Date: November 19th, 2004
Article by: Doug (Hardware Reviewer)
Edited by: Nathan Glentworth
(Owner, Head Editor & Hardware Reviewer)
Product was donated by: XRAYPAD
<--SHOP FOR A XRAYPAD AQUA3 LARGE MOUSEPAD HERE
PRODUCT COMPOSITION & WALKTHROUGH (cont'd)
First things first, this pad is HUGE! Measuring in at
an astonishing 15.7" x 11" x 0.12", I would have to say that this pad
has got to be the largest I have ever seen.
Though extremely large, X-Ray only took up a fraction
of the space for a tasteful silver logo, found in the top right corner.
I would like point out the thickness. Or should I say
lack there of? Unlike most standard cheapo mouse pads that sell mostly
due to the picture on them, this pad is stylishly thin.
Like most men, I like to see what's happening on the back
side as well as the front. Here you'll find textured rubber keeping
this monster from exploring your desk top. The front is composed of
a fine woven fabric that has a similar feel to neoprene.
PRODUCT PERFORMANCE
Now the moment we have all been waiting for….
Testing this thing was an interesting event in my life.
Here you are going to get a description of usage, likes and dislikes,
and the story of how this was all acquired. Feel free to light up a
smoke or get a drink and enjoy the story.
Positioning this giant onto my desk required more real
estate than I could provide. That right there was a bit of a turn-off
for me. As you can see, my desk is a tad cluttered, but I would imagine
mine is not the only in the world. So this may be one thing you might
want to think of before purchasing this mouse pad.
So how did I test the Aqua 3 without putting it on my
desk? Well I got paid to do it! There isn't any place in the world I
use a computer more than work. As much as I would like to provide pictures
of the pad in action at work, I don't think my boss would like me taking
the time to provide them for you. But I did find it funny that though
I was reviewing a product, she thought I was just personalizing my work
space. ;-)
Now I do a lot of work in Excel and Word, as well as our
bridging equipment software. (Don't ask, just accept, and this will
go a lot smoother) So this performance review is based off of app usage
more so than gaming. My mouse is my weapon against the daily tasks that
pain me. The first thing I noticed was how smooth the motion was compared
to the budget pad work provided me. Another thing that struck me as
wonderful was not having my hand uncomfortably resting on the edge of
the pad. Size redeems itself! Not once did I have to lift my hand to
readjust the mouse onto the pad. Now we all know that mouse sensitivity
can also effect whether or not you run into this problem. I myself use
a pretty sensitive motion, but even the users with less sensitive mouse
settings will have no more lifting issues.
After getting a feel for the motion without the anti-friction
pads or ZeroFriction[TM], it was time to discover what the these little
guys were all about. The pads were very easy to install. Just peel 'em
and stick 'em. They even come in different shapes designed for your
particular mouse. Once installed, I got right back to work. (Had to,
otherwise I get yelled at.)
Although on the company website they use selling points
of these pads to market gamers, I would say I was able enjoy them with
computer work application usage. They say ZeroFriction[TM] are not only
designed to reduce friction, but also to protect your mouse feet from
wearing and needing replacement. Personally, I don't think its possible
to get to that point, but its good to think about if it will make you
feel better. Motion was improved slightly, but the improvement was not
worth spending any extra money. X-Ray made a good move including these
with the pad. I did notice that I kept missing when trying to quickly
highlight rows in Excel and I would end up resizing the row instead
of selecting more. After this same occurrence happened a few times,
it was off with the pads. Besides, raw is more fun.
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