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Steelpad Round-Up
Introduction
A few months back I was looking at "specialty" mouse pads. The ones made specifically for gamers or graphics work. I wound up asking myself: "Self, are these mouse pads REALLY worth coughing up the extra cash?" I held off buying at the time. But now I have sitting in front of me two examples of "specialty" mouse pads from Steelpad. Now I can answer my own question. How did I answer? Read on, lazy arse! We received two mousing surfaces from Denmark-based Steelpad. I hesitate to call them mouse pads, actually. They really are mousing surfaces!in so much as they aren't your typical old mouse pad you got free from the bank for opening a checking account!(cough, cough!Rich!ahem). No sir or madam, they are definitely surfaces seemingly designed for mousing a plenty.     First Looks I tested both pads with my basic Microsoft wired laser mouse as well as with the older style MS Intellimouse with a roller ball. Unfortunately Kurtis and Brian don't allow me to test the wireless mice out of fear that the deadly radiation they emit might set off my asthma. Well, that and the fact that I don't particularly care for wireless mice, so I don't have any of my own. ;-) Firstly, allow me to say Steelpad designs one cool product package. Thanks for letting me say that. Not to sound too sycophantic, but it must surely be difficult to come up with an inspiring package design that really speaks to the mousing public, but they did. I'm not sure that these packages necessarily inspire me to mouse, but they sure look nice. A relatively simple envelope-style design with good color use, but I can't quite figure out what the guy in the gas-mask has to do with mousing!must be a Half-life reference. I was just happy to see that they didn't use that damn bubble pack plastic so many companies feel required to hermetically seal their products in. Anyway, the first box I opened was the Steelpad 4S Steel. This is a bit of a misnomer as the pad itself is made of aluminum (a misnomer that Steelpad themselves point out on their web-site). Steel or no, the thing is pretty hoss... It's one solid sheet of 3.5mm thick aluminum. This pad seems as though it would be indestructible. Unlike cheaper mouse pads, this solid bugger will never wear down or go lumpy. The bottom of the pad has 8 little rubber feet to hold it in place and the whole of the surface, top and bottom, is painted matte black with the Steelpad 4S logo laser-etched in the lower left-hand corner. Overall, the surface has the same tactility as a chalkboard, not quite smooth as glass, but by no means rough. Labeled on the packaging as a "Professional Gaming Mouse pad", my first thought was "Whoa, I can make money gaming professionally? Sign me up." But, as I mentioned earlier, this product is aimed mainly at the gaming crowd, hence the on-package marketing.   The 4S Steel is a rather expansive mousing surface, measuring 11.5" x 10". I would think that this is more than enough space for the average computer user. But, remember this is a pad for gamers!and some of us get a little over zealous when fragging and flail our mice around uncontrollably. I found it to be adequate for my fragging needs. Having all that extra cruising room was also handy for Photoshopping sessions. Included with the pad was a strip of tape. Steelpad refers to this as the Padsurfer. Basically it's a piece of Teflon tape used to cover the feet of your mouse, thus reducing the coefficient of friction!or Mu (?) as it is known to people smarter than the rest of us. Anyway, good ole Mu is reduced quite nicely with the Padsurfer. Steelpad was nice enough to provide us with an additional packet of 4 Padsurfer strips, but the included single strip is more than enough to cover one mouse. However, the Teflon tape included with the mousing surface is quite a bit more flimsy and thin than the separately packaged Padsurfer strips. Note in the pictures the thicker appearance and sort of woven lattice work on the heavy duty Padsurfers. And, rather than tell you how to install Padsurfers, I will refer you to Steelpad's included, graphically funkified instructions.     Also included in my mouse pad packet of goodies from Steelpad was a little stainless steel looking paperweight thing with a thumbscrew stuck in it. In actuality, the little steel paperweight is a mouse cord holder. Although it looks like a miniature steel grain storage silo (people in the Mid-west know what I am talking about here), it works quite well. Just tack the cord under the thumbscrew and give "er a twist!POOF! No more moving mouse cord. The usefulness of this object will be explained later. 
Page 1: Introduction & First Looks
Page 2: Testing 4S Page 3: Testing 4D Page 4: The Padsurfers & Conclusion 
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