DescentBB

Hi People. Over the years I have used a variety of different mouse pads - as I'm sure you have too. In the days before optical meeces, I settled on the 3M Precise Mousing Surface as being the best-of-the-best mouse pads.

Then Optical Mices arrived, and although my MS IntelliEye Explorer (Remember those 1st Gen parts?) had no issues with the 3M, my superior (ergonomically) Logitech opti-moose used to skip all over the place when encountering colour transitions on the 3M surface.

This prompted me to buy a RatPadz GS pad. WOW! I was blown away by this thing: giving my new MX-700 a nudge resulted in the mouselet scooting the whole way across the pad and then falling off the end! Such was the ultra low co-efficient of friction.

However, having gone through (literally!) 3 GS mice Pads, I now know these things are crap. Despite their amazing qualities when new, they wear out surprisingly quickly. The worst thing though, is that they also wear out the mouse feet slip-pads. Once they are fully worn, the plastic retainer rim starts to grind on the GS surface, increasing friction to the point where it is actually nasty.

Of course, you can't get new mouse feet for mice either. So far I have exchanged (free) over $400 worth of mice for brand new parts, for the want of 10 cents worth of parts. (I even went so far as to contact Logitech Switzerland, BEGGING them to sell me some mouse feet!)

Be that as it may, I just bought an MX-1000 Laser mouse, because the center button on the MX-700 was too heavy, and causing me OOS/RSI type symptoms.

I didn't want to destroy the (extra large! YAY!) mouse feet on the MX-1000, so I sprang $48 (yeah - $48) for an Everglide "Titan" fabric mouse mat. It comes in its own tin, like bottles of expensive single malt whisky tend to arrive in.

Let me tell ya, the Titan is the shiznit!

It's absolutely huge, and much lower profile than a standard fabric mouse mat. The friction co-efficient of the new combo is higher than a RatPadz GS, but this is actually rather nice, and it feels great. Plus, I know the mouse feet aren't going to wear out, nor the fabric on the pad.

Thoroughly recommend this mouse mat.

no thanks I use a bare wood(waxed pine)kitchen table(ermm, don't ask ). Plenty o' room and I'm pretty confident in it's ability to withstand my abuse(I jus' worry about my poor lil' mouse)

yep - bare wood works - but don't for a second think that the mouse feet won't wear out.

My Dad used to do the same thing, but when he got an optical mouse it started acting whacky for him. Here's why: dividing the area he mouses on is a wood join. The grain is reversed in this area (like a sideways "V" shape) and the optical circuitry interpreted the changed angle as reversing the mousing direction. So, pushing the mouse upwards caused it first to travel up, then spike downwards for about 250ms and then continue upwards once again.

Now he's using one of my ruined RatPadz GS surfaces. I couldn't tolerate it, but he seems to like it.

I use a black 3M Precise with a built-in gel wristpad for my Dell optical mouse. Works well enough for playing Solitaire and clicking on links.

Wow!Pads are the best I encountered so far. Underdogs of the gaming community, cheap ($12 or so for the 11.5"x12.5" pad), easily available (in the US at Staples, Office Max, etc.). Amazing performance !

Grendel wrote:Wow!Pads are the best I encountered so far. Underdogs of the gaming community, cheap ($12 or so for the 11.5"x12.5" pad), easily available (in the US at Staples, Office Max, etc.). Amazing performance !

Oh yeah? Pwned!

I dunno who makes mine, but it is 13x11, and works fine. Got 4 of them from a computer show-n-sale a while back for $7 each. Optical glides well, and no wear on the pads at all..and this mouse is 2 years old.

Vindicator wrote:

Grendel wrote:Wow!Pads are the best I encountered so far. Underdogs of the gaming community, cheap ($12 or so for the 11.5"x12.5" pad), easily available (in the US at Staples, Office Max, etc.). Amazing performance !

Oh yeah? Pwned!

Stress was kind enough to give me one of those pcToys/Coolerguys pads. It was indeed great for a while, but after a few years the plastic warped and it curved up. I just had to put it in the oven this weekend to flatten it out again!

Vindicator wrote:

Grendel wrote:Wow!Pads are the best I encountered so far. Underdogs of the gaming community, cheap ($12 or so for the 11.5"x12.5" pad), easily available (in the US at Staples, Office Max, etc.). Amazing performance !

Oh yeah? Pwned!

My 11.5" x 12.5" WOW!Pad is superior for speed and accuracy. Tried both, rejected the thick clunky flamey one. With the WOW!Pad, the best part is that it's less than a mm in thickness. The drawbacks are, of course, that your mouse feet can wear out on the hard surface & the the least bit of dust or fluff grates under the mouse.

The good news, Mobius & others, is that mouse feets are NOT all that hard to find... My favorite web store (ThinkGeek) has 'em on tap! Check it out!

I have the flaming coolerguys pad and it works fine for me. It doesn't seem to be abrading my mouse feet to any noticeable degree, but I usually upgrade my mouse every year for the latest/greatest. The thickness of the pad doesn't really bother me because I use a gel wrist rest and having the mouse a little higher is actually desirable.

On the flipside, I was over at Rook's the other day and he had some BFG mousepad that felt virtually frictionless. Can't remember what it's called tho.

I recently got a pad called The sUrface 1030 ( http://www.func.net/s1030.html ). My MX1000 keeps falling off my desk now.

I've used the func 1030 mat for about 2 years now. Same mat and still works as good as the day I bought it. It did chew up mouse feet. I bought an MX518 gaming mouse about a month ago. No wear showing on the mice feet. The 518's feet are made from a different material that is quite a bit more durable than other logitech feet.

im using a aladdin mouse pad from las vegas;p although i think cuz of it the feet on my mx310 slipped off

Mobius wrote: Of course, you can't get new mouse feet for mice either.

Yes you can, just not from the mouse company. I saw a pack of teflon-coated mouse feet which contained both round and oval (logitech) feet somewhere on the internet once but didn't pay much attention as I didn't need them.

Krom wrote:I recently got a pad called The sUrface 1030 ( http://www.func.net/s1030.html ). My MX1000 keeps falling off my desk now.

oOOOo, does it really slip that much? I want one.

I hate you, Pun. ^_~

Xamindar wrote:

Mobius wrote: Of course, you can't get new mouse feet for mice either.

Yes you can, just not from the mouse company. I saw a pack of teflon-coated mouse feet which contained both round and oval (logitech) feet somewhere on the internet once but didn't pay much attention as I didn't need them.

Thanks for the tip!

I already found some kevlar-backed slip-tape - but it's not as good as teflon pads.