WINMAU Blade 4 Review

[useroldaccount]

PostSubject: REVIEW - WINMAU BLADE4   Sat 14 Jan 2012 - 11:49

Hi, This is my Review of the WINMAU Blade 4 i posted on the old Forum site and thought to repost it on here!

UPDATED PICS!

The Packaging-
It was safely packed but thrown the packaging already away,sorry!!
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I love how it came out of the Box,you directly see the huge difference between the BLADE 3 and the BLADE 4!!
Of course i had to use my fingernail to remove some paint from the wireing but no problem at all!!
The colours are nice and bright!!

The Back-
   
The hole for the screw is already there,just screw it in.
you have to use a hammer to place the clips with the nails wich comes with the board!

The Wiresystem -

This is a huge step forward!!
The triangle wire system of the BLADE 3 i never liked that much because it thrown a lot of shadows to your trebles and doubles and also started twisting after while and i had to do surgerys to it!!
Also it produced a lot of Bounce outs because the triangularwire was way to thick!!
I had not one bounce out so far on the BLADE4!
The wire is deep in the board and has almost no flex to it,so if you have a bounce out,you deserve it!!! (lol)
The Numberring is white anti glare.

Here is an close up Image of the "Old" BLADE3 wire
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Here is an close up Image of the "New" BLADE4 wire

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you can tell the difference!

Here are some images of the Wiresystem-

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The Sound -

well,its loud!
the sound goes more to the trebles as to bass!
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The Gimmicks -

It comes with a checkout table and a little booklet wit the actual BLADE4 and other WINMAU products infos, rules and games informations!!

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The whole Board -
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i just moved in here so no fancy set up right now,but will follow!!

Overall right now i love it but time will tell,it directly worked great for me!
I just moved back to Germany and bought a brand new Blade 4,so updates to come!




Moneyvalue - 5/5

Quality - 5/5

[useroldaccount]

comments from the old Forum:

Saber:
Real nice review thanks

getagrip:
Top Class review, Great pics too!

!!!ANIMAL!!!:
right now it seems like the holes in the red fields heal way better as in the green sectors!! U dont see any holes in the red sectors of the board!

getagrip:
That could be just an effect of the eyes and the colours, afterall the colour is just printed on.
I'm only guessing though?

!!!ANIMAL!!!:
nope, i have to close holes in the green with my point tip sometimes but not in the reds!!

getagrip:
!!!ANIMAL!!! wrote:
nope, i have to close holes in the green with my point tip sometimes but not in the reds!!
Thats strange, afterall the board is just made up of biscuits of sisal, then the colour is printed on????

!!!ANIMAL!!!:
the color is printed on,yes!it seems like the the red color allows the bristles to heal better as the green does!

getagrip:
still weird, unless the ink itself has something to do with it

dartbord:
I will have to get one of them for my collection. I have the original Blade and have a Blade III as my regular use board.
Still looking for a Blade II so I can get the evoltion of the Blade. Good Review.

Guest:
Blade 4 - in my humble opinion - one of the top 3 boards available on the market today. Currently you can pick them up for about 20quid - a real must have at that kind of money!
dartbord: So what is 20quid in American terms?

Someone has been selling them in the US (ebay)starting at $1.99 with $14.99 shipping. So far two of them sold for around $36 plus shipping.
I have my bid on one now.

Guest:
20.00 GBP = 30.6712 USD
$15 is amazing for shipping. I looked into prices to send a couple of boards to friends in the US and I couldn't get anywhere near that price!!!

getagrip:
Not $15 from the U.K. though? cost me £28 to send a board to Canada.

!!!ANIMAL!!!:
at amazon u can get it for 48$,cheapest i seen so far! greetings from florida!! Smile

CanadianBacon:
nice review buddy. i think i need to get mine out of the box and up on the wall.

Admin:
Best board ive ever played on ! simple as that really Smile

Wazza:
Have yet to try it, heard great reviews about it.
I have the blade111 at home and its looking sick, thanks for the write up on it guys, helped me make up my mind Smile

zappaluv:
Won't even think about buying any other board. This is by far the best board, even better than the Unicorn Eclipse IMO.
Rotate regularly and you won't have any problems.

mc1958:
zappaluv wrote:
Won't even think about buying any other board. This is by far the best board, even better than the Unicorn Eclipse IMO.
Rotate regularly and you won't have any problems.
I rotated mine at least once a week and my Blade 4 only lasted a couple of months before bits started falling off of it. I most likely just got a dodgy one but I can't see me buying another Blade in the near future. Got a TPT at the moment and that still has some life left in it - it's already lasted longer than the Blade - so when the time comes it's either another TPT or possibly one of the new Harrows Matchplay when it comes out.

Lefty544:
Great review Animal and I agree about the quality. Blade 4 takes the cake in many ways

rumandcork:
I agree the blade 4 is a great board. cant say its hands down the best board out there since i haven't done a true side by side comparison with other boards such as the TPT, BAII, etc. BUt heres some points on the blade4 that I have noticed.
- i love the sisal on this board, heals incredibly well and really holds the dart regardless of velocity. i use smooth points and have a stout throw, normally my darts penetrate the board almost to the barrel-i have yet to pull any fibers out with the dart nor have i found any glue residue on the point as with some other boards. That being said, although i have tried many times, i have never had a dart fall out of the board regardless of how light i throw the dart. if the point touches the board the dart stays in, only way i know how to say it.
-other things i like about this board-the price( $55 dollars shipped!), the color (bright and even), and did i mention the price!
-things that could use improvement-the wires are soft and while the bevel reduces bounce outs it does not eliminate them. i have noticed on some instances where the dart has pushed the wire into the sisal. This bothered me at first but after a few legs the wire has worked itself back out to its original position. Also the single bull ring on mine has taken some shots and slightly bent-this has not healed itself.
-I would like to see 2 things different. 50% thinner wire, and one made of steel or some other hard metal. And also one of by biggest quirks with all boards and not just the blade4, but i'd like to see a better looking number ring.
All that being said,i would definately buy another and would highly recommend ti to anyone. Until i find a better board i will keep a blade 4 on the wall at my house.

USMC80:
49$ shipped from amazon, came in two days

The_cutter:
mc1958 wrote:
zappaluv wrote:
Won't even think about buying any other board. This is by far the best board, even better than the Unicorn Eclipse IMO.
Rotate regularly and you won't have any problems.
I rotated mine at least once a week and my Blade 4 only lasted a couple of months before bits started falling off of it. I most likely just got a dodgy one but I can't see me buying another Blade in the near future. Got a TPT at the moment and that still has some life left in it - it's already lasted longer than the Blade - so when the time comes it's either another TPT or possibly one of the new Harrows Matchplay when it comes out.
wasn't able to get a blade 4 when I had the chance, they sold out quickly.

@mc1958, do you have any glue residue problem with the TPT? My Target Play Vision has that issue. Not sure how I could fix it. Could be the hot weather.

mc1958:
Not that I've noticed cutter

rumandcork:
sbull ring is nearly fubar now and getting worse by the day. and since that particular ring anchors the spider it soon will be working itself out too Winmau R+D really need to rethink the bull ring design on this especially the depth...honestly i think the outer bull ring needs to be anchored to the back of the board..will need a new board soon and have some tough decisions to make...eclipse HD or new harrows...hmmmm

Getagrip:
rumandcork wrote:
sbull ring is nearly fubar now and getting worse by the day. and since that particular ring anchors the spider it soon will be working itself out too Winmau R+D really need to rethink the bull ring design on this especially the depth...honestly i think the outer bull ring needs to be anchored to the back of the board..will need a new board soon and have some tough decisions to make...eclipse HD or new harrows...hmmmm

My Bulls advantage 2 is still in good nick, but I still fancy a new board and I cant decide like you Rum, the New Harrows or the Eclipse HD??????

rumandcork:
getagrip wrote:
rumandcork wrote:
sbull ring is nearly fubar now and getting worse by the day. and since that particular ring anchors the spider it soon will be working itself out too Winmau R+D really need to rethink the bull ring design on this especially the depth...honestly i think the outer bull ring needs to be anchored to the back of the board..will need a new board soon and have some tough decisions to make...eclipse HD or new harrows...hmmmm

My Bulls advantage 2 is still in good nick, but I still fancy a new board and I cant decide like you Rum, the New Harrows or the Eclipse HD??????

how long have you had it and how many throws does it get a day?
getagrip: I think I have had it about 2 years now, maybe a littler longer. I only play about 40 mins a day, it is much better wearing than my Blade 3 was but the wire around the double 3 section keeps popping up, also not so keen on the way the wire that divides the segment protrudes into the outer bulls wire. Apart from those 2 niggles it has been an excellent board!

rumandcork:
I would say so. 2 years says a lot about durabilty.

getagrip:
It was a very hard board when I first got it, I think the sisal must be densely packed on them, but its a lot better now, had a few bounceouts at first though. Must be a hard thing to get right for the manufacturers though, too hard and a light thrower with light darts will have problems and not hard enough may mean quicker wearing?

Guest:
I've had my Blade 4 for about a month now. Absolutely love it!! It's the best board I've ever owned or played on. Winmau did a really great job on this one. No complaints at all so far.
Back in March of this year I bought a new Unicorn World Pro from Wally. Was on discount for less then $30. Okay board but after a few days of use I started to get terrible glue residue on my fingers. Took that board back and bought the Blade 4. Wally has them online for $48 shipping to my local store for free.
*** edit- have not had 1 bounce out as of yet. Not 1
Still holding up great after a month of intense play time.

hamo:
I opted for an eclipse pro at home but the clubs practice boards are blade 4's.personally I don't see a big difference in the 2...although, the blades seem to take a good battering better. When the time does come to change I will probs try the eclipse hd that was posted on here a while back. That won't be for ages yet tho.....

Saber: I give the Blade 4 the highest 10 outta 10 for me. Thought Bulls advantage was better but have 2 of them and they have Bulls eye problems with inner ring coming loose.

getagrip:
No problems with my Bulls Advantage 2 Bullseye???
maverick: Had my Blade 4 for a while now , several months anyway and have to say it has stood up well , The bull is a little hard but it doesnt get as much use as it should , Its even stood up to my stepson and his mates playing on it so would recommend without hesitation

Saber: getagrip wrote:
No problems with my Bulls Advantage 2 Bullseye???
cuz ya don't hit it that often ya tool.

Saber:
I have changed my approach to practicing bulls. Instead of 100 darts at the bulls. I now do 100 hits. Same with 20's.

Guest:
1080 for best viewing (a video that does not exist nomore)

getagrip:
Nice clip JD! looks good to me!

USMC80:
Winmau wrote: 1080 for best viewing

rumandcork:
thanks for postin winny...nice to remember what a round bull looks like.lol

[Getagrip]

Thanks for re-posting it, great job! you can have a +1 too Guests cannot see images in the messages. Please register at the forum by clicking here to see images.

[Shed inn]

Ayup Comrades

Straight out of the box Blade 4, nothing like the smell of a box fresh board!
Guests cannot see images in the messages. Please register at the forum by clicking here to see images.

Shed.

[*Saber*]

Now thats one pretty board there.

[exitnumssa]

the best dartboard

[Joene]

You really cant go wrong with a blade 4, its that easy. Good price, good quality.

[sbroon]

still easily the best board i've had, most people say the same