was smoother and nicer than the Rubik's kit I built two weeks ago, even with that much break-in on the first. Then I lubricated it.

Holy Cow. This cube is sweet. It has a different feel than any of the Rubik's models I have. It spins freely, but seems to require a little more preciseness to "corner" like you do in a RUR' trigger. That may be why everyone likes their cubes looser than I have mine, but that may just be wear. My year old and 9 month old Rubiks are both smoother, but not by much, and they each have several thousand solves on them. Plus, it took close to 4 months to get them usable, much less turn them into speed cubes.

+5 PuzzleProz, it's that much better.

So, there you have it. What is it, +11 for PuzzleProz cube? I hope this is a bit more useful than the random (if accurate) "dis cube is teh rul3z!!!" messages to someone that is on the fence about buying one of these unlicensed clones, but I'm sorry Rubiks.com, the Chinese are making a superior product. Clearly a better design in many ways to the Rubik's kit, I highly recommend it. My only reservation would be if Erno Rubik still gets a cut of licensed cube sales, I think I'll need to PayPal him a dollar for every one of these I buy.

And I will be buying more. Keep 'em in stock, David.

I'll take a few weeks and allow them both to break in, trying to use them equally, and I'll finish this thread with a third post, then.

[brunson]

Okay, edit: 03/04/2008

There you have it. Almost six weeks of breaking in and there's absolutely no comparison. Of my 6 cubes, PuzzleProz is one of my two favorite, but I want to point out that the other favorite cube, though a store bought, has been babied and lubed through an estimated (thank you for the math, Brian) 12,000 solves. The crazy thing was, my PP cube pretty much slid into second place with only a few days of use. It really is a great cube.

The Rubik's DIY is a pretty poor performer. I have made a concerted effort to put some hours into breaking it in, but it just requires too much investment. I know that in time it will become as good or better as my favorite store boughts, but why bother when you can get something that works great right out of the box.

And, I'd just like to reiterate that one of the killer features of PP over Rubik's DIY is the center caps. I've gone back to loosen and/or balance the tension on my PP cube once or twice, but of course I had to glue the center caps onto the Rubik's so that's not an option. And the icing on the cake was when I dropped my Rubik's in the kitchen and a glued on center cap popped off anyway! I used a minimal amount of super glue to cap it on, just a dab on two corners, but that wasn't enough, and then I had to get more glue to re-apply it.

I can 100% recommend David's cubes as the best I've found.

Hope this all helps some of you. If you have any specific questions, please post and I'll check back periodically.

[DooleyUK]

Thanks for that, it really helped people like me know what cube to buy, i appreciate the time and effort you put into that post, cube on

[PuzzlePro]

Hey Brunson,

Sorry it has taken me so long, but I really want to thank you for taking the time to make these posts.

I look forward to reading your post break-in thoughts.

[PuzzlePro]

Hey Brunson,

Just a reminder to 'bump' this thread once you've updated your post-break-in entry.

Editing an existing post will not mark the thread as having new content.

So if you don't bump the thread, then ppl won't know you've updated your post.

[brunson]

Bumping the thread after my latest edit in post 3.

[supercube]

I think you should mention that you are comparing black rubik's DIY to black puzzleproz. the white rubiks.com DIY is amazing and is better quality than anything from china in my opinion. the rubiks stickers are all little better colors than the storebought rubik's cubes. I think they tweaked the colors a bit on all the new stickers. yes they do peel but the colors are actually perfect on all faces. comprare them if you get a chance.