New Blade 4 advice

[cedar]

I'm hoping for a little advice on what new dart board to get. I've never owned a quality board before. Matter of fact other than a little bit well over 25 years ago I've only been throwing about 6 months. My regular "round wire" (hope that's the right term) board has gotten to where I sometimes get 20-30 bounce outs an hour when playing. Or at least it sure seems that way. Board and wire still look okay though.

Anyway I'm ready to get a new board and from checking around it seems that the blade4 looks to be the best mix of quality and durability. My question is down to between the blade4 and blade4 dual-core. I'm in America and the UK shops all have shipping costs as high or higher than the board itself so they're out. In a thread here I found out that Ozone billiards has the blade4 for $49.99 with free shipping as long as I purchase a set of flights to get the order over $50. But I read someone says that they (Ozone boards) might be an "old style" of blade4's? (Are there different styles of blade4's (not counting dual-core)?


Amazon.com has the blade4's for $51.73 with free shipping fulfilled from "Venus Sports". They (Amazon) also have the dual-core for $77.99 (ooh now down to $75.99) fulfilled from "Darting Around" with free shipping. They look really nice. I like the vibrant colors and not having veining is also appealing. But I read somewhere that around dec. or jan. there was a BDO tourney where they used a dual-core and they were getting a lot of bounce outs. Think someone said there was a dead spot on the twenty area. Plus I read elsewhere that some of the 1st dual-core boards had the old green ink used on them by mistake. If I get a board I want it to be durable and last.



So I have the blade4 for about $52 or the dual-core for $76.
My question('s) is do you all think that the dual-core is worth $24 more than the regular blade4? Also is it durable? Will those 2 layers stay together? And am I past the initial "lemon" stage of the board yet? Also is there an "old version" of the regular blade4's? Or is there a better board for the price than either/all of those?



thanks in advance for all replies.

[Getagrip]

I would say my 2 current faves are the Dual Core and the Gladiator 2

I think the Dual Core lasts better than the original B4

[Tormentor]

I have had a B4 Dual Core for a couple weeks now so I can't really comment yet on it's longevity. It is a nice board but I don't see that it's miles better than the original B4. As far as dead spots in the board, I think that's a Winmau thing that comes with all of their boards. I haven't noticed anything on my DC that was any worse than the regular B4. Both great boards, the colors are better on the DC.

[mc1958]

@Tormentor - you may want to change your post to read Dual Core instead of putting the initials - the new filter is at work lol

[Tormentor]

Lol - yea your probably right! Oh well if I get banned -I will live!
Thats kind of ridiculous

[Getagrip]

Larry! get it changed! LOL

[Dorian]

If you have to stick with Unicorn go for the new Dual Core Blade 4, our club has been re-equipped with them last week. Although its early days of course, initial impressions are that it is far better made that the old B-4. As Getagrip also indicated though the One80 Gladiator Mk2 is another great option which has been around for a while and is very wear-resistant.

Cheers

[uncle poop]

I am a big fan of the Blade4 board. I want to give the dual core a try but my original Blade4 is going strong. Older B4's had a problem with the black ink transferring from your hand to the lighter parts of the board. This is an aesthetic problem and does not effect the durability of the board. I have had a few bounce outs on my B4 but it was from a friend of mine who I think can get a bounce out if there was no wires. I have had my board now nearly a year and it is going strong. Starting to get a little wear in the bull section but that is because I am American and play more than just '01 games.

I also want to try the Gladiator 2 after GetaGrip's review.

I say spend a little more and get a quality board.

[cedar]

Thanks for the replies guys. I had no earthly idea what was going on with the "non-contributing...etc." thing. But when Getagrip said he liked the Gladiator 2 I googled it, and I found it on a site that has the same initials as "dual-core". And for only $38.50. Unfortunately the shipping to the US is $43.66. GRRRRRRRR!!!
I thought I remembered something about a forum discount so I looked in the shop review section, and couldn't find it anywhere. Went through the list again closely and finally figured out it was the one re-named "non-contributing...etc.". Guess that means no discount from here anymore. lol

Still haven't heard a definitive "dual-core's not worth almost 50% more than the regular b4" or "definitely worth it". Wish Ama-zone had the Gladiator 2. Nice looking board. Clean non-cluttered look around the sides. May sleep on it (decision) for a day or so.
**********strike that earlier sentence. While typing my post it appears that Dorian and uncle poop have both stated definitely worth the extra for the dual-core. (thanks guys)




Hey I just thought of something. If you ask here "where in the US are all the politicians located?", the answer would be;
"Washington D........uhhhh....Washington A non-contributing vendor"
Eureka!!!
Perfect!!!
I'll see if I can get that name changed right away. "Course it may be a bit problematic as I'll have to sneak it past all the "non-contributing vendors". Maybe I'll just wait till they're all on break. Can't be too long till that happens again.

[Getagrip]

Shipping is always a killer, I would love to buy that new soft tip board at Dartswarehouse but they dont ship outside NZ and I think the cost would be too much really.

[uncle poop]

Have you checked out A-Z? Not sure of their prices for the boards or how much shipping will be but they are based in the U.S. I did order some stuff from them and the service was good got my stuff in a couple of days.

[Tormentor]

$90 for Dual Core from A-Z. Glad I got mine for $60 : - )

[cedar]

Yeah I did check A-Z uncle poop. Thanks for the attempt anyway.

$90 for Dual Core from A-Z. Glad I got mine for $60 : - )

$60 from where?

[Dorian]

I am a big fan of the Blade4 board. I want to give the dual core a try but my original Blade4 is going strong. Older B4's had a problem with the black ink transferring from your hand to the lighter parts of the board. This is an aesthetic problem and does not effect the durability of the board. I have had a few bounce outs on my B4 but it was from a friend of mine who I think can get a bounce out if there was no wires. I have had my board now nearly a year and it is going strong. Starting to get a little wear in the bull section but that is because I am American and play more than just '01 games.

I also want to try the Gladiator 2 after GetaGrip's review.

I say spend a little more and get a quality board.

You're right about the ink problem on the old Blade 4, mine looked 5 years old after just a few weeks.

[Banned]

Being in the USA you can't go wrong with Amazon. It's the only place I'll buy a board now. The small vendors have a hard time competing with free shipping on heavy items such as a dart board.