Mouse pad advice needed

[skorpien]

Hi all,

Looking to pick up a mouse pad as my current setup is not doing it for me. I have a wired Mighty Mouse on a wooden desk that makes it nearly impossible to use. I'm talking about hardly registering any movement, randomly jumping across the screen, and otherwise being a PITA. I have a hard plastic mouse pad/wrist gel combo that I'm using that's helped somewhat, but the Mighty Mouse still controls sluggishly. I've tried different settings in the mouse settings panel with no luck, so I'm thinking that a new mouse pad would be my best bet.

Now, here's my question: What material would be the best for a mouse pad? I'm worried that the hard plastic is what was making the mouse sluggish, but I can't be sure as this is my first hard plastic mouse pad I've owned. Looking at the Steel Series mouse pads, they seem to have different products made from hard plastic, soft cloth, and even glass. What would provide enough precision controls for a casual gamer while still providing a good everyday mousing experience? Any recommendations? And between Steel Series and Razer, what would you recommend? Any help is appreciated. Thanks in advance!

 

[Rampant.A.I.]

The newer type of mousepad with a hard surface with a rubber backing are really nice.

The older neoprene ones were really only necessary as a grippy surface for the rubber ball.

I use an Allsop pad with my gaming mouse, and it offers a really nice mix of control and smoothness.

I know you can use laser mice without a pad, and it was one of the major draws to them, but they really don't perform as well without.

 

[PrincessPeach]

I picked the SteelSeries Qck (also have a wooden desk) after extensive deliberation and I love it. Hard plastic ones just enrage me, they're no good at all for my optical mouse. I haven't had a metal pad but I'm betting it will annoy me just as much, and cheap cloth pads just end up peeling or are too light and slide around. The SteelSeries Qck I use is very thin and quite resistant to moving around, so it's almost as though it's not there. I use it for normal work and also for playing TF2 via Boot Camp - it keeps my mouse experience bearable and I'd definitely buy the same pad again if it did need replacing one day.

 

[skorpien]

Thanks for the replies guys. I was at my local computer store and was checking out their selection of mouse pads. I really liked the SteelSeries QcK Mini (desktop real estate being a HUGE factor), but unfortunately they were out. I went for a Razer Goliathus Control Edition instead. A bit bigger, but being a soft mouse pad I feel comfortable resting my keyboard on top of it when I need to type. It's got a textured surface designed for games where control is important, and since I've been wanting to get into WoW, I figured that would be a good choice (over the Speed Edition which is better for twitch gaming). Plus the price wasn't too bad. Still breaking it in, but from what I've seen it's a huge improvement.

 

[rkdiddy]

I really like my pad - it's leather.

HTTP://www.levenger.com/PAGETEMPLATES/PRODUCT/Product.asp?Params=Category=13-1028|Level=2-3|PageID=5591

 

[rgarjr]

I like pads that have a gel cushion for my palm.