Testing

Testing the S&S saw us use our high DPI mice; the Ideazon Reaper, the MSI StarMouse and the Razer Krait (for those of you interested, our Razer Deathadder died and a replacement is being sent). We also used the pad with a Logitech optical mouse that would be standard in an office or for the non-power user at home.

The first thing that I noticed was that the rubber specks on the bottom of the pad do not grab the desk nearly as good as the 5L or other gamer pads, and it’s quite easily pushed around. Even with normal mouse movements, the mouse pad would slide underneath the mouse.

Moving the mouse over the pads surface was greeted with the familiar grating sound that plastic on plastic makes. Using the included mouse feet on the Ideazon Reaper didn’t reduce this either. The feet didn’t cause any tracking issues due to their thickness.

To test the pad I used our usual tests with the inclusion of the Supreme Commander single player demo. The usual tests involve a quick run of Command and Conquer: Zero Hour, a game of Battlefield 2142 and general Windows usage.

In all of the game tests the mice worked perfectly with the pad, although the scraping sound was always heard. If you use headphones you won’t be able to hear it, but you can feel the mouse is on a rough surface.

The Logitech mouse worked with the pad when you moved it slowly, but at higher speeds negative acceleration was witnessed. This pad does not work with that mouse. Using another generic optical mouse, the same negative acceleration was seen. The Ideazon Reaper however, which is also optical, had no problems whatsoever with the pad. Obviously, generic optical mice don’t have the necessary DPI to sense high speed movements on this pad.

As the pad is waterproof plastic, your sweat soon builds up, especially if you are in a warm gaming environment and it begins to rub your wrist. For this reason alone, I prefer a cloth pad. On the plus side, as its plastic you can wash it or wipe it down easily.

The Razer Krait which uses an infra red optical engine had no problems with the pad, and neither did the laser driven MSI StarMouse.

Personally, I have never seen the draw of a rough surface to run my mouse across. A cloth surface is the best in my mind. However, that said, when compared to another plastic mat that I have tested (the Giganta) this one isn’t the best. The poor grip of the back, the ‘cheap’ feel (it is just a piece of plastic) and rough surface are far from my favourite. There is no noticeable difference in accuracy compared to a cloth pad apart from it not being compatible with generic optical mice. Overall I can’t see the merit of a rough surface over a silky smooth pad, it just makes you notice that you’re using it. In a bad way.