Tried it, didn't like it... never mind.

[DanTheMan]

ED is really great and I can quite see how & why the fan-base is so loyal to it.

There are so many aspects to ED that the dev team have totally nailed (Stations and general awesomeness of the visuals for example).
With the appearance of the Imperial Clipper in B3 it just had to be tried.
Cue many, many hours of Credit-grinding and voila! A Clipper, mine all mine.

But No! It has beautiful looks and no guts.
2nd rate trader (to small a hold and too short a range).
2nd rate fighter (not enough hard-points).

So, after playing with it for a while it has been taken back to Arthur Daley's "Quality used ships" lot and traded in for an Asp.

At least I got to have a go with it for a couple of days before the big wipe.

 

[Achilles Maelstrom]

ED is really great and I can quite see how & why the fan-base is so loyal to it.

There are so many aspects to ED that the dev team have totally nailed (Stations and general awesomeness of the visuals for example).
With the appearance of the Imperial Clipper in B3 it just had to be tried.
Cue many, many hours of Credit-grinding and voila! A Clipper, mine all mine.

But No! It has beautiful looks and no guts.
2nd rate trader (to small a hold and too short a range).
2nd rate fighter (not enough hard-points).

So, after playing with it for a while it has been taken back to Arthur Daley's "Quality used ships" lot and traded in for an Asp.

At least I got to have a go with it for a couple of days before the big wipe.

You are aware of the fact that you can have more cargo racks installed? I have not had the pleasure with the clipper yet so I don't really know what I'm talking about.

 

[Duckfather]

I like mine. It's spammed up with kit, with the exception of armour (who's got that sort of money to blow, certainly not me ) and has the cargo expanded as much as possible while still keeping shields (106 ton if you're interested).
.
I agree with the OP on almost everything, but it's not meant to be a trader or a fighter. It's actually meant for something that's not in game yet; moving personnel around quickly. With a few balance tweaks, it could fit that role pretty well.
.
But personally, I just love the shape (which I can only see in outfitting ), the cockpit, the flight characteristics and the lovely soundtrack the engines have. I'm not flying it to make money or be a ruthless pirate. I fly it because I enjoy it and am currently using it for exploration. Come the 21st, if we have a 'Beta 3 blowout', I'll be flying it wherever the action is with a big target painted on the back

 

[Cmdr Eagleboy]

I suspect we will know Cutter role soon enough (hint: passenger transportation).

 

[Reject]

Yeah, bare with it. Soon enough we'll have Bulletin Board posts that says "Transport Passenger from X to Y" instead of "Transport cargo from X to Y"!

 

[CapnSnuggie]

I put 'B' rated Thrusters, Power Plant, and FSD in my Clipper, and it totally rocks.

Pitches as fast as a Cobra, Rolls as fast as an Asp, and with Class 6 shields, well...

The problem is.. The Cobra does the same thing at 1/20th the cost, and is a much smaller target. :/

I like it, it works for me.

All ships perform incredibly different with upgraded parts. The problem is when you get enough credits to get the ship you want, you'll need at least 5x to 8x as much as it costs to kit it out properly!

 

[Mikey2305]

And they get in the way when im entering and exiting...

And trying to bounce them out of the way is not a good career move

 

[DanTheMan]

You are aware of the fact that you can have more cargo racks installed? I have not had the pleasure with the clipper yet so I don't really know what I'm talking about.

Oh yes, I maxed out the cargo-space but did not want to be out there W/O shields so it was a bit small for my use as a trader. I was hoping it would be bigger than the Asp but smaller than the Lakon T9. It is a very pretty ship, but I didn't get on with it as well as I would have liked.

 

[MorkFromOrk]

ED is really great and I can quite see how & why the fan-base is so loyal to it.

There are so many aspects to ED that the dev team have totally nailed (Stations and general awesomeness of the visuals for example).
With the appearance of the Imperial Clipper in B3 it just had to be tried.
Cue many, many hours of Credit-grinding and voila! A Clipper, mine all mine.

But No! It has beautiful looks and no guts.
2nd rate trader (to small a hold and too short a range).
2nd rate fighter (not enough hard-points).

So, after playing with it for a while it has been taken back to Arthur Daley's "Quality used ships" lot and traded in for an Asp.

At least I got to have a go with it for a couple of days before the big wipe.

I've got 100T cargo space. Very nice manoeuvrability and the hard points pack a wallop as they are class 2 a and class 3. The only downside is that there is a lack of decent class 3 hardware if you want to dogfight rather than hit larger ships or use turrets.

It's a nice ship, can pay its way but not a cash cow.