Mouse-pad musings

Prime Junta · May 19, 2008

We've already established that I'm picky about keyboards. It should not be a shock that I'm also picky about mice, monitors, and mouse pads.

And as with keyboards, I've had a hard time finding a mouse pad I actually like.

I thought I had it, with the Ulti-Mat -- an aluminum, rubber-backed, metallic-painted, Teflon-coated thing... but the Teflon started to peel off in less than a year, rendering it (a) ugly and (b) no better than the surface of my desk.

So, back to the drawing board it was. I just bought a QPad XT-R. This one's hard plastic with rubber "feet," and a slightly rough, hard texture to it. It works great now. We'll see how it's doing six months from now.

Anyone else here picky about mouse pads and willing to share their experiences?

Lucky Day · May 19, 2008

With the rise of the Optical Mouse the Mousepad has seemed to fall the way of AOL, a 66c Canadian Dollar, Grunge Music, $1 a gallon gasoline, and Freedom in Russia. Its sooooo last millennium.

Nevertheless I use a piece of 8x10 printer paper for my mousepad. It gives me more grip than my coffee stained desk and has significantly lower costs. When it gets grungy I just go to the tray and get a new one.

The university still uses wheel mice because hte optical mice like to walk away. What's ironic is that back in those pre-millennial days it was the balls in those mice that always seemed to roll out the door.

I also notice at the university that without any mouse pads the rubber seems to get caked with a lot of black, sticky garbage that people seem to ignore. I think that's where a clean piece of paper really helps.

MasterLich · May 20, 2008

Me too, I use just printer paper for an optical no-brand mouse that I got as a gift. Wouldn't even use that, but it seems to work better on the paper than on the darker table surface, as I usually don't have lights on in the room.

Prime Junta · May 20, 2008

Paper doesn't work for me. It slides around, crumples, and gets dirty.

VPeric · May 20, 2008

Prime Junta said:
Paper doesn't work for me. It slides around, crumples, and gets dirty.

I tend to put one side of the paper under the keyboard, which helps with the sliding a lot. Alternatively, you can also use some sellotape to attach it to the desk (would help with the crumbling too). I don't find it too dirty (certainly not dirtier than your mouse), but my major problem is sweat - in the summer, my paper turnaround rate is much higher.

V7 · May 20, 2008

My current desk surface works fine for the mouse. Several years ago with a different desk and another mouse I used the cardboard support from the back of a writing pad, a bit more soild and dureable and I go through enough pads to be able to replace it regularly.

Remus · May 20, 2008

You could try this one if you're into that kind of thing...

On a serious note i used Razer-eXactMat for six months now. It's sturdy, with duo surface selection (control vs speed), non-slip, and optionally come with gel-filled wrist rest which also quite comfortable to use. It also one of the more stylish mouse pads available in the market.

The size is rather big though, and the four rubber feets tend to collecting dust and dirt around itself.

Review and details here.

fatBastard() · May 20, 2008

I use an Icemat for my mouse. A glass surface polished to let the mouse slide almost frictionless across the pad while still getting a good grip on the ball ... of course I'm now using an optical mouse so only the frictionless part matters to me now.

Prime Junta · May 20, 2008

That was funny. Also disturbing. But funny.

magerette · May 20, 2008

I can't imagine using a piece of paper--it would disintegrate under the waves of spilled coffee which frequently lap around most objects on my desk. I now use an extra old mousepad of the neoprene pad type as a giant coaster for my at-screen beveraging.

My mouse pad is about 6 years old and resembles Remus's( the one without the mammaries (!) ), though it's by someone named Belkin. The gel pad is a real help, as years of kneeling on the concrete borders of flowerbeds have given me some hefty arthritis in the heel of my palm, which can comfortably rest on the gel pad and not distract me.

Guest · May 20, 2008

The very cheap ones... The cheap simple ones... The ones with a text.. something along the lines of "now for optical mice too !!11" always seem do to the trick.
The cheaper the better. They are quite thin and stick on the table nicely when you put them there.

I too can't understand how a piece of paper could work in any satisfactory manner.

Stay away from those fancy ones with gel wrist pads etc.

MasterLich · May 20, 2008

Zakhary said:
I too can't understand how a piece of paper could work in any satisfactory manner.

It works if you don't have a too big screen and you have the mouse pointer speed set close to maximum so that you don't usually have to move the heel of the palm against the desk at all. Also, with this setup I don't get any arm or shoulder pain even if I use the mouse for whole days as the elbow stays in the same place. But of course, other ergonomic factors count in as well.

zakhal · May 20, 2008

As mouse I use razor deathadder - it won the esreality07 mousetest (the only real mousebenchmark that exists). Mousepad is s&s steelpad. After changing to these from standard mousepad and MS intellimouse explorer my score went instantly up in TF2. The razor is simply more accurate in high speed. MSIE on the other otherhand starts to bounce around if you move it too fast - makes aiming kinda hard.

The mouse cost 44€ and the pad 30€ somthing. Not that expensive really. The deathadder is not suited for everyone though necesserily. Som people move mouse with the palm of their hand - while other use fingers. Razor might be too small to be moved with palm.

Prime Junta · May 20, 2008

I used to have a Razr, but I didn't like the design. I switched to a Logitech G5 and am much happier with it.

curiously undead · May 21, 2008

i use the backside of an 11x17 canvas panel. its on about about year 3+ and its not much to look at but for around 2.50 it sure has lasted. i have rotated it once during that time as well. i've probably gone through 3 cheapo mice at least during that time as well.

gaboru93 · May 22, 2008

umm well I never really liked mouse pads... I used some while I was smaller and had a wheel mouse but now I only use my mouse and my desk! It is a wooden surface but It works well... never had any problems this way

Mouse-pad musings

Prime Junta

RPGCodex' Little BRO

Lucky Day

Daywatch

MasterLich

Watchdog

Prime Junta

RPGCodex' Little BRO

VPeric

Sentinel

V7

Keeper of the Watch

Remus

Antihero

fatBastard()

Hello, I'm a Zombaholic

Prime Junta

RPGCodex' Little BRO

magerette

Hedgewitch

Guest

Guest

MasterLich

Watchdog

zakhal

SasqWatch

Prime Junta

RPGCodex' Little BRO

curiously undead

tuned to a different freq

gaboru93

Sentinel