I am thinking about buying the vex explorer with the claw and was wondering if you can change the program, and add other stuff like the rest of the vex stuff?
Yes and no–while Vexplorer works with all the other Vex hardware, it’s incompatible with the normal Vex motors and radio equipment and is non-programmable. (And, if you’re trying to get it from IFI directly, non-available.) That said, you can certainly transplant a Vex microcontroller and/or radio setup into a Vexplorer setup without too much effort.
I saw one on craigslist and was thinking about buying it.
To Summarize:
Mechanical = Compatible
Electrical (Motors, Microcontroller/Receiver, Transmitter) = Incompatible (with the “normal” Vex stuff)
If it’s cheap enough, buy it. The claw is fun, but not indestructible. The Wheels are good, the maroon gears and black metal are fun.