Date: January 5th, 2005
Article by: Josh Williams (Hardware Reviewer)
Edited by: Nathan Glentworth (Owner, Head Editor & Hardware Reviewer)
Product Submitted by: XRayPad
<--SHOP FOR A THUNDER 8 MOUSEPAD HERE

PRODUCT COMPOSITION AND MAKEUP

At first glance, this looks like a very normal gaming pad. It's a very rigid surface made of a material that can take a beating. The upper right hand corner is stamped letting you know it's a Thunder 8 from X-raypads.

When we take a closer look, however, we find that the pad lifts up and there are two surfaces to choose from - a smooth side and a rough side. The smooth side is for your optical mouse whereas if you are still using a standard ball mouse, you still have the rough side to use. God help you if you can't go out and pick up a optical mouse for $5.

There are a total of ten silicone rubber feet that help keep this thing planted . . . even during some very intense gameplay.

Now let's get into some testing. It's a tough job but someone's got to frag away. =P

PRODUCT PERFORMANCE

For the actual test, I decided to use two tried and tested mice. The first was the standard Microsoft 5-button ball mouse. The second is the 3-button Intelli-mouse which is an optical mouse. Usually, the desktop or a very old cloth pad (a present from long ago) is used for these two mice.

First off, I tried the ball mouse. Wow was I surprised. The mouse acted as if it were a puck on ice. There was no more dragging the mouse across the desktop or mouse pad. There was a very noticeable difference. For the first few moments, it felt like someone had turned up the sensitivity. After hours of playing BF1942 and Halo, the rough side of this gaming pad seemed to be the best for the ball mouse. Gameplay seemed so much smoother. I also noticed that because of the larger surface area picking up the mouse was non-existent anymore. We all know that can cost us a few bullets in the head or chest or worse, even a death.

Going from the ball mouse to the optical mouse wasn't really a disappointment, but the difference was not as great. It still felt like a puck on ice. Moving the mouse was rather effortless. The smooth side of the gaming pad seemed much better suited for the optical mouse.

So how did this thing do with the BF1942 and Halo LAN? As always, I came out on top. =P. Since picking up the mouse was virtually eliminated, kills were quicker, running around was easier and more effortless, and getting out of dodge in a big frag fight was much swifter.