Dynamo Arctic Wind any good?

[bkenobi]

I have access to a Dynamo Arctic Wind table in good shape for under $200.  Is this a good table or just a Dynamo by name only?  It's apparently 3yo with home use only, so probably has a lot of life left.  Comments?

http://www.vdlp.org/dynamo/arcticwind.asp

[Donkbaca]

not a comment on that table in particular, but on air hockey in general.  Have you ever seen on for home use?  They are a pain, they require regular maintenance to keep the thousands of air holes on the play field free from gunk, and they are louder than all heck.  A buddy of mine has one, we never play it, between the sound of the fan and the click clack of the puck, its just too darn noisy.  Its fun in an arcade, or pool hall or bar where there is tons of ambient noise, I wouldn't want one in my house though.

[bkenobi]

I've never owned an air hockey table, so I can't say anything about the maintenance.  My relatives have a kiddie xx-in-1 table and the holes have never been cleaned.  The table is crap, but it's never needed any maintenance.

I have pinball and foosball in the game room already and can't see that air hockey can be that much louder.  I guess it depends on what you are used to whether the noise is too much.  Again, I haven't had an air hockey in the house yet, so perhaps a real table will be louder than the kiddie version.

[Howard_Casto]

Oh be assured it can't get a LOT louder.  A full-sized air hockey table can have equivalent of a vacuum cleaner motor forcing air out the holes.  Just do the math on that one.  There are quiet ones, but most are pretty darn loud. 

[bkenobi]

Understanding that air hockey can be loud...can anyone say anything about this model of Dynamo?  I can get a Harvard equivalent table for around the same price, so if this is a toy Dynamo I'd like to know.  Most Dynamo's list for ~$3-4000 while this one is only $1300.  I know it lacks all electronic scoring features and it's not commercial so it doesn't have the coin mech.  What I really want to know is if the blower stuff and table surface are of commercial grade quality or if it's more Walmart than that.

[geomartin]

I wouldn't worry too much about the noise, it is your game room.  I found that my air hockey table gets played more than my video games by anyone younger than 40.  Plus my wife loves the table and keeps her interested in the game room.  Don't know anything about your model though.

[bkenobi]

Well, the guy dropped the price down to $150 and I think I can get it lower.  The specs say it's a quite blower, so I just hope that doesn't mean it's weak.  I'm going to contact Valley Dynamo in Texas to see what the difference in components is just to be sure though.

[Gray_Area]

That's a home one. I would go for an arcade model (Of which I've seen on CL around here for as low as $150), but that one might be fine for you.

[bkenobi]

I would have preferred a coin op/pro version but there are a few reasons why I'm not going that route.  I ended up picking up the Arctic Wind last night...

1) I don't know if my wife will appreciate that quality of table.
2) Arcade quality Dynamo tables sell for ~$750 around here.  I saw one available for $75, but when I was about to leave on my way, the guy let me know that someone spilled a pop on it and the surface was "slightly bulging".
3) The guy dropped the price to $100 which is less than what the home tables sell for around here, so I can sell it for at least what I paid for it if we decide to get an arcade quality version.