Link: IceMat
Of all the mats in this roundup, this has to be the strangest. I've seen friends use books, blocks of wood and even a square of leather as mousing surfaces (yeah, I know, I have some weird friends) but even that didn't prepare me for this. The IceMat is a mouse pad made of glass. That right, the same substance that shatters easily and tends to have sharp edges. Don't let that put you off though - there isn't a sharp edge in sight on the mouse mat as the corners and edges are smooth and rounded. You won't cut yourself on this thing unless you shatter or chip it, and despite accidentally dropping it on the carpet and slamming my mouse down on it without thinking during a particularly tough game of Unreal Tournament, it hasn't chipped or shattered at all.
The strongest point in the IceMat's favour is that it looks so utterly stylish - pictures don't do it justice, you have to see it to get an idea of how cool it really looks. Even my mother commented on just how nice it looks when she saw it. Fittingly enough when you consider its name, it really does look very cool indeed. However, beyond that, it sadly isn't that good for gaming on. It's surface isn't actually as smooth as glass as it's somehow been treated so it's ever so slightly coarse, but it still has the least grip of any of the pads in this roundup. In Unreal Tournament this proved a disadvantage as more shots than usual tended to go wide of their target. It's far from unusable though, and in fact I've been using it as the mousepad on my work machine for a few days now (ok, so I love the comments it gets from visitors, so sue me), but there are better mouse mats for gaming out there. Since it's made of glass it's also completely useless with optical mice. Trying to play any game with the IceMat and an optical mouse it like trying to wrestle a giant eel in a tub of grease. Simply put, the IceMat is a case of style over practically - it's got looks that could kill, but if you use it for gaming you won't be racking up many kills yourself.
Link:Logitech Wingman Mouse Pad
In the 3M Precision Mousing Surface section I mentioned that Logitech decided to inject a little more sense into the 3M mouse pad design, and the result is the Logitech Wingman Mouse Pad. What's changed? Firstly, it's thicker by a few fractions of an inch due to a thin rubber base that Logitech added to the 3M. It's also larger and rectangular in shape and the surface is apparently more durable than on the regular 3M pads (it has certainly lasted much longer in my experience). There isn't much more I could have asked for in an improved version of the Precision Mousing Surface. The rubber base grips the table like a rotweiler with his teeth on a beefsteak and it also ensures that the pad stays flat for much longer. I've had the wingman pad for many weeks now and it has only just started to curl slightly but I never notice it during play. The Wingman mouse pad is what the 3M should have been. The surface still hasn't worn down, the rubber base means it grips the desktop well and doesn't curl easily... it's great, pure and simple. It's the pad I've settled on as my regular gaming pad thanks to its perfect balance between grip and smoothness mixed with good durability and desktop grip.
