Best mousepad for the rat 9, and does thickness matter?

[stuffstuff]

Right now I have the razer vespula with my rat 9 mouse. It's nice, but I want something better (and something that won't eat my mouse feet). I was looking at the razer goliathus, steelseries qck, and qck mass. So, what are the pros and cons of a thicker mousepad (cost doesn't matter, it's very close). I have the rat 9, a 21.5" 1080p monitor, and I play at 1400 or 1500 dpi (I can't remember which), I play fps. Are there any other mouse pads that are better than the ones I'm looking at?

 

[ssddx]

$5 rubber-foam mousemat with a solid color cloth top.

so called gaming mousepads are a complete waste of money.

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personally i like the upgraded model a $8 mousepad from staples which is a little thicker then the standard ones in black. at work i use a standard thickness model but twice the size.

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if you think i jest, then you dont realize that they have all the functions required

-non slip on the desk
-comfortable but firm
-easy on teflon feet
-mouse slides even with teflon feet worn off
-cheap
-solid colors track very well with laser or led

even if you gave me for free a $40 mousepad i would just hock it and get something that actually works. gaming mousepads are junk but yet people think they need one.

 

[nin-ha]

I don't know much about mousepads but I was afraid to put in my input but SSDDX was first so now it's all good 😀 . I got a free cloth mouse pad from Rite-Aid with a BF3 picture on it and that is what I've been using. I used to just use my wood desk but since its wood, it's got a nice glide to it. Sometimes that's not exactly what you want though. My friend has a really nice Steelseries. It's a hard, plastic one. It's nice sure but I don't see the reason in buying something like that. If anything I'd be afraid that the glossy plastic coating would mess up the tracking since it would refract/reflect light different than a black cloth mouse pad. My mouse pad of unknown value hasn't started ruining my feet yet so I guess I'd recommend it. I got to design it so I call it a Limited Edition Battlefield 3 mouse pad exclusively from DICE just to give myself a good laugh.

 

[ssddx]

you have to be careful with mousepads with certain designs or combinations of colors at times since it can cause erratic performance from optical and laser mice.

for instance at work i have a solid black mousepad with complete disassembly of a colt 1911 in bright white. at times when i move the mouse over the 1/8" tall text the mouse starts to jitter on the screen when attempting smooth control. it doesnt happen all the time though but i know for a fact what the cause is. this is why i always recommend solid colors.

i would advise against using a desk. the desk may be smooth for sure but not having a mousepad means that the dust particles which accumulate on the desk act as an abrasive and can wear the teflon feet the fastest. you also accumulate 10x as much gunk on the bottom of your mouse as you do with using a pad. just some insight.

 

[stuffstuff]

I edited my question so it's clearer

 

[ssddx]

it doesnt matter if your budget was $5 or $500 i would still suggest what i did.

if you are absolutely hardcore set on WASTING MONEY on a "gaming mousepad" despite the fact that it will do absolutely nothing for you then just look at reviews to see if any of them have problems with the mouse tracking on them. once you eliminate them just pick whichever looks prettiest to you as thats all it amounts to.

either take my advice or dont, it doesnt matter much to me as its your money not mine. just know that for the same price you can get a gaming mouspad for you could have bought another game or a piece of hardware for your pc which might actually improve performance.

 

[stuffstuff]

I'm not going to spend $50 on a mousepad. You spent 8, I'll spend $10-15, it's not a big difference. You could only buy a really old game or a worthless piece of hardware for that difference. My mouse made a difference, so I think the pad will make a small difference too.

 

[nuxx]

I'm sorry but ssddx really doesn't know what he's talking about. If you're into competitive fps gaming everything needs to be taken into account. The sensitivity of the mouse based on what game you’re playing, your keyboard (mechanical keys can be a lifesaver), and yes even the mouse pad. You will probably be looking for a larger mouse pad then what you can get for free at staples. You will also need to think of the speed you’re looking from in your mouse. Different mouse pads give your mouse better control and yes the fraction of a second could mean a kill or death. I know not everyone notices a difference nor is every person looking to go pro but I see nothing wrong in spending $30 on a mouse pad that will probably last you a couple years.

 

[InventorGrissom]

ONE SOLUTION is WHITE PAD.
My year+ old R.A.T.9 has always had an unusable erratic cursor regardless of four different mouse pads (including largest Cyborg pad) - all four black, table tops, skin, clothes, white paper, variety of color paper, and everything else I could find to try and NOTHING came even close to stabilizing the jumping around cursor. SOLUTION: I noticed a large 0.05" thick 15"x20" stock sheet of very dense flat white artists art hard board I hadn't tried before. WOW! Problem completely gone! Amazing flawless performance now. This solution (and keeping your laser lens area perfectly clean) will solve this problem IF your RAT 9 has the same problem as mine did.

 

[InventorGrissom]

ADDITIONAL COMMENT: I tried so many white, off-white, and color pad substitutes and yet never guessed that TEXTURE and COLOR was so critical to the solution. But now, thinking about it, with such a high DPI, what else could it have been but fine laser surface reflection strength (COLOR) and inaccuracies (TEXTURE). Sorry 'bout rambling but I'm so thrilled to finally have this RAT 9 working exactly as advertised. I promise to return with manufacturers product number for this art board and at least one link.

 

[ewok93]

There are a few benefits to spending more on a mouse pad, but a $40 one won't benefit much. Something like a Steelseries QCK+ is good, it's big so it covers a lot of space, it's slightly better fabric and glue so it won't fray or peel like a lot of cheaper ones will. You can usually find them for about $15, and they're about 4 times the size of a standard $5 one from Staples, so it's technically cheaper per inch. There are also the smaller QCK models, which have similar materials. Spending a ton of money will not increase the performance of your mouse, but a nicer one will look better on your desk and last longer. Thicker does make it more comfortable, but doesn't change the surface so it won't affect the performance at all.