Ping Pong tables---what am I looking for?
- Thread starter Fritzo
- Start date
waffleironhead
Diamond Member
- Aug 10, 2005
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A vehicle big enough to carry one for starters. Get it delivered or find out the box dimensions before purchasing.
- Jan 3, 2001
- 41,920
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Damn it- stop reading my posts and mushing them all together
I move fast and you have to keep up!Charity work aside, my kids play ping-pong like crazy when we stay at resorts on vacation, and they've been bugging me for one forever. I just rearranged our basement, so we now have enough room to park a '58 Buick down there. Figure it'll be an awesome gift. Just looking for anyone that's owned one that can tell me what to look out for.
- Oct 30, 2000
- 42,589
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Ping pong tables will fold in half.
Easy enough to tie onto the roof of the car or on a luggage rack if needed.
Easy enough to tie onto the roof of the car or on a luggage rack if needed.
rocadelpunk
Diamond Member
- Jul 23, 2001
- 5,589
- 1
- 81
The paddles you'll get "for free" are GOING to be sub-par even for amateur fun at home play.
Get it delivered.
I've had a folding one by Harvard for probably 15+ yrs at parent's house and it's quite nice and held up without wabble/warpage.
Make sure it's regulation size
Get an actual table, not something that sits on top of a pool table
Plan for adequate room/diving : ) and light
DO NOT get an el-cheapo offbrand from a B&M. If Dick's sells Stiga/Butterfly/Harvard...fine, but why skimp on something that you'll use/keep for years and years and years.
Last thing you want to have happen is for your table to be useless b/c of poor surface build/warping or general instability.
Just from a quick glance at dick's sporting goods it seems like they sell cheapest tables or the institutional/competition grade stuff...which you don't need.
Personally, I'd just google table tennis tables...look up stores and see what they have in midrange between cheapest/competition. Many will advertise (for home) or give a description on what the table was meant for.
Get it delivered.
I've had a folding one by Harvard for probably 15+ yrs at parent's house and it's quite nice and held up without wabble/warpage.
Make sure it's regulation size
Get an actual table, not something that sits on top of a pool table
Plan for adequate room/diving : ) and light
DO NOT get an el-cheapo offbrand from a B&M. If Dick's sells Stiga/Butterfly/Harvard...fine, but why skimp on something that you'll use/keep for years and years and years.
Last thing you want to have happen is for your table to be useless b/c of poor surface build/warping or general instability.
Just from a quick glance at dick's sporting goods it seems like they sell cheapest tables or the institutional/competition grade stuff...which you don't need.
Personally, I'd just google table tennis tables...look up stores and see what they have in midrange between cheapest/competition. Many will advertise (for home) or give a description on what the table was meant for.
Last edited:
Brainonska511
Lifer
- Dec 10, 2005
- 27,591
- 11,975
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Maybe get one that's beer resistant for when they get older and find additional uses for the table.
The thicker the table top, the better (look for at least 3/4" thick). Aluminum sucks, the only advantage is it's better suited for moisture if left outside.
Get sponge paddles, NOT the hardbat crap you get with the table. Look for something with at least 1.5mm of sponge thickness, preferably 1.8mm to 2.0mm.
NEVER play with the crappy 1 star, or off brand 3 star balls. Get the Nittaku 3 star balls.
Go to http://www.paddlepalace.com/
The equipment you get from Dick's will suck ass so don't even bother. The $249 table is beyond ass and utterly worthless.
Get sponge paddles, NOT the hardbat crap you get with the table. Look for something with at least 1.5mm of sponge thickness, preferably 1.8mm to 2.0mm.
NEVER play with the crappy 1 star, or off brand 3 star balls. Get the Nittaku 3 star balls.
Go to http://www.paddlepalace.com/
The equipment you get from Dick's will suck ass so don't even bother. The $249 table is beyond ass and utterly worthless.
- Jan 3, 2001
- 41,920
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The table for $249 is the $399 ESPN one on their site. This one:
http://www.dickssportinggoods.com/product/index.jsp?productId=3709321
No good then?
It says "0.6" table top", which is unfortunately not very thick meaning the ball won't bounce very well or consistently.
It's like playing regular tennis with old, flat balls. Once you play with the proper equipment, the different in quality will be overwhelmingly discerning. You simply can't play tennis correctly with the wrong equipment, which is no different than ping pong. The good paddles and balls are very cheap from paddlepalace, but the tables there are a bit more than you're looking to spend.
Just find a good brand name table from somewhere else. Costco used to have a decent one that had free shipping.
ESPN is not a ping pong company, and were just given money to use their name on whatever budget brand needed a recognizable label.
Looking online, that table can be found for $200. It looks like it never was worth anywhere near $400, it was just artificially marked up. Another sign it's worthless: looks like it's only available via Dick's. Since it can't be found anywhere else, you can't easily compare store prices to get a true idea of the worth of the table.
They use this technique with mattresses as well.
fustercluck
Diamond Member
- Dec 29, 2002
- 7,402
- 0
- 71
They have a nice sportscraft one at Sam's club I saw yesterday. It was like $240 or something cheap. I don't think quality will matter too much when it comes to a ping pong table, unless you're some Chinese world champion. Just get official size.
Not like buying a pool table where quality is everything.
Not like buying a pool table where quality is everything.
Quality of a ping pong table makes a huge difference, much akin to your billiards reference. EVERY sport is like this - poor equipment makes for a poor experience. There's simply no way to bypass this.
moshquerade
No Lifer
- Nov 1, 2001
- 61,504
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MikeyIs4Dcats
Lifer
- Nov 5, 2001
- 18,366
- 3
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it's a ping pong table. your kids will play on it for 2 weeks then forget it existed while your wife uses it to fold laundry.
drum
Diamond Member
- Feb 1, 2003
- 6,810
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Loop2kil
Platinum Member
- Mar 28, 2004
- 2,605
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Seawolf is correct, you get what you pay for....$250 might not get you a great table but I found a Stiga in your price range:
http://www.sportsunlimitedinc.com/stiga-spyder-ping-pong-table.html
If you are not gonna be moving the table and want to get something that's a better quality table, the Butterfly Europa is one of my favorites but will cost around 600-700 bucks. Joola makes some of my favorite roller tables but are in the $1000's. Keep in mind that any Butterfly, Joola or any other high end table will virtually last forever with only mild care. The cheaper ones might not make it a month with kids
http://www.sportsunlimitedinc.com/stiga-spyder-ping-pong-table.html
If you are not gonna be moving the table and want to get something that's a better quality table, the Butterfly Europa is one of my favorites but will cost around 600-700 bucks. Joola makes some of my favorite roller tables but are in the $1000's. Keep in mind that any Butterfly, Joola or any other high end table will virtually last forever with only mild care. The cheaper ones might not make it a month with kids
SpatiallyAware
Lifer
- Sep 7, 2009
- 12,960
- 3
- 0
Craigslist would be a good place to start imo. I can think of at least two people that have one sitting in their basement.
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