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The Test
There
is no test for a mousing surface like
playing a good first person shooter game like Quake III Arena or Unreal
Tournament. Even though I was skeptical about the size of the sUrface
1030 I was blown away by how well it performed while I gamed. One of the
unique features of this unit is that the hard plastic surface comes with
two distinctly different sides. One side is quite smooth and the second
surface is very close to the feel of the Giganta. The Ratpad is courser
but not by a huge margin. Simply slip the hard plastic pad into the rubber
base unit and you are off and running. Slick!
Another really nice feature of
the unit is that the entire lower surface is rubber. I have noticed over
time that the Giganta is more prone to sliding on my desk because it has
less rubber feet than the RatPad unit. The 1030 pad definately doesn't slide
around easily and that goes a long way when playing games that require rapid
movements of the mouse. I'd like to point out that in the upper left corner
is a metal clip that is designed to hold the mouse cord in place. This is
a similar concept to Everglide's own Mouse
Bungee. It doesn't do the job quite as well as the Mouse Bungee but
it is a notable inclusion.
Even though the Ratpad and Giganta
pad are larger I have on occasion still run into the problem of running
off the edge. In a really good match that spells disaster. This is one area
where I thought that the sUrface 1030 excels. Because the rubber base surrounds
the unit as you aproach the edge you'll be tracking over the soft rubber
rather than the hard surface. This is like the rough pavement or small bumps
on the edge of a highway. I'm not sure if that was intentional but it sure
does help.
Conclusions
Were
I to change anything on this pad it would be the size. Being 1.5" narrower
and 1" shorter does come into play during heavy game playing. That
was actually the only thing that kept the unit from getting a perfect score
of 10 in my opinion. So is size the big deciding factor in which pad I would
purchase? Definately not. This is the
best pad I've ever had the pleasure to work with. The combination of different
surfaces that can be switched in a moment and that rubber base make it a
very appealing unit. Throw in the mouse cord clip and now we're talking
about a unit that has more features than the Ratpad and Giganta. Then consider
the cool metal tin and we're talking about a lot of value. The edge of the
highway effect of the rubber base helps a little with the size problem,
but lets hope that fUnc pumps this baby up to a size closer to the Ratpad
and Giganta. So there you have it, Everglide found a better pad and are
more than happy to sell it along side their own products.
There
is no test for a mousing surface like
playing a good first person shooter game like Quake III Arena or Unreal
Tournament. Even though I was skeptical about the size of the sUrface
1030 I was blown away by how well it performed while I gamed. One of the
unique features of this unit is that the hard plastic surface comes with
two distinctly different sides. One side is quite smooth and the second
surface is very close to the feel of the Giganta. The Ratpad is courser
but not by a huge margin. Simply slip the hard plastic pad into the rubber
base unit and you are off and running. Slick!
Were
I to change anything on this pad it would be the size. Being 1.5" narrower
and 1" shorter does come into play during heavy game playing. That
was actually the only thing that kept the unit from getting a perfect score
of 10 in my opinion. So is size the big deciding factor in which pad I would
purchase? Definately not. This is the
best pad I've ever had the pleasure to work with. The combination of different
surfaces that can be switched in a moment and that rubber base make it a
very appealing unit. Throw in the mouse cord clip and now we're talking
about a unit that has more features than the Ratpad and Giganta. Then consider
the cool metal tin and we're talking about a lot of value. The edge of the
highway effect of the rubber base helps a little with the size problem,
but lets hope that fUnc pumps this baby up to a size closer to the Ratpad
and Giganta. So there you have it, Everglide found a better pad and are
more than happy to sell it along side their own products.
