I've owned both. Had a ZBoard, have a Boosted Board.

The ZBoard is utter trash compared to the Boosted Board. Build quality, ease of operation, sound of operation, ride quality are all far superior on the Boosted Board.

As someone with a fair amount of experience on an electric board (ZBoard type), I like that Boosted puts the battery packs and electronics at either end of the board. Other boards have the battery pack in the middle and it gets in the way of clearing obstacles.

Also, hand controller works nicely for me so I see no obvious advantage to having my weight distribution impact the board's motion.

Disclaimer: I've never ridden an electric skateboard of any kind. However, I have been skateboarding for well over a decade.

Does this mean that you place weight forward to go faster? That would be the opposite of natural. Weight to the back is safe, it is the stance to adopt unless you like slamming your shoulder into the pavement. I believe I would much rather have a remote than have to worry about how I place my feet and shift my weight. With big wheels like that it's less of a concern, but you'd be shocked at how often you need to shift your weight just ridding down a sidewalk.

It's supposed to be the opposite if natural. When you accelerate, you naturally lean back. You wouldn't want intentional acceleration to cause additional acceleration. You would want to keep it in check and only accelerate when the riser demonstrates they are sufficiently in control of their weight balance.

I rode some electric razors and others around a shop in SF in ...2011? These are down to sub-$150 with pretty positive reviews, and are intuitive to ride (only 40 minutes operating time, but still, at that price point).

http://www.amazon.com/Razor-E100-Electric-Scooter-Sweet/dp/B...

Or maybe i'll just stick to old school longboarding in the rain

These scooters are designed for a different use case - toys for kids. The power, reliability, and design reflect that.

If you longboard, you would LOVE the Boosted board.