Side by Side Comparison of: Universal vs Expo vs Sparco vs Pendaflex

Great board and size is perfect.

This was the cheapest dry erase board of this size that I could find, and I was very happy with this purchase. I was looking for a board to write to-do lists on and basically keep me organized as well as use for video tutoring, as I currently tutor other medical students.This board definitely fit my needs. It arrived perfectly, not bent or warped, and was relatively easy to install. I purchased a cleaning spray which keeps it in good condition and takes out any stains that remain after erasing it. For the size, it is a really good deal and I was pleased with the purchase. It is not magnetic like some of the more costly boards, but it does the trick for teaching and personal use.

This board is great! It's a bit feasible. So just attach it to the wall and your good to go. Also hanging it on the wall takes no more than 20 minutes. Amazon typical has it cheaper than the big box office stores (Office Depot/Max or Staples). The big box guys typically carry it for $50 or more.Please be cautious of who is fulfilling your order!!! If Amazon is fulfilling your order, you're good to go. Be cautious if Shoplet is fulfilling the order!! Here is my story about Shoplet:I recently moved to Washington from Texas and had these same boards for 3+ years, I have always loved them. I was only taking what would fit in my car. So I had to cut down on what was moving with me and the boards didn't make the cut. So I gave them away to friends that had been eyeing them for a while. I arrived in Seattle and order a new board through shoplet's website. I received the board pretty quickly but the board was damaged. Something feel on it during shipping and there was not packaging material inside the box to protect the board. So the board had a nice foot long scratch on it. I contacted Shoplet and they sent another right away. This happen two more times! Each time the boards were damaged in the same manner due to poor packaging. When I received the third one, I requested a refund. Three weeks went by and I had yet to received my refund. I had to contact Shoplet again to get the order refunded. This took place over a two month period. I would never order a product through Shoplet.com or through Amazon if shoplet is the one fulfilling the order. Shoplet will NOT adequately protect the board and you WILL receive a damaged board.Another two months went by and I decided I really wanted/needed a dry erase board. Even though I was hesitant I decided to order through Amazon. The board I just received through Amazon was fulfilled by Amazon but sold by another company. Meaning Amazon shipped the board for that company. Amazon double boxed the boarded and protected it with bubble wrap. Not even a scratch on this one. Amazing! Oh and Shoplet deleted my review off of their website about this.So the moral of the story? Don't order this board through shoplet.com and if they are the guys fulfilling it here on Amazon.

The first one I got was completely wrecked during shipping. I took a photo of the damage and Amazon got another one shipped to me within a day or two, without me having to mail back the broken bits or anything silly like that (thanks Amazon!).This board costs half of what other boards cost, unless you go the white-board sticker route, and it shows in how thin and relatively flimsy this thing is. But once it's screwed flush to your wall (I went right through the white board corners, not bothering with trying to go through the aluminum edging) it fulfills its role flawlessly, and has a nice little shelf for all your markers.

I bought this item with Amazon prime delivery. I figured that Amazon will not mess up the shipping as other sellers may do.As expected, the board arrived this morning in perfect condition double boxed by Amazon. The seller was PLEXSUPPLY (I don't know if it makes any difference. I just went for the one available with prime shipping).The board is up and looks beautiful. I am so glad I bought it on Amazon and not a special order on Staples store for $40 more than what I paid here.**** Update: November 5 2010 *****It's been about a month and the board is performing well. My last board (that I bought at a local store) started staining and becoming permanent after a month or so, no mater how well I cleaned it. This board works well and keeps clean. I use it extensively every day, so I would know by now if something is not right. Overall I am very happy with this purchase.

I've been looking for a decent sized white board to hang in my home office to help me study and this seemed to be the cheapest for the size.I was a little wary of pulling the trigger because of the reviews about the bad shipping. I do have to say that the packaging wasn't the greatest and it doesn't seem like it would be that hard to damage the board in transit. Mine did arrive in perfect condition though.The board itself works great. It's very smooth and writes well. Erasing doesn't leave even the smallest trace of what was erased. If it's taken care of I have little worry that the finish will last a long time.Installation was made simple and easy with their template, and it went off without a hitch. All you'll really need is a drill and a level (unless you're a better judge of level than me!).Anyway, I'd definitely recommend this board if you're in the same boat I was. Worth every bit of the excellent price.

A large, inexpensive whiteboard that does the job. Not the most rigid of backing, 'marker rail' is not removeable but is easy to break off, works great in my office and was an easy pass on my expense report. It's been on the wall for a couple weeks and getting plenty of use.Came shipped sensibly and was not damaged.

This white board is great. We bought it several months ago. It was easy to hang on the wall, and yes, when it arrived it was a tiny bit bent, but easy to bend back. It's flexible that way.The pens I use (quartet) write clearly, no bleeding, and are bold on the board.It erases easily and gets very clean just with a dry eraser. No extra messing about with sprays.The price made this an easy board to choose, and I am very happy with it. We use it in our business office, and I write and erase on it daily. I also love the large format. There's lots of room for all my different projects that I'm tracking.

I just wanted a basic whiteboard, so it was a bonus to find one at this price with a marker shelf. Lightweight and portable, we use it along with a telescoping easel at raffles to display winning numbers. The only negative (and I knew it would be the case) is the lightweight aluminum frame is very easy to bend, so it needs to be handled and stored carefully. Even with the great care and packaging the maker used to ship the board, the frame was slightly kinked in one spot. I was able to flatten it out with the proper tools, but it is something to be aware of.

To start out, I'm in college and use this for brainstorming in various subjects, drafting parts of speeches, papers and practicing math problems.I was concerned with some of the reviews here about damage during shipping and not erasing completely, but decided to give it a go because of the price, and I'm glad I did.>I used the free shipping option and it was delivered by FedEx, no damage to the box or the board.>Erases completely and easily. Even when its been on the board for a few days, dabble a napkin or a little tissue paper in some water and it comes right off. I use some "Quartet EnduraGlide" dry erase markers I got from Staples a few years ago.>About how I mounted it to the wall and a word of caution: I didn't use the mounting that it comes with so I can't comment on that. I live in an apartment and not crazy about drilling into the walls, so I bought a little box of Velcro strip (3ft) from Walmart (about $5) -and I got the heavy duty strength level (not sure if that is the exact name), but its a level down from the industrial strength. The first time I mounted it I only used 3 little patches about 1-2 inches each in size, on the top left and right corner and one in the center of the bottom.-I didn't let the velcro set for the full 24 hours and put the board up on the wall right away. The next day later in the night I heard a noise and sure enough the board had fallen off the wall.So thankfully I still had almost all the velcro left so I put about 8 inches of velcro on the top ends, with a second smaller strip of a few inches right under them, then about a 6 inch strip on the very bottom of the board in the middle. Waited 24 hours and then put it on the wall. No problemsThere is some play in the middle area of the board, not completely flush with the wall. I could take it off the wall and put some more velcro in the middle area of the board to address that, but its not bad enough for me personally to put in the effort to do it.

I had read from other reviewers that a lot of these boards weren't packaged well & they showed up bent or broken, but since this was the cheapest option for this size board I decided to take the risk. My board wasn't ruined when it arrived, but the bottom left corner (right where the marker tray is) was definitely bent. If I were just hanging this on my wall it would be way too bent to lie flat, but luckily we are mounting it to a piece of plywood so it shouldn't be a problem for us (we'll be adding hinges & using the dry erase board to cover up a large utility box on the wall). The board itself is pretty good. Good quality & it wipes completely clean. If it hadn't been bent I would have given it 5 stars.

I really like this board. I bought for studying and it has been really helpful. Setting it up was a breeze. The screws were provided as well as how to mount it. It took less than 15 minutes to set it up. Seeing as to how light this board is, you can possibly also have it held up using the 3m double sided foam tape.Everything erases from this board, even these markers that I've bought which some reviewers claim leaves marks on the board and can't come completely off.Now for the bad. The board that came had a piece of tape stuck to the top left of it (the tape was stuck to the white portion of the board). As I was trying to peel this off, some of the white melamine from the board came off with the tape as well. That portion of the board is unusable so I need to avoid that area whenever using the board. Its of minor annoyance, but I can live with it.

board is very flimsy. the mounting screws that come with is are not enough, it kind of still bounces off the wall along the bottom part because it's so light. I need to to put some double sticky tape along the bottom to stop it from doing that. Also the mounting diagram is not accurate: i followed the instructions, but it ended being wrong. had to redo. otherwise. it's a white board and works as such. it was delivered much earlier than they said it was going to.

This is a low quality whiteboard. The first one broke in transit, but the seller was quick to ship out a replacement. No issues there. I've had the whiteboard for about a month and use it for a weekly teaching series I do. It is pretty thin and already has developed a small crack in it. No idea how that got there, but it's obviously not the highest quality. Does it work? Yeah and I would expect it's perfect if you just need it to last a few months. Beyond that ... spend the money and get something better.

This item was purchased for use in my office to provide a visual aid for tracking projects, deadlines, etc. I am the only one who uses this so I am very careful with cleaning and maintaining this item. The main purchase decision was price. No question about it. The unit works but has some drawbacks. One, as other reviewers point out, it is very thin/flimsy. Based on how this mounts to the wall, there is a gap behind the board that allows for a lot of give when writing on or erasing. It's almost as if the board needs some 1/4-1/2 inch bump ons or shims to keep it solid against the wall. It is distracting when writing on the board and you feel as though you may break the board during use. The other issue is that I have two scratches in the surface of the board now that I have no idea where they came from or when. They were not there at the beginning so would have to assume during the erasing or cleaning process, scratches were made. The reason I'm giving three stars/"ok" is that I read the other reviews and knew somewhat what i was getting. It's ok, but will likely be replaced by a more expensive board in the future.

After seeing many reviews about the quality of this board, I decided to order anyway. It was shipped by Amazon prime through amazon fulfillment and arrived quickly. The board itself was slightly warped and the box didn't provide much protection. After drilling through the metal to help hang it (it has clips on the back, but I wanted it hung better) and hanging it I noticed a small crack in the board as well.For the price I'm keeping it. However you definitely get what you pay for and if you want a better board you'll need to pay more money for one. It writes and erases just fine.

As many have stated already, purchasing this is a roll of the dice. You may end up with one that comes as it is supposed to, then again you may end up like me and so many others with a damaged product. The box is not sufficient for UPS and Fedex. It looks like the box is meant to be shipped with like product in bulk.The box came to me with footprints on it and the aluminum rails were bent up pretty bad. More than could have been bent back and still used. I gave it 3 stars as it looks like it will work well once I get one that I can use.Also, there are no replacements for this. You must return it and wait for a refund and try again. If you need this product and cant wait, go to the store and just pay for it. If you are a patient person and want the best deal.....roll the dice.Good luck!

The board itself is decent enough. I wrote on every inch of it with every color and brand of dry erase marker I could think of, and left it alone for a week before mounting to make sure it didn't ghost too badly. I had no trouble erasing any of the marks--it all came clean.The logistics of the thing, on the other hand, were a real pain.First off, it came poorly packaged, as other reviewers have said of this brand. There was a huge gash in the cardboard itself that was so bad that the delivery guy was required to call my attention to it and document that he had showed me. When I got it opened up, I found a ding on the board itself where something had gouged right through the cardboard and plastic wrap. Not terrible, and I wasn't about to send it back, so I kept it.Then came mounting, which was the most frustrating part of the ordeal. The board is an extremely flimsy plastic--almost feels like cardboard--held together by a metal frame. That would be fine, except the metal frame bends way too easily, and actually came to me warped way out of shape. I did my best to even out all the edges and bend them back as straight as I could get them, but it wasn't enough...After tapping the drywall anchors and hanging the thing, I stepped back to admire my work only to watch in what seemed like slow motion as the bottom right corner of the board slowly rebelled, lifting itself up and away from the wall. The bent frame was preventing the board from laying flat. For those who practice yoga, the board was practically performing a Salabhasana on my wall, as it refused to lay flush despite my best efforts to bend it back into shape! I eventually had to use double sided foam tape to adhere the offending corners and middles to the wall before I was happy with it.The bottom line? This is a cheap but functional board that will put up a real fight when you go to install it. Buy it if you're looking for something large and inexpensive, and don't mind spending the extra time it will take to set it up.

I realized that I may be compromising quality when I purchased this product due to the lower price but felt is worth a try given the decent reviews. My observations are that the board itself is very flimsy so that when you hang it on the wall the sides don't sit fully flush. There isn't enough framing to make it rigid enough but again for the price...you get what you pay for. Where I have my biggest problem is that I had also purchased the white board tape to create a grid on this board and if you try to move the tape once placed it tears off the white board surface. The white board surface is just a coated paper basically. I now have a 1 week old white board that has rips in it.

Nice size; easy to hang. But wow, it is extremely thin! And I wouldn't mind so much except that it doesn't stay flush against the wall because it's so thin it kind of warps. So when I'm writing on it (as I do every day) I have to push it back against the wall with my left and to secure it, otherwise my marker pushes the board back when I write but every time I lift up the marker, it pops back out again. Go ahead and try writing on a board that keeps popping in and out.I knew it wasn't magnetic so I'm not going to ding them for that but I taped a piece of paper to the board once. When I removed the tape, it removed the white board finish too! Ugh! So incredibly cheap. But then again, it was pretty cheap so I suppose I get what I paid for.So DON'T STICK TAPE TO IT; it will ruin the board!

Not really the qualities you want (or expect) when you pay 50 bucks for a dry erase board. It arrived 2 days late (thanks Prime), in a box with no protection at all, given the flimsy nature of the product. It should have been shipped in titanium packaging. But, alas, it was simply protected by cardboard, which, dare I say, was stronger than the product itself.It was bent in many places. The shell is made of a flimsy, thin, aluminum-type material. And I say aluminum "type" because the aluminum foil in your standard kitchen drawer is almost as strong as the material creating this product.I unbent the product with my bare hands (very easy to do) and hung it on the wall. Now, it is starting to re-bend all by itself. It refuses to lay flat with the wall, and given its lack of any inherent, material tensile strength, it refuses to hang properly. In my opinion, it has more tinsel (the stuff hung on Christmas, oops sorry, Holiday trees) strength than it does any tensile strength.But for 50 bucks what did I expect.

This is going right back. For me, worthless.My instinct was to give it 1 star, but for some it may be appropriate.I hoped the awful reviews were exaggerating, because some people were very happy with it. My assumption now is that those people were willing to settle for a somewhat junky, flimsy starter model for the right price. That's reasonable.It really is composed of about 1/4 inch of cardboard backing, so it can't sustain its own weight. If you even lean it against a wall temporarily, it bends into that shape. (The weight of 7 pounds is the giveaway. Picture how substantial that can be, at this rather large size. When shopping for better models after this, I looked at that closely. Heavy doesn't necessarily mean good, but ultra-light insures flimsy.)If you want to tack it up and just deal with it, that's OK. I wanted something I could use every day, map out my next book on and feel good about. Not some junk up on the wall.Mine also arrived with almost no packaging protection, which resulted in a bent frame and two gaping holes--so it had to go back regardless. (I'm dumbfounded why they are wasting so much money by shipping these things out this way, with so many reviews reporting sending them back damaged.)Also, I researched on non-sales sites, and melamine is considered pretty good material, but "porcelain" (meaning painted steel, usually) is best, because the steel is so much less porous. Ghosting occurs because of the particles absorbed into the base material. Wood is always going to absorb several times more than metal, which absorbs almost nothing.I did much more shopping/researching after this model came. I eventually settled on the "Flash Furniture WY-99-90120-POR-GG 4-Feet Width by 3-Feet Height Porcelain Magnetic Marker Board, White" on Amazon for $96 at the same size (3x4 feet).http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B007NFVS88/ref=oh_details_o04_s00_i00?ie=UTF8&psc=1So far, I'm extremely happy. It's sturdy and heavy enough (25 pounds), yet light enough to easily lift and maneuver. It erases perfectly so far, and it's magnetic to boot. It looks/feels beautiful. There are no bends or warps, all perfect right angles.And the porcelain one came with four levels of packaging: an outer cardboard case, then particle-board protectors on either side inside (the full size of the board), then a plastic bag, and finally, an adhesive layer of plastic you have to strip off the full marker surface. (That was actually a little hard to get off, but well worth it to insure it's protected from even tiny dings.) It was snug in there, with no imperfections. I highly recommend it.

I originally wanted the magnetic version of this whiteboard but stayed away from it because of negative reviews. Here's a link to that one: Universal 43734 - Magnetic Dry Erase Board, Melamine, 48 x 36, White, Aluminum/Plastic FrameWhile heeding to other's reviews on that magnetic whiteboard I still ended up on the losing end with this purchase.I do not place blame on the company that manufactures these boards as much as on the company who's selling and shipping them. Unless, of course, these items are shipped boxed to the seller/distributor and they just forward it on to the buyer - in which case they both deserve bad reviews for lack of quality control/assurance.The UPS man, a terribly nice individual, arrived yesterday afternoon at my home. At first glance, the packaging looked fine. There was one small dent in the box, but upon opening the box and further inspection, that small dent left no damage in the corresponding area on the whiteboard - fine. Although that one spot on the packaging proved to be the least of my worries, as I pulled the whiteboard out of the box I saw the edges were completely warped, both at the top and bottom. The tray that's meant to hold your eraser and dry-erase markers was completely warped on one end.I immediately told the kind UPS delivery man I was not accepting this package.The board itself was flimsy and I wasn't too fond of its back panel, although it was expected at this price range. It would have sufficed had no warping been present. The two-star rating was given for delivering a defective item as there was no sign on the box the warping had been caused by shipping.I ended up walking to Staples and purchased a Quartet dry-erase board that was a lot sturdier and more rigid than this one. It was cheaper, also.

I purchased this white board in hopes that mine would arrive undamaged. I read through the reviews and noticed that several had arrived damaged. When ours arrived, I noticed one hole about 2 inched by 1 inch in the package. The package was pretty flimsy. There were styrofoam corner protectors and a plastic bag over the actual board. However, there is not enough to protect the actual board area and prevent punctures.When I opened the package there was a break/crack in the white side finish of the board about the same size at the hole in the box (located about 6 inches from the edge). The board was also warped/bent in that area along the edge. We had to use mirror hangers to hold down the warped area, but when hanging the board, you definitely need to plan on purchasing additional hanging pieces anyway. The board only hangs on the 2 inserts in the top corners so the board flops around when you are writing on it.As far as the company that sold me the product, I called the company, and they said that they would send me a packaging return slip so that I could return the product free of charge and either have it replaced or get my money back. There were very nice to talk to and willing to work with me to remedy the issue. However, I told her that I would just keep it at this point. I needed the board for school and did not want to have to go through waiting for another one. She told me that if I change my mind, I could call them back within the first 30 days and return it.The shipping time was great. It came via UPS and arrived within 3-4 days of my order. As far as the board, it is a very thin board. It works fine and erases alright. I did have to get the white board cleaner in order to clean it. The surface of the board is not completely smooth. It has a slight texture to it, but nothing that is incredibly noticeable. I suggest that you not put any tape on the board if you plan on taking it off because it will pull off the finish.The size is great for the money, but I have to say that I would not purchase the board again based on the chance of it arriving damaged. I do not think the packaging is sturdy enough for this flimsy of a board to be shipped. It definitely needs a better packaging.

These boards are very light weight. They are not magnetic and leave a lot to be desired. If you are looking for something cheap these are them, but don't expect them to hold up. I would have done better to have spent a bit more money and gotten something more durable.

This item arrived damaged. Not only was the packaging damaged (looks like it was banged off of a sharp corner) leaving a hole in the cardboard and also a hole in the dry erase board itself, but the whole corner of the board is bent/warped soo far that any attempt to bend back to original position would surely break the corner off. After an hour on the phone with amazon, they sent me a return label and helped me purchase another board (same size) at the same price from Amazon (not a third party) so that if it arrives damaged again, they will replace it. (Amazon will not replace third party items, they will only refund the money).

The way this product is shipped - as well as the quality of the product itself - means that you are unlikely to get it in good shape. I ordered one of these, and it came damaged. I ordered another, and it also came damaged. I think if you could actually get the board to your place in once piece, it would be pretty good. But good luck with that. The board is pretty thin and easily cracks when it is bent, even slightly. That is why the terrible packaging is such a problem. It is easy for the fools at UPS/Fed Ex to bend the board just a little, or poke it with another package, and then your whiteboard is ruined. I do not think this board is worth the hassle.

This was completely broken and ruined on delivery. Not only was it extremely bent, there was a large 10 inch contorted hole through the upper right hand corner. It came in extremely flimsy packaging. I'm not sure what the strategy here is, but I can't imagine there is much of a success rate in actually getting these into customers hands based on the packaging. In my case, this was "Fulfilled by Amazon". I bought the Flash Furniture WY-99-90180-POR-GG 6-Feet Width by 3-Feet Height Porcelain Magnetic Marker Board, White by Flash instead. It's more money, and I have yet to receive it, so we'll see how that works out.Your mileage may very, and I can't really speak to how the board would have performed had it actually arrived here in good condition. Although, after pulling it out of the cardboard box, I can definitely say it looked extremely flimsy and of poor quality.Good luck.

I bought this even after reading the reviews advising me not to and saying the packaging was terrible. And you know what: they were right. My board came in a package that wasn't fully sealed and had puncture holes in it. When I opened it the board was severely warped and had a puncture hole in it. A puncture hole! Do you really want to buy a whiteboard like this, that won't stay on the wall and looks like someone used it as target practice. I feel embarrassed to have purchased this after all the negative posts, and I think amazon should be embarrassed they still carry this product.At one time this may have been a decent product, but it is not anymore. DO NOT BUY. YOU COULD FIND BETTER WHITEBOARDS AT A GARBAGE DUMP.

Was very happy with this board, and marks erase cleanly without staining. However, the board has now warped badly and is unusable. Should probably upgrade to a better one.