Review

MacDev is an Australian based manufacturer of paintball equipment that started making aircraft parts. The Droid is a spool-valve marker released by MacDev in 2007. It is the first spool-valve marker developed by MacDev. The Droid is easily capable of reaching 25 bps, if not more, and can shoot 1600-1700 paintballs on a 68/4500 cold fill. It weighs in at 1kg with the stock barrel. The drive train within was a completely new design, which allowed it to have very good efficiency for a spool-valve marker.

The Droid is not a very loud marker in the sense that it is not aggressively milled. In comparison to markers such as the Ego and Geo, the Droid did not have much hype or popularity to begin with. However, it did manage to attract customers with its significant price difference and surprisingly good performance.

With the Droid comes the Gladiator regulator, which is similar to the CP regulator. It is a well designed regulator and ensures shot consistency, giving the Droid virtually ball-on-ball accuracy. When run in, the marker shoots +/- 2 fps on the chronograph.

The stock barrel that comes with the Droid is the MacDev Matchstik 14″ barrel and .689 bore. This barrel is excellent and maintains accuracy with each shot. There is no need to get a new barrel or barrel kit (unless you are dealing with very large or very small paint, whereby the Shift barrel kit is a good way to go.).

There is no kick with each shot, making the marker very easy to control when shooting ropes of paint. It is amazingly quiet as well, as each shot sounds like a muffled cough. Compared to markers like the Geo, DM8 and Shocker, this marker performs very well.

However, I do have a few qualms with it. The first being that the eye wires and solenoid wires tend to get tangled and makes it very difficult to do regular maintenance and cleaning on the marker if paint gets between the grip frame and the body tube. The second is that there are a very large number of O-rings for the drive train, which also impedes progress when performing full maintenance. Apart from this, I do not have any issues with the Droid and would be willing to recommend it to anyone.

Advantages:

• Efficient for a spool-valve marker
• Quiet
• No Kick
• Light
  

Disadvantages:

• Too many wires
• Too many O-Rings

Conclusion/Verdict:

The marker is definitely cheaper than most high-end markers, performs just as well (if not better) and hasn’t failed on me to date. It is very good value for money and will definitely impress you. Like other high ends, if it is regularly maintained, it will perform like a dream.

Forum Discussion

By: Aswan Yap

Date:16/08/2009

Manufacturers Website: Macdev

Price:£560-£600  Now much cheaper

Rating:

Setup: Droid (stock), Viewloader VLocity Jr. w/ Hyperdrive, Guerrilla Air 68/4500 Myth Tank, Shift barrel kit.

Macdev Droid Gallery

Sources: Some images from pbnation copyright to original owners

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