I have been playing darts since a very young age. When I was about eight my dad bought me a set of soft tip darts, from then on I have played on a reasonably regular basis. I have been through several dart boards over the years, although I don't play all the time I do tend to go through phases where I will play loads for a while. The problem with dartboards is that they don't always last that long. The metal wires get bent and broken and the board itself becomes damaged. Usually I go for the Harrows boards as they tend to be the best, however I have used a Winmau board before.

So this particular board is called the Winmau Diamond Bristle Board and it also comes with a set of darts. This is quite a cheap dart board and so I thought I'd give it a try. The first thing that struck me about this board was the bull's-eye. This is often a way you can tell just how good a board it is. On this one they use the method of bringing the wire in and wrapping it round inside the bull. This is not good as it means you tend to get quite a lot of bounce out when you go for the bulls-eye.

The wires on the dartboard are not to bad but they don't tend to last all that long. After a few hits full on with a dart they start to bend and go out of shape. This happens on most boards but it seemed to happed quicker on the Winmau board. The dartboard looks fairly good when brand new but I did find it started to wear out quite quickly. The area around the 20 soon starts to look worn and I found I had to move the board round so that I could use a less worn area.

The darts where nothing special either. They are fairly standard and have no great plus points to them. I tend to use them as a back up pair rather than the ones I would use normally. The fact is over the years I have been somewhat spoiled by using Harrows equipment, so using Winmau felt like a step backwards. However, if you are new to darts and just want a board for messing around on then this could be a good buy.

The set only cost around £20 so it certainly isn't going to break the bank. The fact that you also get a set of darts also makes this a plus point. If you want a good value board that will do the job then this one might well be for you. However if you are like me and have been playing for a long time then you may want to invest in a better board. I suppose as with most things you get what you pay for as this is certainly the case with this dartboard. So overall it doesn't get a great write up from me but again, if you just one a cheap board for a bit of a mess around on then go for this one.