Average Reviews:
(More customer reviews)I had to buy this item sight unseen without the benefit of many reviews, so I thought I'd write down my thoughts for the aid of any future buyers:
first, this is a midlevel table - on the one hand, it's not Superchexx (which given its incredible durability may be worth the $2700 if you have it to spend) and on the other hand, you can find much cheaper tables if you need to save the money. But this one requires negligible assembly (bolting on legs is easy and takes less than 30 minutes) and is basically ready to play on arrival, which to me makes it much better than the cheap tables (just look around for the many assembly horror stories on those). There's also a certain level of quality control that comes from having it pre-assembled and inspected already, etc. It also has some features the lower tier games lack, like a puck return system, etc. (see below on that).
Price-wise I found it online for $725 including shipping (which seems to be the manufacturer's required "minimum advertised price" so that was as low as I could get online - maybe if you have a local dealer in your neighborhood you can negotiate a lower price from them). For what I found, this was the cheapest (and I think best) of the "midlevel" tables.
It's also lightweight for such a table: two not very strong middle-aged men handled it without any trouble at all. Shipping for all these things is always "curbside" but with this table, as long as you have a friend to help, carrying it in from the curb should not be hard and wouldn't be something I'd worry about if I had to do it again (it even came with straps to use to carry it). Now that it's assembled, it is also easy for one person to drag it around the room for cleaning, repositioning, whatever. Note that you need two people to assemble it, although that's solely to lift it up onto the legs once you've assembled the legs.
The play quality is excellent and I am very happy with that element - it plays just like the Superchexx arcade games, smooth and easy with no trouble at all. Gears etc. work like a charm and look ready to last (with occassional lubrication, of course). The players look good, not cheesy or anything.
It is also sturdy - the legs are just as good and sturdy as a pedestal would be, I think, and it seems to be built to last. It uses a lot of plastic for the frame/dome and such (note that the legs and the rods, etc. are metal), but it's still well put together and I expect it to last a long time.
Another upside for me is that my handicapped brother was able to play it from his wheelchair; it can easily be played while sitting on a bar stool or in a chair from my dining room table too. The sidewalls do not hamper vision of the puck/ice at all.
Also, the set up does not have one of those "over the table" scoring boards, which I personally think is the one thing this table has over Superchexx, at least for adults: once you reach a certain height, trying to look around the score board to see your opponent's goal was always such a pain in the back.
So here are the downsides, all of which are minor to me: the first is the scoring/timing system: one, the scoring sounds terrible, it's just lame beeps that sound like a 1970s arcade game; two, the scorer works solely off of timed periods, so you can't "play to ten" or anything; and three, the periods are just lame pointless beeps during the middle of play. So basically at my house we're playing with all that turned off, which is fine for me but if you're buying a table for the sound, buy something else, I guess, as this element was shockingly bad (given how cheap and easy decent electronics would be for Carrom to install).
Second minor item: the rods for both the blue and the red team have red handles. Just looks odd and everyone comments on it, but you quickly get used to it. I forget, maybe Superchexx etc. all do it that way too. Although then I'd put on black handles or somesuch if I were doing it.
Last minor item is just the puck return system: it's a bit different from what I'd expected. First, it does have such a system, unlike the cheaper tables which just give you a cup at the bottom of the goal and you take the cup and empty it over the table to start play, etc. But it's also not the arcade system where the puck shoots up from the middle of the rink and you start play. With this one, the puck goes into the goal, and down a little ramp. From there, you use a little push button to force it back out of the goal. It's kind of like shooting a shuffleboard puck or something, it's just a little rod that forces the puck out. But, the harder you push the harder it shoots out, so it's actually possible to slam it good and shoot it right down the ice - into your opponent's goal in fact, it's really not even hard to score that way (unless your opponent is ready to block it with his goalie). So my house rule is that goals scored that way do no count. I think it beats the cup system of the cheaper models, and I'd say that overall I'll be happy enough with the system as it is, but still it's not as nice as the arcade set up would be. But of course, I'm also not going to pay $2000 more just for a better puck return system.
All in all, I'd say this is a 90% satisfactory unit put out by Carrom. At this midlevel price-point, it's as good or better than the competition (all of which have their own flaws and such, of course, and most of whcih cost hundreds more than the Elite). I'd say it's worth the $700 I paid for it, and while there are a few annoying elements, they're not annoying enough to be worth paying a few hundred more, let alone a couple grand more for a Superchexx. That said, Carrom could have and should have built in some better electronics, what they have in it is just amazingly lame given the $700 purchase price.
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Relive the thrilling table hockey games of your youth with the Carrom Elite stick hockey table. The Elite features a Dyno-Ice poly play surface that supports faster passing and shooting, along with a new puck design that provides realistic high-speed play. The table's thinner surface slots, meanwhile, minimize puck interference to create a more fluid game. And players will love the electronic scoring panels on both ends of the table. The panels--which track the scoring with infrared sensors--also celebrate goals with lights and sound, helping simulate a genuine hockey experience.
Other features include steel legs with leg levelers for stability; a custom full-view dome over the top that provides a distortion-free view unobstructed by the overhead scoring unit; a sturdy plastic cabinet with no exposed bolts; a Puck-n-Play feature that allows for hands-free use of the puck; slip-clutch gear components that eliminate binding; and an easy-to-set-up design. Designed for ages 13 and older, the Elite stick hockey table measures 64 by 43 by 35 inches (W x H x D) with the rods and weighs 140 pounds.
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