[kevin]

I think Spock's adaptable enough to work with what he has and he may even 'help' some technology along with his future knowledge.

Although strictly, the phasers could easily have different power settings (courtesy of a little button somewhere) but you have to rotate the emitter to ensure it's on either 'stun' or 'kill'.

Plus, too many settings can be as much a joke as too few. I mean by the time of TNG a phaser was supposed to have something like 16 settings.

Which is kinda overkill.

[Commodore]

^^^
The thing about a TNG phasers having 16 settings was going with Roddenberry's idea that it was as much a tool as it was a weapon. Anything above Setting 8 was for blasting through solid rock or other dense materials, with the higher settings allowing for greater rock displacement up to a few tons, IIRC. At that point, a phaser was more of an excavation tool than a weapon.

Generally, I think most phasers rarely went beyond Setting 8 as anything higher would be overkill in normal circumstances like you said, but higher settings are nice to have if you find yourself trapped in a classic Doctor Who quarry or something like that...

[kevin]

Yeah, I just don't particularly see anything in the film's use that strictly and absolutely prohibits them still being able to be used in that way.

Add a couple buttons, get the actors to press them and before you know it.........precision cutting tool!

[NCC-73515]

[Captain Pike]

Originally Posted by NCC-73515

Is that a Daisy Co2 Capsule stuck in the rear of the phaser?

[Captain Tom Coughlin]

Phasers were never really handled that well. They talk about the destructive power that these weapons have all the time, and then they get in a fire fight and are safe hiding behind a tree or a rock. The new interpretation takes all of that away, so I like it.

[Pauln6]

Spock can upgrade 23rd century equipment to be as good as 24th century equipment (if not better) with a few keystrokes on a computer. He'll be fine.

[Roysten]

I doubt he'd care, in Star Trek the technology seemed to get updated constantly and be ever improving but we only really saw the flagships and front line stuff where the technology was needed.

I reckon on Earth (ours/prime/nutrek) you'll have places were the technology is outdated and just stays that way as sometimes it's simply not necessary to replace it. Like in our world some people may have kitchen appliances, computers, TVs, cars that are massively outdated but if they like them and they work why change it...

Granted over 129 years this argument becomes a little thin, but my main point is that Spock will have found a variety of technology old and new over his lifetime and will have adapted, he'll do the same in the new universe.

[JamesTKirk1701]

Originally Posted by OneBuckFilms

I love the new movie, at rate it very highly, but he's actually right on this.

The Alternate Reality, though, allows the Type II phasers to have developed differently.

I'd imagine there may be other controls we simply haven't seen yet. Perhaps twisting the nozel in either Stun or Kill mode may adjust focus for various effects/strengths.

I'm pointing out a fact, hell even the alternative reality tricorders are garbage they don't appear to scan anything. The classic tricorders could damn near do everything. Chalk it up to lazy bastard abrams, he thinks he's too good to design anything.

[OneBuckFilms]

Originally Posted by JamesTKirk1701

I'm pointing out a fact, hell even the alternative reality tricorders are garbage they don't appear to scan anything. The classic tricorders could damn near do everything. Chalk it up to lazy bastard abrams, he thinks he's too good to design anything.

Abrams didn't design it. He has a team of designers and conceptual artists that do that :P

The Stun/Kill idea was based on the question: What is the best way to portray visually the switch between Stun and Kill, the basic modes in which the Phaser normally operates?

From a VISUAL perspective it works, even though we know that phasers have things such as "Wide Beam" or "Narrow Beam" settings for knocking out crowds or cutting rocks.

Beyond strength and beam width, Stun and Kill are really the only settings a phaser has ever been portrayed to have.

Oh, and of course it can be set to overload and explode.

What is MISSING from the hand phasers, really, is the Phaser I/Phaser II separate units.