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Ratpadz Ratpadz Vs 3M Mousing Surface Shootout
Date Posted: Apr 28 2000
Author: Joe
Posting Type: Review
Category: Misc Geek Gear
Page: 1 of 1
Article Rank:No Rank Yet
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Note: This is a legacy article, imported from old code. Due to this some items on the page may not function as expected. Links, Colors, and some images may not be set correctly.
Ratpadz Vs 3M Mousing Surface Shootout By: Joe

Quick Review - RatPadz Vs 3M P.M.S.

By: Joe Kelly
Date: 4/28/00
Product Supplied by:
N/A Purchased myself-
RatPadz.com (.. Duh)
Compusa (Big 3M)
Inet Computers (small 3M)

Let me fist declare my bias - I have been a 3M user for many years and LOVE their pads.  I used the small one in the picture since the day Quake 2 came out (that Xmas), until 3 weeks ago, and its as good as the day I bought it.. so its gonna take some work to impress me with anything else.

Getting to know your pad (not that pad sicko)

3M Precise Mousing
Surface - 1998

Ahhh, this is an ole buddy of mine, I have killed many a person with this mouse pad.  It lasted me through the entire Quake 2 revolution, through Halflife, Q3A, and Starseige Tribes.   It also lasted through a lot of web development, and image work. This was the first I have seen of a ultra thin mouse pad and I really liked it. I used a "balled" mouse on it for years, and then went to the IntelliEye mouse, and then to the Explorer mouse, and both liked it the same.  It was hard to give this guy up.  Here's a bit of technical info regarding this pad

You can see in the picture, the micro groove pattern they use on the mouse pad, it makes it feel real cool, and makes mouse balls just float on it; very smooth.

3M Precise Mousing
Surface - 2000

This was a update to the mouse pad I already used. It uses the same micro groove technology, and is still extremely thin and light weight.  Its a bit bigger then the existing 3M pad I owned and I liked the increased area it gave me to move around with. Was better for graphics, and way better for frag'n. All in all I was happy, but not blown away, it was the same pad I had before but bigger. It did have a great contemporary look and style for my desk, I have to admit, out of all the pads this one was the coolest looking!

HardOCP/ Ratpadz  - 2000

At first I wasn't going to order one cause I was fully content with my 3M pads, but then I though "I run outta plates quite often in my apt, so I can use this as a spare plate for pizza if needed... hmm that rocks!"   After I got it, I put it down, and HATED IT!. I got way to used to the thin mouse pads, here's a pic of the depth difference between them:

But I forced myself to use it for a month and see how I liked it after that.  I got more and more used to it, and soon was using it just as I was on the 3M pads only better.

The game results-

After using the small 3M pad for 1 1/2 years in Quake, and other FPS games, it sure earned a reputation for being dead on accutrate. The bigger one increased it slightly in my mind in quality of game play, but the rat padz blew it away. The Smooth and solid surface let the big honker MS Explorer mouse glide with ease, and get a few more "Air Disc's" in Starseige Tribes. Very pleasing. All the pads were great for gaming, but I enjoyed it more with the Rat then anything else.

How it Ranked: Games

3M Small

 

 

 

3M Big

 

RatPadz

The App results-

I have used the pads the same as in the gaming section for the same periods of time, and in this one it was a lot close of a tie then the games. IN the graphics, web browsing, and other normal PC features, all 3 reacted the same and none was any worse then the other. One thing I do like is the bigger surface area of the bigger 2, and the smooth surface of the ratpadz makes it a bit easier and more stable to control for graphics work.

How it Ranked: Appz

3M Small

 

3M Big

 

RatPadz

The Thermals results-

Hehehehe, well its ProCooling, and I feel bad if I don't do at least 1 temp related test:

With the ambient temp @ 78 Deg, and they were chilled in the freezer @ -18C for 4 min. Here is some thermal shots for you:

as you can see the 3M released its heat faster then the RatPadz. It remained at a 44 Deg, while the 3M pad fell to 38 Deg

Well as you can see the 3M warmed up quickly also, while the RatPadz remained only 1 deg warmer after 5 min sitting in a 78Deg ambient temp on a counter that was 71 Deg. its lil feet kept it well insulated from the warm counter top. Don't know how to rank this so I am gonna give em all 5 :)

How it Ranked: Thermals

3M Small

3M Big

RatPadz

Overall Conclusion -

3M makes a bitch'n product, and is great for a exotic look on a nice desk, but if you are a gamer (if so, then your designer desk consists of a few cinder blocks and 2x4's prolly) then the Ratpadz would be the thing for you. It rocks in so many ways!.  I would highly recommend it!

Why no Everglide? - Cause the company that makes them are Anti-user and Anti-Online Review Community idiots, and I don't do business with un-ehtical companies/people.  (if you don't know what I am talking about, search around there is more info on how they treat customers.)

How it Ranked: Over All

3M Small

 

3M Big

 

RatPadz

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