Well this is going to be a quick, fast, and ugly review... with heavy emphasis on ugly!
GOOD
The Matrix was fast. Oh boy was it fast! With a well set up trigger,
this marker could easily consume a loader of paint like it was nothing. We had a
local player - "Bear" - with the Alligator Trigger (shown on my Matrix) could
empty his Halo in 7 seconds. Worked out to just over 21 bps! Had a little bit of
side-to side play in the trigger but it's nothing I would consider critical. The
Matrix trigger is one of the easiest I've ever shot.
BAD
It's a gas hog. Nowhere near Shocker standards
but she does like to suck back the air. It definitely requires an air system
with a high flow rate. It's not the heaviest marker I've ever shot, but it's far
from a light marker, and milling it to get some of the weight off is highly
debatable. The main part of the body is very thin-walled allowing for very
minimal material removal. About the only way you are going to take a good deal
of weight off this thing is to cut chunks out of it, and fill on the spaces with
Plexiglas windows like the Tequila Matrix.
UGLY
This is by far the most maintenance heavy and troublesome marker I've
ever owned! The Matrix reminds me of the Military's old Sea King Helicopters: 30
hours maintenance for one hours use! Now I know some guys who will debate this
issue with me, but I've seen a lot more Matrix's being worked on that any other
marker, and I've also seen fewer working ones than not. The top tube is the
entire bolt assembly. I last counted 13 o-rings on this assembly, possibly more.
If one of these rings are nicked, or too big, or not fitting right, or not lubed
enough, or too much... it'll throw the whole system out of whack. This is just
one of the potential areas of problems with this marker.
When I first got it, I was having a real problem with consistency. I first wrote it off to the fact that the stock beehive reg doesn't like more than 500 psi going into it. But I ended up going through 2 or 3 more regs to find the same problem. After a series of other issues, and replacing parts that were supposed to fix my problem, I had a multitude of possible solutions (about 30 different posts) sent to me from a Matrix forum. I finally had a local buddy go through it (who I forgot knew Matrix's) and it turned out the problems were NONE of what was suggested! After this I had enough! The marker had turned into a money pit and not giving me the performance I wanted. I got it fixed up and traded it off for the 2K2 Angel LCD. The new owner seems pretty happy with it, and all the power to him!
After this I swore I would never own another Matrix ever again!
Addendum: (10/13/03) Since I first wrote this piece, DYE has bought the rights to the Matrix from Gen-E Sports, and will be releasing their new version of the Matrix during WC. Although it's very cosmetically appealing, a good-looking marker has never kept anyone out of the dead box. Time will tell how it performs, and I'm hoping DYE continues their reputation for quality through this marker, while addressing known issues.
SNIPER BOB, 2000-20010