Let me explain how these work: Theres metal tape on the bottom of the arrows and when you press down on the arrows the metal tape activates the circuit pad down under. Also it is important to know that all these pads have a metal frame but inside the frame is wood.

Often over the care and maitenance of these pads youll have to take off the arrows (by unscrewing them) and clean the circuit pad because metal tape will get stuck to it. Also you may have to replace metal tape if the pad lasts long enough.

Now for the design flaws: The arrows are screwed directly into the wood; this means each time you unscrew and screw in the arrows your making the wooden holes weaker!

Second major flaw: The wires of the metal pad run over the frame instead of under. This means every time you press down (on the up arrow) its pressing against the wires – this looks like a recipe to disconnect a wire.

So who should get this?

Well, with the cheap plastic / styrofoam pads you can play steps up to about 7(on the 10 step scale) on “hard.” and these pads usually last FAR longer than the metal pads.

Get this metal pad if you just HAVE to play over 7 steps and dont have a DDR machine in the arcade. The machines in the arcade are usually about 1 dollar for 3 songs. This means for eqiuvalent use on this pad you have to get about 300 songs worth; this may not seem like alot but these pads go quick on the hard songs.

Im going to keep track of how long these pads last; i bought two. Ill update when they break.

Lastly, I wouldnt pay much more than 100 including shipping on mats like these UNLESS your a very heavy player and you can get a good warrenty. Its more than possible to break one of these pads in a couple days.
Rating: 3 / 5