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[snaildog]

I'm wanting a decent dance pad for around $100. I'm not sure if I want metal or soft - as long as it's nice to use and holds up for a while I'm happy. I'll be using it on carpet, and I'm wanting to get into it every day. I've got one of the cheap floppy ones at the moment, and I'm really liking the games and wanting to step up. Any suggestions? There are so many that I really don't have a clue where to start.



Oh, and is it just me or are the ddrfreak.com forum mods the saddest bunch of losers on the internet?

DO NOT POST A "WHICH PAD IS THE BEST?" THREAD.
If you really want to know, do some research. You'll narrow it down pretty quickly. Do *NOT* post a thread asking for information that you could have easily found by looking - why should anyone else exert effort on your behalf when you were too lazy to find out yourself?

Yes OK, I'll just search through a few of the 97-page threads that started four years ago to save a keen helper the 10 seconds in answering me. Every second thread is locked after one schoolteacher reply. Ahem, anyway, some suggestions would be appreciated!

 

[bobbyconover]

Yes OK, I'll just search through a few of the 97-page threads that started four years ago to save a keen helper the 10 seconds in answering me.

The point is that it takes a lot more than 10 seconds to answer you, because there IS no definitive answer. If it were so easy to just say "X is best, go buy it," you probably wouldn't have started this thread in the first place because you'd already know exactly which one to pick up. I sympathize with the DDRfreak guys a bit, because I hung out in a bemani-themed chat room for years and this question was asked practically daily. The worst part was that at the end of the day nobody took our advice anyway. They all just bought whichever pads were cheapest, then came back demanding help "modding" their shitty non-working hong kong knock-offs with tape and glue and carpet padding to try to make them resemble decent pads. It was a really, REALLY annoying and obnoxious cycle and I'm guessing the DDRfreak people are just trying to save their own sanity if they've imposed a complete ban on the topic.

I'll attempt a quick answer anyway -- I've heard a lot of good things about the Red Octane Ignition pad, which is a clone of Konami's Deluxe Pad. I've never used an Ignition, but I've owned a Deluxe for years and it has always suited my needs just fine.

 

[the year 20XX]

I'll just say this: $100 is a value pad? And then I'll ask what I ask all the rich Gaffers: do you need an assistant?

 

[Teknopathetic]

Value relates to more than just price, value also has to take reliabilitity, convenience, etc. into account as well as price. Very few of those 30-40 dollar deals last long.

 

[snaildog]

Thanks for that. I would ideally like one under $100, in about the $50 to $80 range, but I'll consider it if RedOctane's really the way to go; cheers. Any more suggestions would be appreciated.

I do sympathise with the endless newbie questions, but they don't have to be quite so elite - you're not allowed to talk about any dance mat comparisons at all apart from in one of the hundred-page threads; it's just really inconvenient and unfriendly.

 

[brocke]

The $100 pads will not last you any longer than 3-5 months. After that you will have to buy a new one. This is considering you play on standard and heavy mode.

Save yourself money and buy the $300 one. The medal one.