Mouse Pads
Entry posted by Blade
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I'll add more reviews when I get more time, but I thought this would be a useful resource for people who are in the market for a new mouse pad. First and foremost I am a gear freak. I've gone through a lot of mice as well as mouse pads because I like to try out different surfaces and textures. This goes for mice as well. In this blog I will give a short synopsis on the previous mouse pads I've used to give you an opinion of what I thought of them as well as the positives and negatives. I'll try to score them as fair as possible. Comments of your experiences are always welcome.
Razer Destructor: 39.99 USD
This Razer mouse pad has a very fine sand texture, which lasts for about 2-3 months.I bought this mouse pad a while back and after using it for about a month or so realized that the surface began to change. What will happen is that after playing games constantly it will begin to become slower and almost like you've sanded down the texture completely. I will say that the surface itself is amazing for the first couple of weeks, but if you are a heavy duty user then I wouldn't recommend this mouse pad to you. There is also a new edition I believe, but I haven't tried it.
Overall I would give this pad a
3/10
Steelseries Qck Price: Approximately 14.99 USD
This next mouse pad is the ever so popular Qck from Steelseries. This pad comes in numerous sizes as well as thickness. The one I will be reviewing is the Qck+. I've had this mouse pad for quite a while and have come to enjoy it a lot. I've used the Razer Deathadder, MX518, Intellimouse 3.0, and Steelseries Ikari Optical on it. All performed very well with no issues of skipping. The first thing that you realize when you use this pad is the size and the amount of room you have. The dimensions of this mouse pad is 400x450x4 mm. If you are a player who uses a low sensitivity and is looking for an affordable mouse pad then look no further. Even if you don't use a low sensitivity and are looking for a good mouse pad I would still recommend this one just so you have that extra space so you don't have to worry about running off your desk. One thing I've noticed is that this pad will begin to fray on the edges, but that won't happen for quite a while, but it lasts a long time and performs amazing for its reasonable price.
My score for this mouse pad is
8
/10
PureTrak Talent: 24.99 USD
This is a very recent purchase because of a half off black friday deal. I've heard of this mouse pad for so many years, but never tried it. First thing you'll see is that there is a honeycomb pattern all over the pad. What Puretrak is saying is that by having this pattern it will increase the tracking of your mouse movements. I've been using it for about a week and I am pretty convinced or it might just be a placebo. I dunno. I will say that the surface itself is very smooth and from what I've heard it does last for many years without any wear or tear. Another nice thing is that it is machine washable in case you drop your food or spill your drink on it. I've only used my MX518 and Deathadder and both performed very well. Although I did notice that my Lift of Distance was a little higher on my Deathadder compared to other mouse pads like the Qck+ or QPAD CT.
Score:
10/10
QPAD CT Price range: 3 Sizes 28.00-39.00 USD
My first qpad ct was the grin version and I would say steer clear of this one. It was probably the pattern, but when I used my Deathadder and I wanted to make a quite jerk or turn I would find myself looking straight up or some abnormal angle. This got to a point where I didn't want to use it for fear of running into this problem constantly. I ended up trying the blue edition and I found no problems at all with it. The tracking on all my mice was flawless. Another thing to add is that this pad will come in a tube so be aware that it will take about a week or two to flatten out all the way. My friend thought it was a good idea to bend it the other way to help flatten it out and it ended up bending it making creases on it...The performance of the mouse pad itself is what I hoped for. The surface is soft like a cloth pad, but also very hard and stiff like a plastic mouse pad. It is a very comfortable combination and a great pad overall. Although after about 4-6 months you will notice that the speed of the pad will begin to deteriorate. This is due to extensive use and is bound to happen if used heavily. I would say that this is a great and amazing mouse pad, but the surface itself doesn't last forever.
Score
7/10
Steelseries 5L: 39.99 USD
This mouse pad is discontinued I believe, but if you can get your hands on one it is well worth the buy. The texture of this mouse pad is half and half. The first thing you will notice is that it has the rigidity of a plastic pad, but over the top there is a cloth layer. This allows the mouse pad to have a very stable feel that I have come to enjoy a lot. I've tried a range of sensitivities on it and saw no problems for low to high. The tracking is flawless and the surface itself provides a very smooth glide. I will say that after about a year or more you will begin to notice some fraying on the sides, but that is to be expected with cloth pads usually. The top layer is a thin layer of plastic as well and from my experience I think after time you will begin to see that it thins out. What I mean by this is that you will notice a slight decline of speed when compared to when you first bought the pad. I tried it using my MX518 and deathadder and the results were very positive showing no signs of problems.
Score
8/10
Steelseries I-2: 39.99 USD
This was a different experience for me. I had never tried or though of using a glass mouse pad, but I enjoyed it a lot. My overall opinion of this pad is pretty neutral. I enjoyed the smooth surface, but the scratching noise kind of annoyed me a little. Now, granted I didn't use it while playing games and using my headphones, but while I wasn't it was a little loud for me. Another thing to add is I noticed that my mouse feet didn't like them that much, which led me to switching them out. A few of the mice I tried were the Razer Deathadder, Logitech G400, and Steelseries Ikari. All of the except my Razer Deathadder tracked well. For some reason I couldn't get it to read the surface even though people said that it tracked the glass fine. I tried a lot of different sensitivities with it and would say that I preferred using a higher sensitivity because it was a smaller in size or else you would be running out of room constantly. One aspect of the I-2 is that it is easy to clean being glass. All you have to do is grab a wet cloth and wipe it down a little and your set. And the fact that this pad will last quite a long time and not lose its feel is yet another reason it is attractive. It also has gel dots on the back of it so it won't slip off of your desk.
Score
6/10
Razer Sphex: 14.99 USD
This mouse pad was very different than what I'm accustomed to. When I received it I was a little concerned about the backside and whether or not it would stick to my desk. The backside using a mini suction to adhere to surfaces. The pad itself is as thin as paper and can be somewhat in danger of possible tear or bending. I myself used this pad on a wooden desk and glass surface. When I tried it on the wooden desk and wanted to move it I realized that the pad had taken off some of the wood. This left a bump in my pad and therefore gave me an uneven surface when i used it on the glass pad. When I first tried using mice on it I enjoyed the surface a lot because of how smooth my mice glided across and tracked with ease. The surface itself has a very fine texture that will track both laser and optical mice. I never saw any signs of skipping. As far as sensitivity goes I would recommend using a high sensitivity as opposed to a low sensitivity just because you may be doing quick swipes and accidentally catch a mouse foot on the side. This happened to me a lot just because I wasn't use to the size, but I must have lifted the pad from the surface a dozen or so times. Overall i would recommend this pad if your looking for an affordable and compact mouse pad. Just be aware of how much space you may need so you don't keep lifting it up like I did.
Score
7.5/10
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