The product

As with the XT, the GS doesn’t come in any packaging as all you need is the pad. All of the work that packaging normally does – entice the buyer, tell you about the product, make it look cool – is already done by the Ratpadz website. When you buy the pad, you get JUST that which can only be a good thing in regards to cost.

The GS is the same size as the XT but isn’t a solid lump of plastic. Instead its injection moulded ABS and is substantially less heavy and feels a little flimsy. However, this pad doesn’t suffer from the postage bends and gets to you in perfect shape.

Taking a spy at the edges, you can see that they are bevelled much like the GS’s more expensive brother. This time, there are no milling marks and the finish is a lot more pleasant. The rear of the pad is covered with strengthening struts which ensure the pads rigidity. Where these struts cross, there are rubber feet which are well and truly stuck into place; you aren’t gonna lose one of these easily.

There is a wrist friendly semi-circular cutaway at the bottom of the pad to ensure your hours of gaming aren’t going to end with aches and pains. Looking on the front of the pad, you can see the GS logo which is shiny silver, and looks a little tacky as a result. You’ll find a better looking product in your local Post Office’s toy selection.

Quick copy and paste: The surface is the standard hard pad style 3D bumpy pattern which allows your optical mouse to differentiate between two points and accurately recreate the movement of your mouse on-screen. However – as I have gone into many times before – this means that the surface can never be as smooth as a cloth pad and you will get noise when you move the mouse over the pad.

The surface of the GS is very much different to the XT. While the pattern may be the same, as there are different moulding techniques involved in making these pads. It doesn’t feel like the same oiled finish like the XT, but it is still smooth; well as smooth as a hard pad can be…