Aluminum mouse pads

[bleomycin]

I'm curious what everyone's experience has been with aluminum mouse pads? I picked up a mionix ensis 320 (black) a few days ago and while i like it 2 days in there's already a small silver chip in it. I was concerned about how resilient it would be before i bought it but oh well. Has anyone else had one of these pads for a little while, or something similar? How is it holding up? I'm wondering if the silver version would hold up better or just hide the flaws better?

 

[Muttbone]

I picked up a Rocketfish aluminum mousepad from Staples a couple years ago, an so far, it has been stellar. There is a "Control" and a "Speed" side to it, one slicker than the other, with rubber corner pads on each side to keep it from sliding on the desk. My Razer Naga mouse glides just so smooth on it, an for about $20, it was a good investment. Haven't had a problem with it at all.

 

[koek]

I used it ones but, always had troublous with scratches etc, eventually i just played on soft mats.

 

[WC Annihilus]

I've been using a silver GEARED Titan that I got at a lan for about half a year now. No noticeable scratches or blemishes. Really like it, though I had to put on the included teflon mouse feet to get a nice smooth feeling.

 

[Docjon]

I've been using a Steelseries SX for 2 years. I bought it to replace an 8-year-old Everglide gaming mat that never wore out, but started cracking from age. I WISH they were still available! I searched high & low for a different one, but the reviews I read either didn't cover long-term use, or said they wore out in months to a year. I bought a WOW!pad that I liked for 2 months before it wore a smooth divot in the middle. I finally just freakin' gave up and said, "Anodized aluminum, now THAT won't wear out!"

I'm VERY careful to NEVER sit a glass or ceramic mug on the pad, as well as metal items, and so far, no dings. I like it a lot, though I'd be just as happy if I could get another Everglide Gaming Mat. Looking at the anodized surface at an angle, I can see the middle of the pad is smooth instead of the very slight sandblasted look of the rest of the pad. I don't understand how a teflon-footed mouse wore the anodized aluminum smooth, but it doesn't seem to make any difference in feel or movement.

Looks like you scratched it. I don't know what happened, but as I said above, avoid sitting glass, ceramic and metal items on it. Oh, and diamonds too, but I don't have a lot of them lying around anyway

 

[thesecond]

Have an SX in storage. After about 1 and a half years of constant use, it wore down in the high activity areas. Most of it is matte, but my main hand area is shiny, and the smoothness is inconsistent. Also, super loud.

I have since replaced it with a C4 Ngen 04. Its a big lower friction, much quieter than the sx - the sx was very scratchy sounding - and much larger at a size of 16x16". I am much happier now.

 

[Magiashkii]

I had one too... But not a big fan of the noise and feel of the pad. I went bad to the soft textured rubber and haven't looked back

 

[Docjon]

I have since replaced it with a C4 Ngen 04. Its a big lower friction, much quieter than the sx - the sx was very scratchy sounding - and much larger at a size of 16x16". I am much happier now.

How long have you been using the replacement, and does it show any sign of wear?

 

[thesecond]

How long have you been using the replacement, and does it show any sign of wear?

Probably about a year now, and no wear that i can see. It needs cleaning like any hard pad to stay consistent, but mine does not have any wear after i clean it. I give it a decent wet wipe every other week or so, takes about 1 minute if you include tearing the paper towel and putting warm water on it.

2 of the corners pop up once in a while when i run my arm over them, but thats just because i have it stuck to a crappy ikea desk. It sticks by making an air tight seal with its silicone layer, so the smoother your desk, the better it will stick. To fix it, i run the silicone side under tap water to get the dust off, wet wipe my desk, and lay it back down. Its kinda like cleaning a sticky-buddy if you've seen the infomercial.

My buddy and I both got our C4's at the same time, and his c4 has quite a bit of wear, but he puts his keyboard ontop of it (his is 20x16 or something huge like that), and he has never cleaned his. So its like any pad, you have to maintain it, but this one is very durable for standard use.