no, i never test any equipment by myself before i buy. why?
"testing" takes ages and is very difficult. you have try a board/kite more than one time and under different conditions to judge it. and you have to be a very experienced surfer to notice the minor differences between the products.
from 20 years surfing i learned that a board i like from the beginning has often very limited developing potential. a board i like from the start is often very similar to my old boards, no wonder. same for kites of course.
very often i didn't like a board from the start, but i did get used to it. and pretty often these boards help me a lot to make big steps. remembering the first mutant, the first wake with bindings and so on ...
if i have to decide which board/kite to buy, i rely on friends who have not only tested it a few times, but used it regular. and sometimes a board/kite is such a beautifull piece of plastic, there is no need to test it ...