mousepads

ZFR · 10-05-2006, 02:32 PM

Has anyone tried Steelpad and Icemat mousepads?

I'm using my 5th or 6th optical mouse now and it's always the same case of imperfect precision. And the performance is affected by the mousepad (or its lack). At best it seems quite good in "normal" conditions, but its lack of precision becomes apparent when for example playing minesweeper (I use this game to test the mouse precison) or pixel-by-pixel editing of pictures or even playing first person shooters. And it's very annoying.

And since this has been an issue with every optical mouse I've owned, and every optical mouse performance was dependent on the mousepad (I've tried hundreds of different cheap mousepads with performance ranging from above average at best, to completely jumpy at worst), I believe it is more because of the mouse pads and not the mouse.

Bottomline, I'm thinking of getting one of those expensive mousepads made for gaming. The 2 most common brands here are Steelpad and Icemat. But since the price is 20-40$ I'd like to hear your opinions first if anyone has used them. There are also these "padsurfers" that you stick at the base of your mouse, usually made of teflon. They are a bit cheaper. Or if anyone has any other idea on increasing optical mouse accuracy, I'm all ears.

Oh, and software-wise I've already tried switching on the "enhance mouse accuracy" options with little or no effect.

Larry_OHF · 10-05-2006, 03:05 PM

I picked up a decent mousepad from Office Depot for $9.99 that had a memoryfoam rest, and it has given me no trouble that I can tell.

In fact, the only trouble I have ever seen with any mousepad ever is at school, they have some pads made with school information on them and the colors include white, silver, yellow...and blue. Whenever I use these, the pointer jumps all over the screen like a freaking flea so I just toss them aside when I am in a lab. The grey, hardtop tables do not give me so much trouble.

Anyway, back to the mousepad...mine seems like a regular pad...regular texture, not waxy-feling but cloth, dark grey in color...And I have never questioned its worth. Makes me wonder about what you are talking about and more importantly, the special pads you've referred to. Can there be something better out there that I am unaware of? I'll have to google those you mentioned and find out why they are so expensive.

ZFR · 10-05-2006, 03:30 PM

Here are the two official pages and some reviews I found through google.

Steelpad mousepad products webpage:
http://www.steelseries.com/products/steelpad

Some reviews are here:
http://www.tweaknews.net/reviews/steelss/
http://www.fastlanehw.com/reviews.php?i=136&page=1
http://www.dvhardware.net/review10_steelpad.html

Icemat mousepad:
http://www.icemat.com/products/icematgear

Reviews:
http://www.fastlanehw.com/reviews.php?i=60&page=1
http://www.gruntville.com/reviews/mo...emat/index.php
http://www.ocworkbench.com/2003/icemat/blackicemat1.htm

[ 10-05-2006, 03:32 PM: Message edited by: ZFR ]

Sir Goulum · 10-05-2006, 06:00 PM

I haven't used a mousepad since I got my optical, now laser(?) mouse. Works just fine for me.

Eagle eye · 10-05-2006, 07:22 PM

I've a cheap two-dollar jobbie that was given to me by someone from thailand and that works fine. My optical mouse works fine with any mousepad as long as it's flat and without those grooves in them that make the funny noise when you scratch them

SpiritWarrior · 10-05-2006, 07:36 PM

Don't use optical for gaming. It's like wireless internet, not perfected yet. The latency comes into the equation and you get a tiny lag in precision. Yes, I have tried like 5 optical mice. Wired and wireless. I have tried like 10 mousepads. I wanted to use my silver cool dell optical mouse bad but finally realized they suck for serious gaming (especially pvp in WoW when it really matters). Stick to the roller-ball and save your money mate.

Ilander · 10-05-2006, 08:19 PM

WHAT??? Dude, my Logitech MX518 rocks the socks, accuracy-wise of any ball mouse on the market, I guarantee!

Plus, it works fine on a veneer surface, with no mousepad.

If your experience with optical mice is that ball mice are better...well, you've gotten the worse opticals on the market, because my secondary mouse is still better than any ball mouse I've ever used.

...And if you mean 802.11g is the wireless that isn't perfected yet...well, you're wrong, but 802.11N will be out soon. If you mean purely wireless, the stuff they put into notebooks these days with subscriptions...well, yeah, that needs a lot of work.

Bottom line, if you have a smooth surface on your desk, you don't need a mousepad for you optical...unless the desk is glossy-surface.

...after reading more of the posts...try turning down your mouse acceleration in your mouse options. That really should never be turned all the way up. If you find that your mouse is moving too fast playing minesweeper, but too slow playing quake, consider buy a mouse with multiple mouse dpi settings...

If you're willing to put some money into it, I suggest the MX518 or G5 from Logitech...but I'm sure there are other ones on the market nearly as nice.

[ 10-05-2006, 08:24 PM: Message edited by: Ilander ]

Dundee Slaytern · 10-05-2006, 10:12 PM

I use one of my binded lecture notes as a mousepad for my optical mouse, and it works just fine. The cardboard cover is rough and has no gloss.

Bungleau · 10-05-2006, 10:31 PM

The only issues I've run into with optical mice relate to the surface. I've stayed at hotels where they kindly cover the work surface with glass... that truly sucks for optical mice. I've also had issues with using it directly on nicely grained wood, like oak. Too much contrast is bad...

The answer in all cases was to just grab a sheet of paper and use that. 'Course, I haven't done real-time action pvp gaming with it, so I may be missing something on the high end [img]smile.gif[/img]

SpiritWarrior · 10-05-2006, 10:41 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by Ilander:
WHAT??? Dude, my Logitech MX518 rocks the socks, accuracy-wise of any ball mouse on the market, I guarantee!

Plus, it works fine on a veneer surface, with no mousepad.

If your experience with optical mice is that ball mice are better...well, you've gotten the worse opticals on the market, because my secondary mouse is still better than any ball mouse I've ever used.

...And if you mean 802.11g is the wireless that isn't perfected yet...well, you're wrong, but 802.11N will be out soon. If you mean purely wireless, the stuff they put into notebooks these days with subscriptions...well, yeah, that needs a lot of work.

Bottom line, if you have a smooth surface on your desk, you don't need a mousepad for you optical...unless the desk is glossy-surface.

...after reading more of the posts...try turning down your mouse acceleration in your mouse options. That really should never be turned all the way up. If you find that your mouse is moving too fast playing minesweeper, but too slow playing quake, consider buy a mouse with multiple mouse dpi settings...

If you're willing to put some money into it, I suggest the MX518 or G5 from Logitech...but I'm sure there are other ones on the market nearly as nice.

What games do you play with this mouse? Alot of games don't require pencil-fine precision so you may not notice. Logitech are good, I use the ball pointer from them but tried 2 optical models and found the same problem. I don't remember the names but one cost $50 and the other like $25. I returned them both. I've tried all kinds of surfaces with 'em and still I notice it. I amn't trying to prove you wrong but understand the flaw is easy to dispute as some people don't know what they are "missing" if you get my meaning. I have a friend who played games with an optical fine in his opinion and when I tried it it felt ugly. I told him to try mine on my system and he felt the difference. If you can absolutely swear the problem is nullified with this model then I will try it and see.

10-05-2006, 02:32 PM	#1
ZFR Legion Symbol Join Date: February 14, 2002 Location: Ireland Age: 39 Posts: 7,367	Has anyone tried Steelpad and Icemat mousepads? I'm using my 5th or 6th optical mouse now and it's always the same case of imperfect precision. And the performance is affected by the mousepad (or its lack). At best it seems quite good in "normal" conditions, but its lack of precision becomes apparent when for example playing minesweeper (I use this game to test the mouse precison) or pixel-by-pixel editing of pictures or even playing first person shooters. And it's very annoying. And since this has been an issue with every optical mouse I've owned, and every optical mouse performance was dependent on the mousepad (I've tried hundreds of different cheap mousepads with performance ranging from above average at best, to completely jumpy at worst), I believe it is more because of the mouse pads and not the mouse. Bottomline, I'm thinking of getting one of those expensive mousepads made for gaming. The 2 most common brands here are Steelpad and Icemat. But since the price is 20-40$ I'd like to hear your opinions first if anyone has used them. There are also these "padsurfers" that you stick at the base of your mouse, usually made of teflon. They are a bit cheaper. Or if anyone has any other idea on increasing optical mouse accuracy, I'm all ears. Oh, and software-wise I've already tried switching on the "enhance mouse accuracy" options with little or no effect. __________________ ZFR

10-05-2006, 03:05 PM	#2
Larry_OHF Ironworks Moderator Join Date: March 1, 2001 Location: Midlands, South Carolina Age: 48 Posts: 14,759	I picked up a decent mousepad from Office Depot for $9.99 that had a memoryfoam rest, and it has given me no trouble that I can tell. In fact, the only trouble I have ever seen with any mousepad ever is at school, they have some pads made with school information on them and the colors include white, silver, yellow...and blue. Whenever I use these, the pointer jumps all over the screen like a freaking flea so I just toss them aside when I am in a lab. The grey, hardtop tables do not give me so much trouble. Anyway, back to the mousepad...mine seems like a regular pad...regular texture, not waxy-feling but cloth, dark grey in color...And I have never questioned its worth. Makes me wonder about what you are talking about and more importantly, the special pads you've referred to. Can there be something better out there that I am unaware of? I'll have to google those you mentioned and find out why they are so expensive. __________________

10-05-2006, 03:30 PM	#3
ZFR Legion Symbol Join Date: February 14, 2002 Location: Ireland Age: 39 Posts: 7,367	Here are the two official pages and some reviews I found through google. Steelpad mousepad products webpage: http://www.steelseries.com/products/steelpad Some reviews are here: http://www.tweaknews.net/reviews/steelss/ http://www.fastlanehw.com/reviews.php?i=136&page=1 http://www.dvhardware.net/review10_steelpad.html Icemat mousepad: http://www.icemat.com/products/icematgear Reviews: http://www.fastlanehw.com/reviews.php?i=60&page=1 http://www.gruntville.com/reviews/mo...emat/index.php http://www.ocworkbench.com/2003/icemat/blackicemat1.htm [ 10-05-2006, 03:32 PM: Message edited by: ZFR ] __________________ ZFR

10-05-2006, 07:36 PM	#6
SpiritWarrior Jack Burton Join Date: May 31, 2002 Location: Ireland Posts: 5,854	Don't use optical for gaming. It's like wireless internet, not perfected yet. The latency comes into the equation and you get a tiny lag in precision. Yes, I have tried like 5 optical mice. Wired and wireless. I have tried like 10 mousepads. I wanted to use my silver cool dell optical mouse bad but finally realized they suck for serious gaming (especially pvp in WoW when it really matters). Stick to the roller-ball and save your money mate. __________________ Still I feel like a child when I look at the moon, maybe I grew up a little too soon...

10-05-2006, 08:19 PM	#7
Ilander 20th Level Warrior Join Date: December 28, 2003 Location: Kentucky Age: 38 Posts: 2,820	WHAT??? Dude, my Logitech MX518 rocks the socks, accuracy-wise of any ball mouse on the market, I guarantee! Plus, it works fine on a veneer surface, with no mousepad. If your experience with optical mice is that ball mice are better...well, you've gotten the worse opticals on the market, because my secondary mouse is still better than any ball mouse I've ever used. ...And if you mean 802.11g is the wireless that isn't perfected yet...well, you're wrong, but 802.11N will be out soon. If you mean purely wireless, the stuff they put into notebooks these days with subscriptions...well, yeah, that needs a lot of work. Bottom line, if you have a smooth surface on your desk, you don't need a mousepad for you optical...unless the desk is glossy-surface. ...after reading more of the posts...try turning down your mouse acceleration in your mouse options. That really should never be turned all the way up. If you find that your mouse is moving too fast playing minesweeper, but too slow playing quake, consider buy a mouse with multiple mouse dpi settings... If you're willing to put some money into it, I suggest the MX518 or G5 from Logitech...but I'm sure there are other ones on the market nearly as nice. [ 10-05-2006, 08:24 PM: Message edited by: Ilander ] __________________ Is that what you really want to say?

10-05-2006, 06:00 PM	#4
Sir Goulum John Locke Join Date: February 7, 2002 Location: Edmonton, Canada Age: 35 Posts: 8,985	I haven't used a mousepad since I got my optical, now laser(?) mouse. Works just fine for me.

10-05-2006, 07:22 PM	#5
Eagle eye Elminster Join Date: May 13, 2004 Location: New Zealand Age: 33 Posts: 409	I've a cheap two-dollar jobbie that was given to me by someone from thailand and that works fine. My optical mouse works fine with any mousepad as long as it's flat and without those grooves in them that make the funny noise when you scratch them

10-05-2006, 10:12 PM	#8
Dundee Slaytern Ironworks Moderator Join Date: June 10, 2001 Location: Pasir Ris, Singapore Age: 41 Posts: 11,063	I use one of my binded lecture notes as a mousepad for my optical mouse, and it works just fine. The cardboard cover is rough and has no gloss.

10-05-2006, 10:31 PM	#9
Bungleau 40th Level Warrior Join Date: October 29, 2001 Location: Western Wilds of Michigan Posts: 11,752	The only issues I've run into with optical mice relate to the surface. I've stayed at hotels where they kindly cover the work surface with glass... that truly sucks for optical mice. I've also had issues with using it directly on nicely grained wood, like oak. Too much contrast is bad... The answer in all cases was to just grab a sheet of paper and use that. 'Course, I haven't done real-time action pvp gaming with it, so I may be missing something on the high end [img]smile.gif[/img] __________________ B Save Early, Save Often Save Before, Save After Two-Star General, Spelling Soldiers -+-+-+ Give 'em a hug one more time. It might be the last.

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