Introduction

Last year I was given a handful of mousing surfaces to review. Along with a few I already had myself, or had access to, I produced a mini comparison between them. Following that comparison I received many emails from people saying "why didn't you include this pad?", and "you should take a look at that pad", etc. Armed with these suggestions I went about contacting all the mousing surface manufacturers I knew of, and also found a couple I didn't previously know of. So in this comparison you should find a mousing surface from almost every manufacturer out there. I say almost because there's bound to be somebody I missed. Let me know if I have.

In this years professional mousing surface roundup you will find pads from Everglide, Steelpad, Icemat, Ratpadz, Allsop, X-Trac, GlideTapes and Kryptec. I have also changed the testing, as I have traded in my Microsoft Intellimouse Explorer for a Logitech MX510. I still intend to use the same basic wireless ball mouse, but I'll also include an early Logitech Optical Pilot Mouse since there are known issues with these mice on certain light, transparent and reflective surfaces. Incidentally, it's not limited to that mouse as I also have a Microsoft Wireless Optical mouse that exhibits the same behaviour but most manufacturers will state on their product pages warnings like "Not compatible with Logitech's non-MX series mice", so I'll be putting all these pads through that test regardless but I won't hold it against the pad if its manufacturer already points out a compatibility issue. I also intend only to cover pads that are in production this time round, so the version 1 Everglide Giganta (and the Smaller Quake 3 Arena Attack pad) which I used in the last comparison will be omitted from the reviews. However, I will still use the Everglide Giganta for size comparisons since it's what I consider to be the default benchmark for a larger pad. This time round I will be covering each pad by manufacturer grouping. Then I will conclude the whole roundup with a rating for each pad and a final comment. Please note that my final marks for each pad are not an average of the test results, but of course they do factor into it.

Logitech MX510 Optical Mouse

Wireless Ball Mouse

Logitech non-MX Optical Mouse

Dual Sided Pad Principles

Dual surface pads are becoming more common, as you will see in this comparison. Each manufacturer has tackled the various issues of making such a pad, in slightly different ways. A dual surface pad will typically have a smoother and often shinier surface, and a coarser or rougher surface. Both sides of the pad provide a good mousing surface, but each side is intended for a different use. However, most people don't actually realise which surface is intended for what use.

The rougher side of the pads is designed for longer sweeping movements whereas the smoother side is designed for smaller precise movements. Although, I get the impression most people assume the opposite. The reasoning is that the mouse needs to grip and track better for long fast movements so that it is replicated accurately on the screen, thus roughness provides better terrain for this. If the smooth side were used here there's a chance that the movements would not be as accurate and ball mice may even get a small amount of slippage from the lower friction surface. In the case of twitch gamers like me, or snipers for example, who need very small very precise movements the smoother side provides less friction on the mouse and allows for smoother movements. If the rough side were used for this it would provide jerkier less fluid movements due to the higher friction with the mouse.

Providing two such surfaces is only part of the problem for the manufacturer. The other problem they face is a method of stopping the pad from slipping when in contact with the desk surface. Normally you only want one side of the pad, but in the case of the dual surface pad you want to use both. So any feet or rubberised surface has to be placed in such a way as to not interfere with the mouse when it's used on the pad. This is perhaps the most difficult design challenge for these pads.

Pricing and Availability

For each pad I have tried to ascertain the manufacturer's normal retail price, ignoring any sale prices. I'm sure if you dig around hard enough, you will often be able to find a reseller a little cheaper. Also, this price is often not in GBP, but in the currency of the manufacturer's origin, so I have performed a rough conversion to GBP, based on exchange rates at the time of publication. Some of these manufacturers have UK resellers, some don't. Some sell directly and some don't. If you have any trouble obtaining the pad of your choosing, I'm sure the manufacturer will endeavour to help you find a local or international reseller.