Quality-Mat Mouse Pad

Reviews: Peripherals

Accessories | Gaming Devices | Keyboards / Mice | Printers

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Bradford Day
Kurtis
Quality Glass
Mar. 8, 2004

Introduction

Quality Glass is a newcomer to the world of computer and gaming accessories. Based in the Netherlands, Quality Glass offers competitive gamers and precision mousers specialty surfaces made of safety glass. Available in four colors with a new gamer-specific model on the way, Quality Glass is rushing the mouse pad field with new designs and unique materials. But will they make a dent in the realm of specialized mouse pads?

First Looks

Quality Glass calls its new foray into computing accessories the Quality-Mat. The Quality-Mat is made of 4mm thick safety glass. According to the manufacturer, safety glass is a special type of glass that when broken will shatter into many dull splinters. My Quality-Mat arrived in one unbroken piece so I wasn't able to test the safety glass right away. In fact, my pad arrived nicely packed in a folded cardboard sheath. But because Quality Glass is such a new company, my particular mat shipped in a plain white box, as the production packaging hadn't been made yet. No matter, the packaging gets thrown out anyway and it never affects the performance of the contents inside.

I received an anthracite colored (dark gray) Quality-Mat. Blue, red and orange pads are also available. On the top side of the pad there is printed dot-mesh pattern fencing. According to Quality Glass's website, the fencing is branded to the glass for durability. The branding process involves heat tempering the paint and is supposed to actually melt the painted fencing directly to the safety glass. The dot-mesh pattern helps to improve tracking capabilities and looks quite stylish. The bottom of the mat has four small clear non-slip pads affixed to each corner. I never had a problem with this mat slipping so they must do their job quite well. The sides of the mat are nicely ground to rounded edges and shouldn't present any sharp hazards.

Also included with the anthracite Quality-Mat was a curved section of foam rubber. This pad is intended as a wrist rest to keep you from complaining of carpal tunnel syndrome after hours of gaming. The wrist pad is a simple piece of dense foam cut to fit snugly in the concave section of the glass mat. A strip of Teflon tape was also included for covering the feet of your mouse to lessen friction while in use. I was able to cover the four feet of my Microsoft laser mouse as well as the two long feet of my roller-ball mouse with the included strip.

The surface of the glass Quality-Mat measures an ample 11" x 8.5". The surface is smooth, but I wasn't sure how well the branded mesh fencing would work. It seemed at first glance that it would create more friction and make mousing cumbersome.

Testing

Man, was I ever wrong! The Quality-Mat truly impressed me. The tracking on this pad is the best I have ever used. I had wrongly worried that the branded fencing would have a negative effect on tracking, but this was most definitely not the case. My mouse glided smoothly over the pad and I didn't notice any skipping glitches at all. Unlike other frosted glass pads I have tested, the Quality-Mat offered a slick and smooth ride without the annoying scratching sound. The included Teflon tape only serves to improve the effectiveness of the mat.

I tested the tracking capabilities of the Quality-Mat while using both a laser and roller mouse. The laser mouse performed quite well, but I was especially impressed by the performance of the roller mouse. With the Teflon tape installed, my old Intelli-mouse was given new life. I hadn't realized how truly crappy my old neoprene pad really was. Both types of mice benefited greatly from the Quality-Mat while I was Photoshopping and gaming. I never felt as though I was running out of space while using the pad, but some users with larger styled mice could find themselves running over the edge every once in a while. Cleaning fingerprints and dried soda from the glass surface is quite easy. Plain old Windex does the trick nicely.

My only real gripe with the Quality-Mat was the wrist pad. The dense cell foam was rather stiff and didn't really feel comfortable after long periods of time. Its squared corners also felt a bit rough on the old wrists. But, after testing the mat without the wrist rest, I can definitely say that using it improved overall performance.

Again I had to concern myself with the branded fencing... Sure it increased mouse performance, but surely the painted stuff would rub right off after a few months of use, right? Well, again I was wrong. To test the resilience of the fencing, I employed my ever-trustworthy Swiss Army knife and set to scraping. That fencing is some tough stuff. I was able to scrape it free from the glass surface, but only after really forcing it. If you manage to scratch the paint during the course of normal gaming abuse, then you need to lay off the coffee my friend. I doubt very much that the surface will mar during regular use.

Finally, I decided to really put the clamps on this mat. Surely this glass pad would shatter into a million pieces should it ever fall from your desk, right? After several drops at various angles from a height of roughly 3 feet onto both a hardwood and carpeted floor, I can tell you that it won't shatter. It does make a horrific sound not unlike dropping a pancake griddle off a 10 story balcony, but it doesn't break. What about a concrete floor? There could be a select few of you out there that live in some sort of storage shed who might be able to concern yourselves with breakage when dropped on cement. After a few drops on my front porch I was able to chip the edge of the mat slightly, but the whole of the pad remained intact and entirely usable. The few shards of safety glass I was able to recover were not at all sharp and more closely resembled grains of salt rather than glass shards. Still, I wouldn't suggest repeated drops onto concrete... The sound is magnitudes worse and eventually you could break the mat. So it survived concrete!but what about a bullet from a 9mm handgun? Just kidding!

Future Offerings

In addition to the Quality-Mat, Quality Glass is also introducing a gamer specific glass pad called the Corepad. The Corepad is a dual colored Quality-Mat that offers the same quality gaming surface with slightly more style. And the representative from Quality Glass also tells us that they will be offering a special introductory price for the Corepad of €28.99 with a 15% discount on the purchase of 2 pads and a 20% discount for 3. So, round up your LAN party friends and save some cash. Check out the Corepad at www.corepad.com.

Conclusion

Despite my best efforts to destroy this poor pad, I must say I was overly impressed with its performance. I had been inclined to prefer hard plastic gaming surfaces, but the Quality-Mat has changed my mind. The Quality-Mat is a real performer and should please just about anyone who uses it. Currently Quality Glass is offering the Quality-Mat for €25.85 (about $32.35 USD). Shipping outside Europe will tack on another €17.50. For those of you in the Netherlands and the rest of Europe, shipping is more reasonable. However, Quality Glass does offer discounts for larger orders as well as personalized colors and logos. Quality Glass is searching for resellers in the North American market, so keep an eye out for them. If you are looking for a tough, high quality mouse pad for your newest gaming or graphics machine, you won't be disappointed with the Quality-Mat. The attention to detail and usability is obvious in the Quality-Mat's excellent performance and rugged design. I might suggest a gel style wrist pad as I found the included wrist rest slightly stiff. However, few mouse pad companies even bother to include any type of wrist rest, so Quality Glass deserves some points in that respect. As long as you don't repeatedly toss the mat at a brick wall, you should expect many years of happy mousing with the Quality-Mat.

Pros

Excellent performance
Damn near indestructible
Works well with both laser and roller mice
Comes with Teflon tape and wrist rest

Cons

Uncomfortable wrist rest
Probably not bullet proof

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Add Comment

5 User Comments

1 - Posted by Nick on March 8, 2004 - 6:55 pm

HA! I must say that Brad is hardcore. Im a little disappointed that he didn't take the 9mm to it. :lol: But after declaring how much he likes this pad, he still trashed the corner of it on his porch. That's true dedication.

-nick

2 - Posted by Kurtis on March 8, 2004 - 7:57 pm

lol yeah, i'm surprised he actually went that far b/c he really really likes it :lol: kudos brad :P

3 - Posted by Ichi on March 9, 2004 - 1:54 am

Oooooo...I want one! I'll get one when I get my big new desk. But, what I don't get is, why does it work so well with optical mice? Is it because of the grid thing in the glass?

4 - Posted by handrail on March 9, 2004 - 9:55 am

thanks guys! well you know what they say, if you truly love something...you must smash it on your porch.

ichi, the optical mice really just need some sort of irregular pattern or surface to work well, something to reflect the 'laser' light so that the mouse can get direction coordinates and decide which way you are moving it. if you're in the UK ichi the shipping rate will be much better for you. i would definitely get one...or get the corepad...it looks cooler and is exactly the same design.

the quality-mat's dot-grid is nice because it gives the optical mouse something to reflect on, but the grid isn't so intrusive that it gets in the way for roller mice...in fact i think it offers some better traction for the ball while still being a bit smooth and not bogging down the tracking.

i do love that pad, the best i have tested so far. way better than the other glass pad i just tested and am currently finishing reviewing.

thanks for the vote of confidence, nick, and welcome aboard! if you think what i did to the mouse pad was hardcore...wait 'til you see what rich and i did to these poor little locking case screws we just tested...muuhahahahaaaa :twisted:

5 - Posted by Kurtis on March 9, 2004 - 11:18 am

by the way... nick is one of the new reviewers. he reviewed his buddy's Zen NX mp3 player

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