XTracPads Fat Mat

XTracPads Fat Mat Review

XTracPads have always been great cloth mouse pad manufacturers with their Pro Pad and Ripper XXL but have recently ventured into a new market with their plastic adhesive Logic series and excelled at doing so. This time we look at one of their older products, the Fat Mat which promises to combine thickness with the same high performance that we are used to seeing from XTracPads. Enough said, let’s take a closer look.

Company Information – XTracPads

“Started in March of 2002 by a group of hard-core pc gamers, our mousing surfaces and accessories have won countless awards.

We offer an expanding variety of surfaces and optical mouse pad sizes. Not only are our products used in computer gaming, they are equally efficient for many other applications such as digital animation, desktop publishing and more.”

Features

• Extra thick Sure Grip rubber backing
• Frey resistant edges
• HUGE mousing surface
• Soft and comfortable
• Whisper quiet nanofiber™ textile

Specifications

• 12″ X 16″ x 1/4″ (305mm x 406mm x 6.35mm)
• Sure Grip rubber backing
• Nanofiber™ textile surface

Compatibility

• Logitech:
  MX300/500/510/518/700/1000/G5/G7/G9
• Microsoft:
  Intellimouse Explorer 3.0/4.0 Laser Mouse 6000
• Razer:
  DeathAdder
• Apple:
  Mighty Mouse

Contents & Packaging

The Fat Mat comes in XTracPads tube packet which consists of a clear plastic tube with a piece of paper coiled around the inside displaying all the information.

Displayed are the large words ‘Fat Mat’ in between a short description contained inside two red lines.

The other side shows the specifications as well as a few other bits and pieces.

Inside the tube, the Fat Mat is keep clean inside a thin polythene bag which keeps it all very neat and tidy.

In terms of accessories, like with all XTracPads product, there is a small sticker included.

The Product – XTracPads Fat Mat

The pad has dimensions 305mm x 406mm x 6.35mm, which as you can see is very thick, hence ‘Fat Mat’. The pad is quite springy as it is manufactured from a Nanofiber textile which also makes the pad very easy to clean.

The surface is ultra smooth and so should provide a quick, accurate surface which is great for gaming.

The pad has a rubber backing that keeps it from moving on your desk and due to the thickness of the pad, this product is ideal to use on uneven surfaces as the Fat Mat can simply be placed over it and it not affected by anything underneath like many thinner pads would be.

The thickness has another benefit as it doubles up as a wrist support making it extra comfortable and preventing your wrist from becoming sore and achy.

In one corner of the Fat Mat is the customary XTracPads logo in white with the website address below.

The edges are supposedly frey resistant so they shouldn’t start to come undone anytime soon.

Testing

The Test Setup:

Processor	Intel C2Q Q9450 Quad Core @ 2.80GHz
Motherboard	Gigabyte S-Series GA-73PVM-S2H
Graphics Card	XFX 8600GT
Memory	Corsair XMS2 PC6400 (2x 1GB)
Hard Drive	Hitachi HDT7250 (250GB)
Power Supply	NOX Apex 700W
OS	Windows XP Pro 32bit

Methodology

As with all peripherals and accessories, they are all extremely subjective with different people having their own personal opinions. Therefore, it is advisable to test the peripheral yourself before you buy as people’s opinions vary greatly.

However, to test mouse pads here at Verdis Reviews, we use the product for an extended period of time (incorporating general use and gaming) looking at performance, durability and comfort.

To test the Fat Mat, I used the Logitech Laser Mouse and the following games:

• Battlefield 2
• Flash Games

Results

Gaming

Battlefield 2
This particular game is a fast paced first person shooter that requires pinpoint precision and quick movements; thus an excellent test for any mouse pad. I loaded up my favourite map – Strike at Karkand and set about trying to eliminate the enemy. The Fat Mat is very smooth and my mouse was able to easily glide over the surface as I popped off enemies one by one.
The tracking too was impressive and I didn’t once have to readjust the mouse pad or find that the cursor went awry.

Flash Games
These browser games are ideal for peripheral testing as there is a huge range of genres that load almost instantly. I picked a number of different game types from strategies to puzzles to simulations. I found that the Fat Mat was able to aid my mouse perfectly in all cases with no hiccups or problems to report.

General Usage

I used the Fat Mat over a sustained period including internet browsing, image editing and more to see how it would cope. Like in the gaming department, it was again very impressive and I couldn’t find any faults at all.
The only thing I can thing off, and this is not in terms of the pad’s performance, was that it does stick up quite a bit which can be a little bit of a nuisance.

Durability

I tried cleaning the pad several times along with bending the edges to see if any freying would occur – it did not. On the cleaning subject, any dust or debris simply wipes off the surface with ease; however, if you were to spill something, for instance fizzy drink, on the surface, it does stain slightly.

Cost

The Fat Mat comes in at $28.95 which is quite a high price for a mouse mat. Having said that, this product is of the highest quality.

Conclusion

The Fat Mat is another great product from XTracPads; we are yet to see anything even remotely unsatisfactory here at Verdis Reviews from them. The tracking and comfort is first rate and the added thickness makes for a great wrist support.

The rubber non-slip backing too works very well and keeps the mat sat firmly on the desk without letting it slide around which can be a real problem.

On the down side, the mouse pad does come in a quite a high price compared to many of its competitors. Having said that, it’s bigger and thicker than most of them so there should be some sort of price increase. Another point is that the pad does attract quite a lot of dust but as the Fat Mat can be so easily cleaned, this too is not a big issue.

Very impressive yet again and highly recommended.

Pros

• Comfortable
• Fast & Accurate Tracking
• Non-slip Rubber Backing
• Can be used on Uneven Surfaces
• Looks good

Cons

• Higher price point that some competitors
• Attracts dist quite easily

Thanks go to XTracPads for providing the sample for review.