high durability gaming mouse pad?

A

another-user

Gawd
Joined
Dec 27, 2006
Messages
984
i currently have a steelseries SP that ive worn all 4 corners smooth on, in less then 18 months. i could live with it being smooth, except that my mouse (deathadder) is finding dead zones.

so, im looking for something thats long lasting. currently im eyeing the steelseries SX, or the Rude teflon. from what little ive read, it looks like teflon may not hold upto wear that well over long periods of time. the SX on the other hand is a chunk of aluminum.... anodized, but still...its is marketed as life long durability. of course the tag line for my sp was "a friend for life"....
 
The SX is the same I think with a tephlon coating, or at least has some kind of coating that quickly wears off... Try other plastic mousepads, perhaps the 9hd if you like steelseries or something similar.

Another thing you might want to do since you are wearing them down so quickly, check to see if your mousefeet are worn down and replace those if they are, might be cheaper to replace those instead of a whole mousepad...
 
sx is metal, the coating your probably talking about is the anodization.
 
I have the SX and it does wear. It comes with a black rag that's soaked in oil. You need to keep the pad oiled, I didn't and around 1.5 years it wore smooth under the mice. The pad is big enough and I use it vertically so I just rotated it.

I kept it clean but not oiled. The oil doesn't get everywhere, just don't put too much on.
 
Not sure why I didn't mention it before, but have you considered glass? That doesn't wear out, and should have the smoothness/slick feel of a plastic mousepad. I definitely prefer my icemat to anything that's non-cloth.
 
ive not looked at glass, yet. my only concern with that one is how well it holds upto impact damage. i have cats that like to try and clear my desk from time to time. or sit/sleep on the mouse pad and then jump off.
 
whats your current mouse? icemat won't work w/ philips twin, laser type mice (for me) otherwise icemat is super strong, my fiance carries one in her work bag and she's the type to throw her things around, hasn't chipped yet. (it's not like cheap window plane glass, more like the strong type of glass desks)
 
3g or 3.5g? (basically 1800dpi or 3500dpi) i used my 3g on an icemat for 3 years until just recently switching to sx.
 
its a 3g.

seeing as youve used both the icemat ad the sx, which one do you prefer? it looks like the newest icemats, the i-2s in black are out of stock at just about everyplace.
 
I have a Steelseries Experience (same pad with the SS logo) and they're known to last a long time, but be prepared to wipe it off often. You can feel dust and dirt build up overnight and it can get scratchy real quick.
 
both of them are great, i think i'd perfer to use the icemat mainly cuz the the comments are true, it's slightly annoying to use the oil cloth for the sx (don't get me wrong both pads you have to clean often, it's just a bit ickier to clean the sx cuz of the oil pad) but the sx provides slightly improved performance.
i still have 2 icemats around my house one on my fiancee's computer and one for my htpc, but imo if more mice are going to be lazer and really get rid of the infrared, i'd go sx.
personally even after using the icemat for 3-4 years i like the sx, it feels like it performs a tad bit better so the icky oil cloth isn't really an issue.
 
hmmm.... if i can find a black i-2 in stock some place, and not pay out the ass for it, ill give it a shot. even steelseries them selves only list the pink/blue ones for sale.
 
Ratpadz XT might be the way to go. I prefer a cloth pad like my QCK+ but with cats that might not be a great idea.
 
how much you get it for? i2 is going for 40bucks on amazon, and sx is going for 50, so really not much of a price difference. (hurts me cuz i have 3icemats and 1sx lol... 200bucks on mousepads) thats for the super blue one though, i have a black one, but that one is the smaller version (thats the travel icemat my fiancee uses and just throws around everywhere)
 
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I bought an o2 in black from micro center earlier this year and haven't looked back. This from someone who swore by and only used huge cloth mouse pads, back from my hardcore q3 days. I freaking love this glass surface. One thing though, I was using a regular g9 mouse when I got it and had all sorts of tracking issues. I then upgraded to the g9x and had no issues what so ever. The icemat was 40 bucks and I also was in a state of shock the day I bought it. As I'm walking out of the store I kept saying to myself , I can't believe I just spent 40 fuckin dollars on a mouse pad lol.
 
i got it for 45 shipped. i actually had to order it from gamestop, they were the only ones that had the black one in stock.

when i hit submit order, i said to my self, i cant believe i just spent 45 dollars on a fucking mouse pad, this thing had better be worth it.
 
another-user said:
i got it for 45 shipped. i actually had to order it from gamestop, they were the only ones that had the black one in stock.

when i hit submit order, i said to my self, i cant believe i just spent 45 dollars on a fucking mouse pad, this thing had better be worth it.
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Lol I hear ya and ya it really is good but just keep it clean. Be prepared to wipe it off several times a day.
 
something im a tad confused on. ive seen it mentioned several times, but how is the black colored i-2 smaller? the specs have it listed as 250 x 300 x 4 mm, the same as the 3 other colors. now the i-1 is significantly smaller.
 
another-user said:
something im a tad confused on. ive seen it mentioned several times, but how is the black colored i-2 smaller? the specs have it listed as 250 x 300 x 4 mm, the same as the 3 other colors. now the i-1 is significantly smaller.
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Mine is not smaller. It's exactly the same as the other colors available. I think they make a portable model(size?)
 
i might've worded it funny, just to clarify i have a black i-1 that is smaller (for portability or fiancee has it rather) and was the only black version i could find at the time.
 
werezwolf said:
goes without saying round here.. Ratpadz
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I've owned a Ratpadz XT for a few years now, which I've used off and on... I found myself just using the surface of my Ikea Frederik desk instead. You need to use the provided teflon feet on your mouse or some good teflon tape or you will scratch up and wear out your mouse feet. Not to mention the surface loses its super slickness after a few months of use.... the underside is much slicker than the used top side of the pad now...

I think glass or a cloth pad is going to be the best way to go if you want a durable pad. I thought a hard pad would be indestructible but i was wrong. My two cents. I'd never give up my Ratpadz though, it's sort of a novelty item for me, since I'm a huge fan of this site and the community here.
 
All mouse pads will wear out over time, but metal pads are usually known for wearing out first. My Razer Exactmat didn't last a year when I used to game heavily almost all the time.
 
I've had a Func Archetype for the past 5 years with no signs of wear on the pad. I do use the smooth side though.
 
I've also got a Func Archtype. Been running it for ~5 years on the rough side, no wear.
 
im starting to regret ordering from gamestop, its been 3 full business days and it still hasnt shipped out. meanwhile, over at newegg, i ordered a dvd drive at the same time i ordered this mousepad. that dvd drive is currently sitting in my computer.
 
I also have a Func Archetype that has no signs of wear over four years of use.
 
Copied my post from another thread:

I'm still a big fan of the good old fUnc pads. Ordered my first one about 10 years ago now...used it for about 3 years, at which point I gave it to a friend of mine and ordered another custom one for myself. I've been using that same fUnc Archetype 1030 for 7 years now. It has shown some wear, but it's still fantastic.

Sadly, the manufacturer site hasn't sold fUnc pads in a while and you can't customize them anymore.

Found this site where you can still order the default models (which have one rough side, and one smooth side):

http://func-pads.com/

These pads are honestly far better designed than most of the Razer and Steelseries products I've tried (granted I haven't tried them all). The 1030 or the Archetype are cheap, have great performance, and offer a lot of flexibility. Give them a shot.

Here's an old pic of my pad out of its base:

DSC00028.jpg
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The fUnc Archetype and the MX518 are the two best PC products I've owned in the past decade. I'm currently using a Razer Mamba, but it's already showing considerable wear after only 6 months. My 5 year old MX518 was still going strong before I replaced it. I just ordered a new fUnc pad and MX518 to give myself another 10 years. :)
 
thank you gamestop for taking forever and a day to get this shipped one state away.

anyways, my i-2 just came in about an hour ago. initial impressions were "oh shit, my razer cant read this at all" but now that i pulled off the old set of mouse pad feet i had ontop of the original feel, it works fine. next up was about 20 mins of wiping the pad down to get all those little fine grains of dust and crap off, which feel like fucking boulders under the mouse.

now that i can actually use this a bit, i think its going to be quite nice. my mouse doesnt glide quite as well as i would like, but i think im going to like this. i think im going to actually try waxing this later tonight and see how that goes.

ok, i lied. i went up stairs to find a can of wax as soon as i was done posting this. its greatly improved the feel, so now im quite happy.
 
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well, this sucks. i dont know why but i have a huge dead spot on this pad already. about 1 inch wide strip from top to bottom on the left hand side of the pad. my mouse wont track at all there. if i flip the pad around, it tracks fine on the opposite side. visually i cant see a damn bit of difference, and running my fingers over it, i cant feel a difference either.

odd.... i think the oils from my hand were fucking with this. i just washed it down with simple green and it tracks fine again.
 
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Razer just released a new hard pad called the Ironclad.

Retails for $60 so I'd assume it's built like a tank and high quality surface. Waiting for reviews to pan out though.
 
OkuluS said:
Razer just released a new hard pad called the Ironclad.

Retails for $60 so I'd assume it's built like a tank and high quality surface. Waiting for reviews to pan out though.
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Looks like another metal pad but without a tephlon coating, still don't think it will be any good though.... But it might be durable so at least that would be an improvement over current metal pads.
 
siluro said:
Looks like another metal pad but without a tephlon coating, still don't think it will be any good though.... But it might be durable so at least that would be an improvement over current metal pads.
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It's actually not your typical metal pad as the surface is actually sandblasted so it should feel smooth and polished, and hence the price tag. Don't see why the tephlon coating would be any better in this application. In fact anything with a coating usually wears down faster than a proper material that should last theoretically forever without wearing down.

There was another mouse pad released 6 years ago also made of aircraft grade (6061) anodized aluminum called the Banshee Pad. In fact one of the users here posted pictures of his and he seemed to like it - http://hardforum.com/showthread.php?t=926701 . Though Razer's offering seems a bit nicer with the wider surface area for more low sens players.
 
dear lord why is the ironclad apple white? am i going to put this next to my wii? or xbox? plus what does sandblasting do? isn't sandblasting only to create a microscoptic rough surface so that paint will adhere better? at least that's all i know from watching those discovery bike shows.

This seems to be the only difference between this and the steelseries sx which is 15bucks cheaper (and the steelseries has the nasty oil cloth, which i use anyway).
 
Lanx said:
dear lord why is the ironclad apple white? am i going to put this next to my wii? or xbox?
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Or in front of your Mac ;P

Lanx said:
plus what does sandblasting do? isn't sandblasting only to create a microscoptic rough surface so that paint will adhere better? at least that's all i know from watching those discovery bike shows.
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It can be used in both ways. Straight from wikipedia:

Abrasive blasting is the operation of forcibly propelling a stream of abrasive material against a surface under high pressure to smooth a rough surface, roughen a smooth surface, shape a surface, or remove surface contaminants.
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