Equipment Review: Dirt Cheap Go Set

The Dirt Cheap Go Set

Description: “Are you looking for an affordable Go set? Look no further. The Dirt Cheap Go Set is a complete, full size Go game set at an unbeatable price! Each set includes one foldable 19x19 plastic Go board, 180 Go stones of each color (black and white) and two plastic Go bowls. Because the board can be folded and sealed tightly inside one of the bowls (with the stones) this set is also compact and portable.” - GoGameGuru

Product Details

Title, The Dirt Cheap Go Set
Product, Go Game Set
Stones (Quantity), 180 of each color
Material (Stones), Plastic
Material (Bowls), Plastic
Material (Board), Plastic
Product Dimensions, 25.4 x 13.5 x 6.4 cm
Weight, 3.4 lbs
Vendor, GoGameGuru

Synopsis

What’s the best aspect about this product?

• Price and affordability.

What is the weakest aspect of this product?

• The stones come with a rather strong plastic smell that needs to be washed away.

Is it durable?

• It’s as durable as you expect plastic to be.

Bottom Line

1. Be mindful that with the cheap price comes a sacrifice in quality players tend to look for in their go sets.
2. Not recommended if this is your first set since it can warp your perception of what most go sets are like.
3. Recommended as a great go set for people looking to get started for club materials.

My Review

As always, we start with the product itself!

The following picture shows the contents of the box: the plastic go board and the go bowls (with the stones inside).

Before opening the bowls, I was expecting the stones to be in their respective colored bowl; but this is nice in its own way since it provides contrast when looking into the bowl for stones. When I did open them though, I will have to say that a strong plastic / crayon like smell immediately hit me (which was rather unpleasant). So if you’re buying this for kids, please open it yourself and rinse the stones and wash it before you give it to them.

In the next image, you’ll see a close-up of the stones (which are mono-convex). You’ll notice they are slightly grainy due to the material it’s made out of and different from say glass stones.

Here is the board fully unfolded. You can see that it’s kind of wrinkled, but this is to be expected since this is a plastic board that is stored by folding it. And as you might expect, it is lightweight and would easily fly away if nothing was on it and the wind was blowing.

Here are some shots of the board in action. Overall, it’s a pleasure to use and you’ll notice looks quite nice overall. The stones are a bit light for my liking, but one cannot expect too much for a go set that totals are $15 and is lightweight and portable. =D

This set is definitely a great one for those looking to start a go club and who needs a large number of sets while being on a budget. However, if you can just save a little bit more or are looking to buy an affordable set while not breaking the bank, I would recommend checking out the Go Game Bento Box. Hope that this review has helped!

Where Can I Buy It?

• GoGameGuru - $9.99 (shipping and handling not included)

Last Updated on February 27th, 2014