JOOLA Inside Professional MDF Indoor Ping Pong Table with Quick Clamp Table Tennis Net and Post Set - 10 Minute Easy Assembly - Tournament Quality - Foldable with Single Player Playback Mode

This has been a great Christmas gift for our family this year. I have two teenage boys who love to spend time playing video games. We limit their time, but then the inevitable "there's nothing to do" is always brought up. I no longer hear that comment since we purchased the JOOLA ping pong table.SHIPPING/PACKAGING - the product comes in a HUGE, HEAVY, hard-to-handle box. It's a big flat box that's the size of half of a pong table. It comes shipped special freight (semi truck) and the box may appear fairly banged up and damaged with holes in - at least it did in my case. I have to admit, I was concerned about the table being damaged. But, the packaging is very good and there's actually durable wood-like flats on each side protecting the table itself. Although the box looked like it had been handled poorly, the table itself had absolutely no damage. I pride myself in being a strong, manly-man, but one individual will not be able to lift/carry this into a house, let alone down to the basement as was my case.SETUP - the instructions aren't the greatest, but there's really very little setup involved. You'll want a wrench and ratchet to install the 8 bolts/washers/nuts. That's it. You're basically just putting the four legs onto the underside of the table. The instructions don't clearly state it, but make sure you put TWO braces on each leg (one on each side). You'll need two people to flip the table(s) over once done - it's actually two completely detached table halves that simply bump up to each other for play. The net is as basic and easy to setup as it gets - it's two giant clamps connected by the net so you put them on the side of the the table(s) by simply squeezing and clamping.STORAGE - the table(s) fold up very easily. My 12 and 14 year old son's do it with easy. You simply lock the caster wheels (so they don't roll away while folding) and then lift the table end from horizontal to vertical. The hinging mechanism is very smooth and makes this super-easy to do in literally seconds. Once the table is vertical in storage position, there's a latch that catches and keeps it in that position. You then unlock the wheels and easily roll the vertical table wherever you want. The great news is it's still short enough to easily fit under your standard 82" door opening - i.e. it'll go from one room to another with ease.PLAY - we are not ping pong (err...table tennis) aficionados. We know the basics and enjoy a prolonged volley. The table is very solid. It doesn't sway or sag when playing. It looks fantastic (professional and clean) and appears very durable. The best part, I love hearing my boys laughing for hours while they're NOT PLAYING VIDEO GAMES!!! It's great exercise. I use a Fitbit and it definitely increases your steps/day. We also purchased the Kettler Advantage 4-Player Table Tennis Set set and it works great for this table.

Bought a Joola Inside 18 table. Assembly is straightforward, but would say it's a 20-30 min exercise to unbox and assemble, and is best done with a partner. You're only adding the "T" part with wheels (x4)--two brackets on each leg, two bolts/nuts to secure the brackets. The package is heavy (231lbs) and requires at least two people to lift. Once assembled, be sure to have two people lift and flip the table, and set it down like a moon landing. I've seen the reviews where people try to roll the table on its legs to stand it up and the legs break away from the board. I can see how this would happen as the table is heavy, and the legs are just screwed into the MDF. The packaging was effective--rubber corner protectors on al corners, 0.25 inch particle board wrapped in cardboard lined all four sides of the carton and the top/bottom is lined with a thin (like 1-2mm) sheet of pressed board to protect against punctures in the carton.The table had no visible defects and in seems to have an even bounce on both halves. It seems sturdy and should do just fine for recreational play. I originally had the Inside 25 selected for the 1 inch-thick top, but opted for the Inside 18 to reduce the weight (-30lbs) and to be more "practical" for our needs. I don't think one needs the 1" unless you're planning to reach a competitive level. Quite happy with it so far. Be sure to plan at least 3 feet on each side and at least 4ft on either end, especially if you're playing at beyond novice level.Folding the table was easy. However, you can see from my photo of the latch mechanism, there's a little stub of metal that holds this in place. Seems they could have made this a little. larger.This product is made in China, which is not surprising and not a big deal for the price.The only negative with this purchase was that I paid for "any room delivery" service. The description of this service is that it will be delivered to any room inside your home including up to 2 flights of stairs up or down. Well, Amazon sent a single driver with a two-wheel hand truck to perform this task. It is not only unreasonable to expect the driver to do this, but it is also unsafe. The size of the package makes it at least a two person job and the carton even says "mechanical lift required" (see photo). Thankfully the driver was built like a tank and he pushed while I lifted the other end up the stairs--18 steps, two at a time. There was no way he could have done this by himself. And, it's unacceptable that I had to help get it upstairs when I paid for the service. Had it been my wife receiving this delivery, it would have remained in our entry way and unboxed there. To be clear, the driver was professional and courteous. I felt bad for him as most of the packages he had in the truck were two-person lifts (e.g. 70 and 85" television sets).