My first kite, and still favourite, is a HQ Beamer 3.6m. First few months of flying it there was only mine on the beach, in the last month or so every other kite seems to be a HQ!
It was sold to me a kite to learn with if I wanted to look at ATB in the future, but easy enough, and cheap enough, for just scudding around :D
The handles and lines are of good quality for the price, not as good as Flexi or Ozone but a great improvement on the PKD Buster lines. It was easy to set up first time, after reading what to do, and I've never had any problems getting it to fly from almost no wind to 20+mph.
For scudding round the beach it is ideal and in a good wind gives enough lift for small jumps - enough to get started with until a larger kite joins the bag!
Overall the kites seem to be well made and can put up with a fair amount of abuse - ideal for beginners! It is a credible alternative to the Buster and in my opinion gives better overall value.

I still fly my Beamers from time to time, however I do find them a bit slow and lumbering compared to my Flexis and Ozone. But can't complain for the value you get for the money.

I too have a Beamer 3.6. In fact, its my first and only power kite (soon to change). I was really suprised at how little wind is needed to fly it. Also, even in gusty winds it seems pretty manageable. A good kite for gaining power experience.
Dave

I had so much fun with the 3.6, I just ordered the 5 meter! these kites are so reasonable now, its a great value for the money. Very good for just flying around in the park. I have a eye toward morre ambitous traction activitesand have found the beamers great for learning to manage power safely. Also, I have found its really fun to try to get them to do all the Rev moves. If you bring in the break lines a bit, and know how to fly a quad they can do a suprising amount of stuff. One thing that was really fun was "tip" stands. I'd do a vertical slide into one edge of the kite and let it roll up into itself. Then when just a little of the kite was still in the air I'd pull the top lines and it would unroll and launch. Silly fun!
Dave

My first kite. A 3.6, I got it as a trainer for kitesurfing and as a first land / snow kite. Awesome to fly, great high wind kite on land & snow.

It does flys fast, though I can't seem to jump with it, even in the highest winds. Comes with short lines. Very easy re-launch.

Great first kite. My non-kiting friends enjoy flying it as a introduction to kiting.

Hi just bought a beamer 3.6 as my 1st kite impressed with it so far only been out in light winds but it felt quite powerful

Pretty hard kite to beat for the Price. The New Beamer II's are pretty sweet. Anyone looking to not spend a ton and get a GOOD kite Check em out for sure. I have all kinds of other kites and the Beamers can hold there own no doubt.

great kite but i would pick the buster over it any day(apart from the lines)

i took mine out today HQ 3.6 first ever kite ive owned- lots of gusts but discovered that if you put the the left and right brake lines on the same knots on the bottom (i.e. 3 out from the kite) it naturally went into a spin - after a bit of raking around i realised that the left brake line had to be a bit shorter ie 2 knots out from the kite because they are NOT exect lengths on both sides - after that loads of stability - still sh*t myself when it first went up -immense power for someone who weighs 110 kilos was very nicely scudded around. will have to learn anothe method of launch that doesnt involve dislocating my shoulder by going straight up to the zenith from the ground