Karadjgne :
ppl still use mousepads? Ive been using the top of my desk just fine for years with an optical mouse (Logitech m110). Pretty much, any surface will do with the exception of glass.
LOL, whatever floats your boat man.
Personally I've gotten very comfortable with a heavy duty tilt/swivel pullout tray on my desk that has a full length padded wrist rest which I can adjust height wise to use in conjunction with my task chair arms. Plus I tend to lift the mouse during aggressive boss battles and/or games that aren't all that well adapted to mouse and require lots of pad swipes, so a surface with padding helps. Other than that, it's so nice to have a surface that glides easy and is softer than your mouse feet. Over time, not long for some surfaces, your mouse feet will start showing considerable wear on hard surfaces (less so on something like HPL or Melamine), and then it becomes a drag, literally.
The best part is, I only spent $25 for my desk and pullout combo, which was used but in great condition at Boeing Surplus (now closed). It has a 1.25" thick MDF top with durable HPL walnut finish and tubular square steel legs. The only slight issue was I had to buy a piece of 2"x2" ash, which I had cut in half to use as spacers between the legs and top, as the desk height was not tall enough for my legs. I topped the ash off with a coat of walnut stain and you can hardly even tell it's been modified. Didn't cost more than $10 for the wood, stain, and hardware.
The funny part was, between the desk and task chair I bought for $15, both of which I had to disassemble to fit in my '79 Corolla, it had my car sagging from the weight all the way home, and it had truck type leaf springs on the rear. Them were the good old days. I really miss Boeing Surplus, great store.