I’ve owned a Y&T 989E for about 4 months which I have set up in my garage.
My initial impression was that this was a well-built, sturdy piece of kit. It was easy to setup. I took it out of the box, looked at the picture, stuck in the collection catch net and that was that, ready to go.
Key Features:
Twin head design so the spin can be set to anything between max topspin and max backspin. Thus it’s possible to set up float/no-spin balls.
Multi-ball setting. One of 11 landing spots covering the width of the table can be set. The nice thing is that the number of balls on each spot can be controlled. Example; you can set 2 to deep BH, 1 to middle and one to wide FH. Thus this machine can simulate multi-ball very well.
The random setting of long and short balls is a good addition to a multi-ball sequence, but even more useful when practicing serves. In addition to the landing spot feature, the user won’t be sure whether the ball serve is long or short.
Because it is mounted on wheels it can be moved around to simulate serving from the BH side or FH side.
Also nice was the ability to select the number of balls, up to 999, in a sequence. Set the number of balls; say 250, and the robot stops when this number is reached. This is a lot nicer way than judging the time or stopping when tired. It’s also good for the kids as they can set themselves goals. My 9 year old girl immediately went to the 999 setting for a FH sequence. She made it but was whacked afterwards for all of 5 minutes. Ahhh… the recovery rate of youth!
Useful Things I found:
It can be adjusted so that the ball barely clears the net. So you can practice return of balls that hit the net.
Moving the robot a few inches back from table causes much reduced spin. No wonder so many players serve as close to the table as they can get away with.
Use the same type of ball as different balls can result in different reactions, such as missing the table or going into the net.
Like most robots it needs to be maintained. Keeping it clean and free of muck is essential.
Future improvements I’d like to see:
As with other robots with this type of collection net, the balls can get stuck in the catch net or hit the frame and bounce back onto the table. Both of these problems reduce the number of balls being re-circulated. In the bounce back case, it can be very obstructive when the setting is on a fast frequency as there can be several bouncing around. I’ve seen other models with a curtain of plastic strips attached to the frame. This does a better job of catching the balls and making sure they go into the ball container.
Conclusion:
This is a well built, sturdy piece of kit that comes with features only available on much more expensive models. It’s well worth the price.