Mousemat hunting

**frogbeastegg** · 03-15-2010, 17:47

I need a new mousemat and I want a particular type. The scattering of bricks and mortar shops near me which sell such things only have those crappy small fabric/plastic ones with various film characters printed on them, so I shall have to buy from the internet. That means I can't inspect the mat to check it's what I want, so I was hoping someone here could recommend one which fits the bill.

I want a mat which is:
-The same size as a sheet of A4 paper or a bit bigger. Not one of those A5 wastes of space! I hate having the mouse fall off the edge of the mat because I wanted to scroll more than half a screen.

-Smooth finish. As in, sheet of paper smooth. No fabric texture, no grain, nothing.

-Suitable for use with an optical mouse.

-Not ludicrously expensive. Some of the mats I’ve seen which might fit the bill cost more than a freshly released game!

Right now - and for the last couple of years - I have been improvising with ... one of those lined A4 paper refill pads. Seriously, it's the best mouse mat I've used in 15 years.

Perfect size and finish, just not durable and quite prone to giving me fine papercuts on the inside of my wrist.

Thanks.

**Beskar** · 03-15-2010, 18:42

I got a nice one from Overclockers over a year or so ago. It was my first forage into professional mousemats as you said, Brick'n'Mortar places are useless.

At a quick glance, they don't have the one I have, but there seems to be quite a few choices from Razer, who specialise in producing computer-mice and gamer-mice, so I would look towards the direction of those. They will have all the specifications and sizes, etc there.

**Pannonian** · 03-15-2010, 19:33

Originally Posted by frogbeastegg

I need a new mousemat and I want a particular type. The scattering of bricks and mortar shops near me which sell such things only have those crappy small fabric/plastic ones with various film characters printed on them, so I shall have to buy from the internet. That means I can't inspect the mat to check it's what I want, so I was hoping someone here could recommend one which fits the bill.

I want a mat which is:
-The same size as a sheet of A4 paper or a bit bigger. Not one of those A5 wastes of space! I hate having the mouse fall off the edge of the mat because I wanted to scroll more than half a screen.

-Smooth finish. As in, sheet of paper smooth. No fabric texture, no grain, nothing.

-Suitable for use with an optical mouse.

-Not ludicrously expensive. Some of the mats I’ve seen which might fit the bill cost more than a freshly released game!

Right now - and for the last couple of years - I have been improvising with ... one of those lined A4 paper refill pads. Seriously, it's the best mouse mat I've used in 15 years.

Perfect size and finish, just not durable and quite prone to giving me fine papercuts on the inside of my wrist.

Thanks.

Just use a broadsheet newspaper, preferably Saturday or Sunday edition. The outer layer will get grotty and dog-eared over time, so strip away the outside pages and you have a brand new mousemat. My current mousemat is a copy of the Guardian, dated 3rd June 2009.

**Beskar** · 03-16-2010, 01:24

Also, the one I got is "Everglide Titan", which seems to fit your requirements.

**Xiahou** · 03-16-2010, 01:30

I use a Razer Exactmat. It's completely rigid- made of anodized aluminum. Slightly textured, but basically smooth, large and is designed for optical mice.

I bought it along with a Razer mouse a few years back. I didn't care for the mouse, but the mat was a keeper.

**frogbeastegg** · 03-19-2010, 18:52

The razor exactmat looks about right from reading the specs, and the dual sided concept sounds useful.

Besker, the specs say that the Everglide Titan is made of fabric. Does it has any kind of texture or grain to its surface or is it completely smooth?

Pannonian, I've done that with my pad of lined refill paper. It's worked very well and it's a great surface ... just a pity about the papercuts, and the way it crinkles around the mouse if my hands aren't perfectly dry.

**Pannonian** · 03-19-2010, 19:25

Originally Posted by frogbeastegg

Pannonian, I've done that with my pad of lined refill paper. It's worked very well and it's a great surface ... just a pity about the papercuts, and the way it crinkles around the mouse if my hands aren't perfectly dry.

Newspaper is lower quality paper than a refill pad, so it won't inflict papercuts. The characteristics on contact with water is also different, as it absorbs and becomes slightly rougher whilst damp, but dries easily. And if it's too much bother to wait for it to dry properly, just throw it away and use today's newspaper instead. I used to use conventional mousemats, but found them too small, texturally unsatisfactory, or otherwise not good enough. The broadsheet is the best mousemat I've used.

**Husar** · 03-20-2010, 13:38

I've go the Razer exact mat, didn't use it for a while as it didn't work with a mouse I had or something, but tried it again after Xiahou's post and at least the control side works rather well with my MS mouse, seems a bit more precise than with the mousepad I used before as well.

**frogbeastegg** · 03-20-2010, 22:49

I don't buy newspapers as a rule so swapping them out would cause a shopping trip. I've also been thinking about the ink; I haven't encountered a newspaper yet where the ink doesn't smudge if you so much as breathe on it. My hand would be filthy in no time and it might cause problems with the mouse if it built up on the underside.

Hmm, maybe I should wait and see what the surface of my new computer desk is like. The right kind of wood with the right kind of finish would give a surface similar to what I'm after. I might be lucky and find that kind of surface on the style of desk I'm after. Pigs may also fly ...