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Copyright © 1997 - 2007
by Club Overclocker
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Application:

Oversize Mousing Surface

Provided by:

XTracPads

Available at:

XtracPads

MSRP:

$35.99

Availability:

Now

Review by:

Joe

Edited by:

Darren & Scott

Review date:

September 9th, 2006

 

 

 

XTracPads Ripper XXL Mouse Pad Review

     Gaming mouse pads, while once reserved for the hardcore gaming elite, they are now widespread, cheap, and widely considered a necessity for any serious gamer. Pads now come in all shapes, sizes, and materials, with many companies trying to come up with unique ways to earn your gaming dollar. We have seen plastic, cloth, hybrid, and metal pads, each with their own personality. So what does the Ripper XXL offer that the others don't? Let's take a look.

     The Ripper XXL comes in a large sturdy tube, you would never guess a mouse pad is what lies in wait. The tube makes for a good LAN carry case for the pad as well.

      What kind of mouse pad would require such a large tube you ask? The answer is, this no ordinary mouse pad. You might as well call this a mouse-keyboard-gaming keyboard-gamepad-beverage pad, because this thing is gigantic! Not only is there sufficient space for the most seizure inducing twitch gamer to fling the mouse about as they please, there is also enough room for me to put my regular keyboard AND my ZBoard, with plenty of room to spare. While sitting your keyboard on your mouse pad may appear silly at first thought, the reason becomes obvious after a couple rounds of CoD2: you never have to worry about where your mouse is sitting on the pad. You can move all the way from where your keyboards ends to another good foot to the right.

Features and Specifications:

  • Whisper quiet cloth surface

  • Fray resistant edges

  • Soft and comfortable

  • Sure Grip rubber backing

  • Super Wide Mad Tape

  • Extra heavy duty

  • Very flexible

  • HUGE mousing surface (36" x18")

  • (2) 5" strips of XTracPads Mad Tape™

Tested and 100% compatible with the following mice:

Logitech:
MX300/500/510/518/700/1000 G5 & G7

Microsoft:
Intellimouse Explorer 3.0/4.0 Laser Mouse 6000

Apple:
Mighty Mouse

     The pad comes complete with an XTracPads sticker, 2 alcohol prep wipes, Mad Tape for your mouse feet, and instructions. Adding the alcohol pads is a nice touch, though the pictures in the instruction sheet are hard to see. I suppose any gamer worth their salt should be able to figure out how to apply tape to their mouse feet.

     Here we can see the scope of the Ripper XXL against the "Everglide Giganta" mouse pad and a Logitech mouse. Perhaps its time for the Giganta to change its name? This pad is genuinely huge at 36"w x 18"h x 1/8" (914mm w X 457mm h).

     The design of the the Ripper XXL is elegant and basic. You can't go wrong with black, and a simple design in the corner. Even though the logo is tucked far enough away that you should never worry about mousing over it, my Razer had no trouble tracking over it. The pad is a nice thick cloth with a durable rubber backing that ensures that the pad stays put.

     With the pad in its rightful place, you can truly see how the pad truly dwarfs the Razer eXactMat. Not only does this pad have huge length, it is also wide enough for two keyboards, and whatever accessories decorate your computing landscape.

Conclusion:

     Being a fan of the plastic pads for some time now, I must admit that it did take a little while for me to get used to the cloth pad. At first I started using the pad without the tape, and I found that my wrist got sore fairly quickly. Using the enclosed Teflon "Mad Tape" helped to reduce the friction and made using the pad a comfortable experience. However, I recommend cutting the tape into oval shapes before sticking them to your mouse feet, as corners tend to catch on the pad a bit.

     Having a mouse pad that encompasses your keyboards is a great idea, and the price is in line with many of the mouse pads on the market today. If you are in the market for a new cloth pad, I highly recommend this product.

 

Club Overclocker Rating

Innovation:

10 out of 10

Performance:

9.5 out of 10

Quality:

9.5 out of 10

Stability:

N/A

Overclocking:

N/A

Software/Drivers Pack:

N/A

Value:

10 out of 10

Overall Rating 9.5

   

Skill Level

Project Skill Level
(10 being most difficult)

1 out of 10