Help me decide on a DDR metal dance pad
April 9, 2013 12:49 PM Subscribe
(No I can't build my own pad at this time, graduate school). I've found two dealers that sells hard / metal DDR pads from Poland: maty-taneczne.pl and rd.sokolka.com. They seem to be the only / one of the few reputable dealers out there that sell DDR pads for home use that aren't generally crap. Can you post here with reviews of their merchandise if you've purchased from them? Otherwise alternate dealers / solutions are welcome (if some other outfit can make a good DDR hard pad - in the US - I'll gladly buy it).
I like DDR for exercise. I have horrible allergies, so going out of doors to do any sort of exercise lays me up for a few days afterwards with horrible symptoms (this is even on meds!).
I used to have a local place where I could go to use their machine, but the pads have finally given out and they can't be used except for the simplest songs.
My best bet appears to be StepMania coupled with a hard dance pad (metal / plastic / wood / etc).
First I'm going to invest in a PS2 game and a Red Octane soft dance pad just to get something going.
Other quality retailers for dance pads are out of business (CobaltFlux, MyMybox, RedOctance, etc) and / or their products don't appear to be for sale anywhere I've checked (Amazon, Ebay, Craigslist, etc).
Other retailers (that are not so quality) I hesitate to buy from (DDRGame.com, FutureMax, Play-Asia, etc) as their reviews on the forums I've checked are generally poor and / or they no longer sell pads I'm interested in.
I have not found a thread / subforum I could use to do a "WTB" post (Want to buy) for a hard pad.
There may be on Zenius-I-Vanisher, but I found the site generally unsearchable (no search function worth the name, no sub-forum search, very poor search engine allowed indexing, etc).
DDR Freak has some reviews but these appear to be horribly out of date.
The "recommendations" page on the StepMania Wiki also appears to be quite out of date.
Weirdly DDR is now known by the term "Exergaming", a much more marketable term as they seem to apply mostly to schools, etc. As the price point for their pads ($1000 a piece!) seems to reflect.
I like DDR for exercise. I have horrible allergies, so going out of doors to do any sort of exercise lays me up for a few days afterwards with horrible symptoms (this is even on meds!).
I used to have a local place where I could go to use their machine, but the pads have finally given out and they can't be used except for the simplest songs.
My best bet appears to be StepMania coupled with a hard dance pad (metal / plastic / wood / etc).
First I'm going to invest in a PS2 game and a Red Octane soft dance pad just to get something going.
Other quality retailers for dance pads are out of business (CobaltFlux, MyMybox, RedOctance, etc) and / or their products don't appear to be for sale anywhere I've checked (Amazon, Ebay, Craigslist, etc).
Other retailers (that are not so quality) I hesitate to buy from (DDRGame.com, FutureMax, Play-Asia, etc) as their reviews on the forums I've checked are generally poor and / or they no longer sell pads I'm interested in.
I have not found a thread / subforum I could use to do a "WTB" post (Want to buy) for a hard pad.
There may be on Zenius-I-Vanisher, but I found the site generally unsearchable (no search function worth the name, no sub-forum search, very poor search engine allowed indexing, etc).
DDR Freak has some reviews but these appear to be horribly out of date.
The "recommendations" page on the StepMania Wiki also appears to be quite out of date.
Weirdly DDR is now known by the term "Exergaming", a much more marketable term as they seem to apply mostly to schools, etc. As the price point for their pads ($1000 a piece!) seems to reflect.
I came in to advise against Mymybox, but lo! they are out of business, not surprising. Also would like to add, I play Bemani DDR games on a PS2 with an LCD TV and have experienced no problems with timing at all.
posted by tomboko at 2:44 PM on April 9, 2013
posted by tomboko at 2:44 PM on April 9, 2013
Bemani games need to be played on a CRT TV if you're doing this via PS2.
I have played DDR through a PS2 hooked up to a projector. Worked fine (for me). Have no experience with metal pads outside of arcades, so I'll be reading this thread with interest.
posted by Blazecock Pileon at 2:55 PM on April 9, 2013
I have played DDR through a PS2 hooked up to a projector. Worked fine (for me). Have no experience with metal pads outside of arcades, so I'll be reading this thread with interest.
posted by Blazecock Pileon at 2:55 PM on April 9, 2013
Response by poster: @griphus
Good advice. I never would have caught that. I went with a Konami game: DDRMAX2, since I've played the arcade version before.
posted by Pontifex at 2:57 PM on April 9, 2013
Good advice. I never would have caught that. I went with a Konami game: DDRMAX2, since I've played the arcade version before.
posted by Pontifex at 2:57 PM on April 9, 2013
I have a suggestion for your intermediate dance pad. After being kind of overwhelmed by the cost of metal dance pads, we bought a couple of these foam pads. They're not going to last forever if they get constant heavy use, but but ours still work years later. A couple of the buttons are funky on the pad that's been used more- it's kind of like they slide out of place. These were a huge improvement over a floppy dance pad.
I've used them with both DDR and StepMania.
posted by Secretariat at 2:58 PM on April 9, 2013 [1 favorite]
I've used them with both DDR and StepMania.
posted by Secretariat at 2:58 PM on April 9, 2013 [1 favorite]
Response by poster: @Secretariat
Good recommendation. That was my #2 choice if the RedOctane one (as above) didn't pan out or was too expensive.
posted by Pontifex at 3:32 PM on April 9, 2013
Good recommendation. That was my #2 choice if the RedOctane one (as above) didn't pan out or was too expensive.
posted by Pontifex at 3:32 PM on April 9, 2013
If you happen to be in the Boston area, I have a Cobalt Flux that I would consider selling. Cosmetic damage, but it works great. Memail if you're interested.
posted by daisyace at 4:37 PM on April 9, 2013
posted by daisyace at 4:37 PM on April 9, 2013
Response by poster: @daisyace
I'm not in the Boston area. That would be an excellent match for my needs though. I'll MeMail to follow up.
As to the original question: I would still appreciate feedback concerning those retailers, as I may need another hard pad in the future (for my wife) or other avenues of purchasing a hard pad in the states.
posted by Pontifex at 4:49 PM on April 9, 2013
I'm not in the Boston area. That would be an excellent match for my needs though. I'll MeMail to follow up.
As to the original question: I would still appreciate feedback concerning those retailers, as I may need another hard pad in the future (for my wife) or other avenues of purchasing a hard pad in the states.
posted by Pontifex at 4:49 PM on April 9, 2013
You can occasionally find Cobalt Flux pads on ebay. That's where I picked up mine, but the shipping charge was enormous. I don't think any other metal pad compares.
posted by dobi at 4:57 PM on April 9, 2013
posted by dobi at 4:57 PM on April 9, 2013
Response by poster: @dobi
Yes, Ebay seemed to be the place to try. I hadn't seen anything for about a month so far, they may be very scarce. =/
posted by Pontifex at 5:10 PM on April 9, 2013
Yes, Ebay seemed to be the place to try. I hadn't seen anything for about a month so far, they may be very scarce. =/
posted by Pontifex at 5:10 PM on April 9, 2013
If you're in the DC area, memail me (I have a CF I could part with).
posted by somanyamys at 9:26 AM on April 10, 2013
posted by somanyamys at 9:26 AM on April 10, 2013
Response by poster: I'm in California unfortunately. =/
When I MeMailed daisyace about a Cobalt Flux she brought up some really good points about cross country shipping like that (packaging can be quite expensive, shipping through Fedex was at least $60, there's potential for damage during shipping, etc). So if someone is in CA that wants to sell one, that would be excellent! But cross country seems to be a large hassle for all parties involved.
(Though it is cool that people have these nice pads that they're not using, hopefully we can fix up some other people. XD)
posted by Pontifex at 3:46 PM on April 10, 2013
When I MeMailed daisyace about a Cobalt Flux she brought up some really good points about cross country shipping like that (packaging can be quite expensive, shipping through Fedex was at least $60, there's potential for damage during shipping, etc). So if someone is in CA that wants to sell one, that would be excellent! But cross country seems to be a large hassle for all parties involved.
(Though it is cool that people have these nice pads that they're not using, hopefully we can fix up some other people. XD)
posted by Pontifex at 3:46 PM on April 10, 2013
Response by poster: Paydirt.
Meet the "Omega GX" (a double version is available too, link may not be reliable right now).
It's a hard pad, that is not metal (Lexan and hardboard). It has some fairly compelling videos on YouTube of its use.
I'll give it a try and post reviews here.
The inventor just started an Amazon store (in the past few days[!!], I believe) and is starting to gather reviews.
6 month warranty and a fairly liberal money back guarantee. Maintenance with partial shipping paid for as per the manual.
posted by Pontifex at 1:19 PM on April 11, 2013
Meet the "Omega GX" (a double version is available too, link may not be reliable right now).
It's a hard pad, that is not metal (Lexan and hardboard). It has some fairly compelling videos on YouTube of its use.
I'll give it a try and post reviews here.
The inventor just started an Amazon store (in the past few days[!!], I believe) and is starting to gather reviews.
6 month warranty and a fairly liberal money back guarantee. Maintenance with partial shipping paid for as per the manual.
posted by Pontifex at 1:19 PM on April 11, 2013
Best answer: I have ordered and received the pad. I've posted a review on Amazon. Far and away the best pad I've ever used. Now to make a stand for it!
posted by Pontifex at 3:16 PM on April 27, 2013
posted by Pontifex at 3:16 PM on April 27, 2013
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posted by griphus at 1:00 PM on April 9, 2013