Customer Reviews

Halex 69805-MAP Cricket View 5000 Dartboard in Wood Cabinet (Maple Finish)

5 star:		(1)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(4)
1 star:		(5)

 

 

First off, I didn't purchase this from Amazon, rather a local retailer. I just felt I should get my experience out there for some to read.
What a great idea, huh? An electronic scoring steel tip board, with soft tip capability. It seems that these surfaces are double layered. A softer layer on the top (soft tip) and a harder layer under that one (steel tip). I've gone through 2 of these boards before giving up on the Bristle Tech material. What seems to happen is that it works great for the first couple of weeks. But then the darts start not staying in the material.

Using the supplied soft tips:
I had areas of the outer layer that had a lot of penetration time after time. Eventually, you couldn't get a soft tip to stick in those spots at all, you couldn't push it in with your hand, it would just fall out. This happened on 3 quadrants on the first board, particularly near the bull's eye. Then the second board's darts started bouncing out, like every other shot. It turns out that I was penetrating the outer layer to the inner layer and the dart would shoot out from the board like it hit a spring. Soft tips can't penetrate the inner layer, and the outer layer isn't dense enough to hold it snuggly after repeated use. And again, I had 'dead' areas develope on this board as well.

Using the supplied steel tips:
Started playing with these thinking, it's a steel tip board with electronic scoring, I can handle that..it is cool after all. 2 days of playing with the steel tips and they started sagging. Dart would hit the board and then fall like it was going to pull out of the board. This started happening over and over until 2 of 3 shots did this regularly. It was as if the material wasn't strong enough to hold the darts after repeated use. I didn't wait to find out if they would also start hitting the ground. Just returned it.

The menu/scoring system was fine, the sounds were pretty good. Voices were good. Didn't have any problems with that part of it at all, good selection of games.

Self healing? No memory? Needs some work guys, great idea though. I would say this material in ANY board is first off for very occasional use. Primarily for steel tip, or very light soft tip, lighter than supplied in fact.

Warning! Do not buy this board if expect it to improve your standings in steel tip league play. Do buy it for family entertainment value, and to introduce the game to newbe's.

This is a really great looking device. I was so much fun until the board started getting stuck. I returned it and the next one lasted only two weeks. I really want one of these boards as soon as this problem is fixed. Seriously!!! Make the changes and this will be a great product. All it needs really is a way to loosen the panels inside without having to take it down.

This was a Christmas gift for my kids. It is excellent. The darts stick easily, the electronic scoring makes it so easy. The company answers the phone when you call for support. There are many different games to play. The kids love it the grown ups love it. The darts are pointy but not metal (a stiff bendy rubber/plastic material.) Highly Recommended. I have never owned a dartboard before.

I bought this dartboard hoping it would give me the flexibility to use both soft tips and steel tip, but found that I can't use either. The darts don't stay in like they are supposed to.

The screws that held one of the doors in place has been stripped out and will not stay in place.

The top half of the dartboard is intermittent in its scoring. When it doesn't score you can press the scoring pads, but sometimes that doesn't even work.

It cost $60 to have this sent to me and it is going to cost another $60 to send it back. With the money spent in shipping alone I could have bought a descent board that actually worked.

If you have a camcorder you can watch your shots as an instant replay so you can see what you hit. Then you can keep score the old fashioned way on a seperate piece of paper. I think that is the best way this dartboard can be enjoyed.

Enjoy your purchase of another product. Do not buy this one.

I received this board for Christmas. My family and friends have a good time with this board. The volume levels are great for any circumstance. My son enjoys being heckled by the game. I like the fact that there is a large score board that is easy to view from across the room. Overall it is a good non-competition board for the family to enjoy.

I spent a long time looking into electronic dartboards, and this one looked great online, especially with it's nice looking cabinet, bristle targets, and large cricket scoreboard. However, when I got it, half of the board did not keep score, even if I pushed it with my finger. I was almost glad that I had an excuse to return it because it was very very heavy (difficult to hang), and the cabinet wasn't actually that nice (poor hinges and misaligned). Amazon was very good about returning the item. After this whole experience, I realize that a real bristle board is much much better.

If you want electronic scoring, get the kind for plastic tip darts (with the little holes). Bristle boards naturally wear out and need rotation and eventual replacement, neither of which are feasible with this all-in-one product. I am very happy that I instead got a DMI Bandit II bristle dartboard (very long lasting with razor thin wire) and DMI backboard, leaving me money for some nice tungsten darts. For scoring, download the free Darts Scorekeeper software to your laptop. This way, you can combine the best of both worlds -- professional grade equipment and not having to add numbers in your head! This is by far the best way to go if you want to play at all competitively - learn from my experience!

I ordered this dartboard thinking wow, looks like some great technology. Only I never got to experience the joy of throwing, because it was broken when I opened the package. There was a dent in the wooden cabinet, a seem on the cabinet was splitting apart, and the dartboard itself had a broken plastic piece. Overall not pleased, but can't speak for the play of the dartboard itself. When bought from Amazon, the package comes in its original box, thus not protecting the item whatsoever while being shipped.

I bought this dartboard and recieved it damaged. I had to fix the cabinet that it came in. Then lost the sound in the board witch i also fixed, the magnet fell out of the speaker i just had to glue it back in but for $200 plus you should just pug it in. Darts do not stick in board very often either. I would stay away from this product.

I've purchased over the past 4 years 3 of these boards. Each time they worked well for a few months before having major issues. The bristle darts don't stick and never did. No problem as we preferred the steel tipped darts anyway. Use the steel darts, those supplied, and bingo the metal dividers begin to fall off the board. Continue to play and the board begins to miss scoring dart throws despite the fact that the dart is deeply into the board. Play on and then the electronic scorer begins to faulter: It just resets! Or it stops working entirely. We have this board at a condo in VT where we play maybe 10 times per year for maybe an hour each time. With more use this would last ONE tournament...maybe. The company should replace this model with one that actually works. I would not recommend this dart board until then. The idea is great and while it works it is he best one could purchase. That explains the number of times I repurchased it thinking is was just a lemon...no more.