Best mouse pad for optical mouse

[Kruno]

I would love to know.
Thanks

[vampireuk]

lol, you need a smack round the head at times ;)

[Kruno]

My desk does a crap job okay. :p
I have A4 paper as a mouse pad right now lol.

Different surfacers, different results. :p

[sytaylor]

a nice woody surface is usually great cus al the grooves and stuff in it make your funky mouse recognise all its refreshes :)

[Smokey]

I used to use an A4 pad, the back it worked ok. Any cheap mouse pad should be fine, Im using an AMD standard mouse pad I got from where I work sometimes.

[Kruno]

I am using A4 PAPER. :p
Not an A4 pad. :p

A4 lined paper might I add. Reason is because I heard someone around here mention that optical mice work best on a white surface. :p

Anyway my bare desk is a lot worse. :p

[Smokey]

You probably heard optic mice work best on white surfaces because white reflects light? I found with a wood surface, my mouse didnt slide very well!! As long as the mouse pad doesnt move when using your mouse, any pad should work fine ;)

[Kruno]

I literally tried using my ass but it wasn't too comfortable. :p

Nah, I noticed some surfaces are great, others good and others crap.
I need a perfect surface.

[Hyper_Snyper]

sometimes i just use my thigh as i'm sitting there.
it works great since my chair reclines and my leg makes the perfect mouse pad for my optical. ;)

[Aesthetica]

mine came with this thin plastic square that sticks to the table its pretty good
and when i run my nails along it, it makes music! :D
like the cover of an a4 plastic folder kinda thing
just use a hard cover book or something

[Head_slinger]

The only type of mousemat i use for my opticle is one of the 50p cloth covered foam ones. I find that the shiny ones make the mouse go all funny and hard to control.

[thcdru2k]

a white cutting board works pretty good

[g0at]

i got one of those bit 1 foot by 1 1/2 foot mouse pads
my mouse works great on it, and it gives just the right resistance
(my mouse slides all over on my desktop =\ )
i reccomend it!

[Gehenna_CA]

Ratpadz.com 'Nuff said

[The Baron]

Originally posted by sytaylor
a nice woody surface is usually great cus al the grooves and stuff in it make your funky mouse recognise all its refreshes :)

This is so unbelievably true it's not funny. Because my Everglide mousepad was annoying me, I got rid of it and just used my desk.

HOLY CRAP IT'S SENSITIVE!

And you know what? I'm a Scary Good Shot now in UT. :p

[pelly]

When I joined HardOCP, Kyle sent me a RatPadz to use...
With my MX700, the combo is incredibly smooth...

:)

[Nephilim]

Originally posted by pelly
When I joined HardOCP, Kyle sent me a RatPadz to use...
With my MX700, the combo is incredibly smooth...

:)

I KNEW it!! He bribed you! hehehehe

:D :p :D

[|JuiceZ|]

Originally posted by pelly
When I joined HardOCP, Kyle sent me a RatPadz to use...
With my MX700, the combo is incredibly smooth...

:)

o yea, I've had my ratpadz for well over a yr now and have enjoyed it with every mouse I've gone through but I have to say using it w/ an mx700 has to be the ultimate combo :cool:

[FastM]

Cloth surface pads preferably black work very well.

[vampireuk]

So then with the mx700 on its way I should invest in a nice lil pad too then? :)

[g0at]

Originally posted by FastM
Cloth surface pads preferably black work very well.

indeed, my intellimouse works better on it than it does a wooden surface!!! :eek:

[Cloudy]

My ratpad does weird stuff.. I thought it was the mouse at first acking up, but no, it's the pad. I bought them both at the same time, so I had no idea at the time. It's a Logitech Dual Optical by the way.

What happens is, After a time of not using the mouse, after it goes on 'stand by', when the LEDs aren't active, it takes a few seconds for it to start moving on the desktop. After typing a little or sratching myself, I put my hand back on the mouse to use it, and it takes some time to go.. It was very annoying, so I had to put my old crappy one back..

Have no idea why..

[Kruno]

A black non-reflective mouse pad is the best as red light gets absorbed much better into a black surface. :)

[The Baron]

Not to mention; I'm concerned about ergonomics, and the pad is elevated more than it could be.

That's the same reason I stopped using my Everglide pad. If it was a fourth of an inch lower, it'd be GREAT, but it got really dirty (and I can't figure out any way to clean it... :o ) and it's quite uncomfortable after more than an hour of use.

[Greg]

I've been using optical mice for the last few years every day at work and home, I have experimented heaps with surfaces. Here's my favourite cheapo solution:

Find or buy a black plastic folder, the kind with tiny patterns all over it that you can feel more than see. Get some double sided sticky tape and use it to stick a large (A4 or so size) rectangle of that platic to your desk. The total cost should be < $2 if you even have to buy the bits, and I gurantee your mouse will never skip.

Other surfaces that work okay are wood grain and cloth. My older mice don't like flat white paper at all, but the newer ones appear to read it well, perhaps they are finally high enough res to read the fibre patterns.

For non-optical mice, use a rectangle of smooth Lamanex (plastic covering used for kitchen benches).

Also, to test the mouse, very rapidly slide it horizontally on the table (Kind of like rattling it) so it moves about 10cm on screen. Do this for at least 30 seconds. If the mouse cursor jumps anywhere other than moving back and forth as expected, you are not getting good enough results.

Although the MS Explorer mice perform well, they have two main flaws: 1) The cord is weakly connected and breaks easily without harsh use. 2) The sliding bits are not teflon and catch more grime than the mouse ball ever used to, making the mouse stick to the desk regularly. These pads also wear down after a couple years use. I lost another MS Explorer mouse due to a misfunctioning button after 3 months, but that doesn't appear to be a common problem.