Hi all. Well my MX Revo died, seems they don't like being dropped down concrete stairs.. ( drunken moment ) Anyways I have G9 and my old cloth mat does not get on with this mouse, I am wondering if anyone with a G9 who is into TF2 ( sniper Cheesecake ) could point me to a good mat to work with.
I use a Sharkoon Mousemat, as it was cheap lol. Very good quality I found, but then I haven't used an expensive mousemat, so I don't know what better was. EDIT: Post 666
I been through several gaming surfaces and finally ended up with the Icemat II or what is also called the SteelSeries I-2. Very smooth, clean, and tracks extremely well. Among all the mousepads I used, this has almot no static friction. The only drawback is it can be cold and needs a little warmup.
I use Ulti-mat Seven F-X2 with my G9, it's just brilliant. I have Qck+ cloth too, but I found it has too much friction to my liking.
I use the massive boogiebug XL (see OCUK), and it works fine for me (w. deathadder). Best thing about it is it's comfortable because it covers most of my desk, rather than having a ridge in my arm where the edge of the mousemat used to dig in after hours of gaming... CPC TF2 server still being used by anyone? Always empty when I look...
I use the speed side of one of these on my main gaming setup, and have done since they came out (what, 4 years ago now?!). It's a great mat for all mice, but the Logitech ones seem to just love it. I use it without the wrist rest though! I use one of these on my secondary setup, and have found gaming to be an absolute pleasure on it. One thing I've found is that it can be a little harder on the polytetrafluoroethylene (yes, I know how it's spelt ) feet of gaming mice than other surfaces like that of the Exactmat. I'm talking about a noticeably greater amount of wear in a period of more than a year here. As Waffle said, it needs some warming up but it provides a great gaming surface! For the record, I'm a high sensitivity gamer. You (the OP) mentioned that you used a cloth mat. If you're like some cloth mat gamers that I know, and use a low sensitivity, then none of these suggestions will be suitable for you!
Clicky Cloth surface, I'm using a G500 on it and it's totally awesome. I play at about 2000dpi most of the time but I occasionally need to go way down and it works fine for both. There's bigger versions available somewhere if that's too small.
I literally spent hundreds on many many mats that claim to be "gaming" and I can definitely say brands don't really matter. My razer cloth, steel series cloth, and $10 cloth pad pretty much worked consistently, extra input of money didn't output a better cloth mat. Plastic mats are the same. If you have a laser mouse like a G9, gaming surfaces won't track any better than your face because laser is so awesome. Im a high sensitivity gamer so sometimes I move really small amounts. So static friction must be low to give consistent speed no matter how fast or slow im moving. Size doesn't matter. Plastic Surfaces - Fine sandpaper like plastic surfaces have an incredible glide to them. The Kenetic friction is incredibly low but static friction is noticably higher so there isn't a smooth transition probably due to the sandpaper like surface. If you are moving fast you won't notice the transition from static to kenetic friction but high sensitivity gamers move fractions of an inch. They acquire grime but can easily be cleaned. One thing I really didn't like about them is they tend to wear down both the mouse pad and the surface. After a few months I notice the pad has degraded a considerable amount. I swapped through about 4 of these a year before I got cloth surfaces. Cloth Pads - Both types of friction is the highest. Any good plastic mat would beat out the fastest of cloth mats. However as high as their friction there is a smaller difference between kenetic and static friction so you get a rougher but very consistent glide on them. As far as I can tell, they don't wear down mouse feet any considerable amount. They are great surfaces but tend to acqurie dust. It can get stuck between the fibers so you need to rinse it. No big deal but I eventually swapped it out because friction was too high for me. Glass surface - As I said before. The best surface you can possibly get your hands on if you are a high sensitivity gamer. Static friction is almost non-existent. Moving the distance of a pixel is as smooth as moving across the screen. The thing feels like ice, no wonder they call it the icemat. Like the plastic pads they have a sandpaper like surface but the grit is extremely fine, you can't see the spaces. Since it is glass it doesn't wear down at all. It doesn't wear down the mouse either, how amazing. The only bad part I can find is thickness, probably the thickness of 1.5 cloth pads. It is cold when you first use it. It also makes a sound when you move your mouse, not a loud or annoying sound, not even noticable when your not concentrating on it but it is there unlike cloth pads which are absolutely quiet.
If you like hard mats like me then the Razer Destructor I find is nicer than the Exactmat. Its thinner and personally I never liked the wrist rest. If you like cloth mats the Razer Goliathus gives you so much real estate or the Func series are timeless.
Steelpad Qck Heavy, best pad I've ever use. So comfortable to use and durable (had mine over 3 years).
