best "cheap" mouse surface

so heres the story... just walked into a future shop about 20 mins ago and was told by multiple staff members when asked and even a few bystanders that the razer mamba was the best mouse ill ever use... to be honest i belive it, i paid $135(CDN) 142 with all taxes and other government hands into my pocket again . lol and this is my first gaming mouse i have ever owned. i really almost regret buying such a high end mouse but if i really like it, and i mean really really love it. ill keep it. but i dont want to damage anything within the 30 day limit if i decide to take it back. all i have been using for my cheap $20-$50 mouses is just my malamine desktop because other mousepads i have are almost garbage really. i really have a short time limit and im just wondering if could use a peice of paper or other material so i wont screw this monster up...i could use a peice of fabric from a tee shirt or something, anything really just something that wont wreck anything. i am going to get a good mouse mat later but i just couldnt find one i liked at the future shop.

if you guys could be of any help i would greatly appreciate it, im not going to unbox it until i can get a safe way to use it. also is this a good mouse, it really fits my hand well but is it good other then that?


thanks in advance guys, it is so much appreciated.

 

Honestly, my favorite mouse pad is just a standard one I picked up from Newegg awhile back. i think this is the one:

Newegg.com - Kensington 56001 Optics-Enhancing Mouse Pad - Black

I've used all kind of fancy ergonomic mouspads, and even one Razor's aluminum ones, and I didn't care for any of them.

Or you could just use a piece of paper. That's what I've been using for the past couple of days because I don't have access to a real mouse pad.

 

ok i will use a peice of paper or clean one of my old ones... im going to video the unbox and ill post a link for it on youtube

 

lol a piece of cloth would work....lol
i use a cheap(imo) very portable one, razer kabuto, bought off amazon for about $16...

or put little stickys on its feet...lol

 

Steelseries QCK line is nice. the "mini" is the size of a normal mousepad. Fairly grippy, nice surface. using my Razer DeathAdder on it.

 

thanks for the advice i used and iron and lots of steam and got my old pad almost completely clean, after a few other steps of couse. i love the mouse. im thinking if i know that i can get a tactx thrown in for haggling when i order an m17x then im going to keep it and sell whatever one i like the least , i really like using it but still $142 is $142 and that is a lot of money for 1 single mouse

 

You're not going to damage the mouse by using it on your bare desk, but you won't really be using it to its full potential. You may also wear out the Teflon feet quicker, but within 30 days that's going to be negligible, and they make replacements for those anyway.

One thing to consider is whether you prefer a soft (usually foam or cloth-based) mouse surface, or a hard (metal or plastic, sometimes glass) surface. I personally love hard mats, since they tend to have significantly smoother glide than soft pads, and they stay flat regardless of your desk surface, so they're more reliable if you're not on a perfectly flat desk.

Texture is another important aspect. Some mouse pads are more speed-oriented, with smoother surfaces allowing for slick, unhindered mouse movement. Others are more geared towards control, with coarse/grainy surfaces that let you feel much more feedback when you move the mouse, supposedly allowing for individual pixel precision. My mouse pad has two sides, one for speed and one for control. I use the speed side virtually all the time; it's just more suited to my style.

Also, good choice on the mouse. I've been using the Mamba for about a year now, and it is top-notch.

 

If you enjoy the Mamba, perhaps you should consider the logitech g700! It has a different texture and design to it, but it's still wireless, and when plugged in it both charges AND turns to a wired mouse, as the mamba does. It would be ~$50 cheaper for you!

 

I think the OP is searching for a mouse mat, not another mouse.

I've preferred cloth surfaces over hard surfaces for a long time now. Used to own a Steelseries QCK but it wasn't to my taste. Now using a Razer Goliathus Control Edition which I've had for over a year now.

 

SteelSeries QCK is cheap and reliable, XTracPads seems to have extremly similar products for about the same price if you want to be a bit different.

I have the Ripper XXL and I much prefer it to my old QCK but its not exactly a travel mat if your looking to put it in a bag or anything.

 

thanks guys, for now im using my old soft mat from my super old windows 98 computer i owned 3 computers before the one im typing on, i do perfer hard mats and they did have a razer destructor on display at furture shop but i didnt buy one because its way to big, especially with this mouse set at about 1200-4000 dpi i need all of 4 inches to move the mouse even with 2 moniters lol. im going to look at all the suggestions you guys gave me and see what i like best. thanks again guys

 

Hmm, I've been using my mouse (Logitech G9x) on my desk since I've gotten it. How much does it really wear down the bottom area? I notice mostly dust gets trapped between the gaps and I have to clean it after a while, but that's it. Speed and tracking is fine for me so far. I suppose if it wore down much faster than normal, I better get a mouse pad myself. I liked not having anything there since my desk can get cramped.

 

well on my last 2 mice (microsoft home desktop mouse $50 and a logitech laptop mouse $20) the slider pads were worn to the point of being rough to the touch, i think if i tried it might be compressed dust,crumbs,etc and might come off but it basicly wrecked the pads. probably due to the ocasional cookie at the desk and the odd crumb getting stuck on the pad. i know it is not smooth to use on the desk itself, its really rough unlike a mousepad.

 

I understand that he doesn't need a new mouse, but he mentioned he was thinking about returning it strictly due to the cost. The G700 is almost half the cost if you can get it on sale, allowing him to save money, get a "similar" mouse, and also buy a nice mousepad then

 

How long have you had the mouse? It will likely be several months before you notice wear and tear on the mouse feet, unless your desk is made of sandpaper. The feet will wear down over time either way, but with a good mouse pad the process will be significantly slower. My original DeathAdder from 2007 still has the original feet that I've been using with the eXactMat for years. They're noticeably a bit flatter than they used to be, but still going.

As for the dust, that'll build up regardless of your mouse pad or lack thereof.

 

OCZ Behemoth. $7 USD. Best deal in mousepads you can find.

The wear will depend on the texture and cleanliness / dirtyness of the desk surface. Lots of dust? Lots of wear on the teflon feet.

But more importantly, a mousepad is a more "appropriate" mousing surface. The texture of a mousepad is ideal for a laser imaging sensor to operate. That means that your mouse will never skip, will always track reliably, will always track consistently. For mouse nerds, or wanna-be mouse nerds (like me) that spend a lot of time picking the right high-end mouse, , that kind of precision with your mouse control is highly desirable. For most other people using $20 crappy mice they bought from Office Depot, they won't care.

 

I pulled out my old mousepad which is one of those foam ones you see for free and my mouse on it (Logitech G9x) seemed to go extremely slow compared to the bare desk. Not usable really. Not sure how I got by before using that.

I'll take a look at the OCZ model or will just stick to the desk and buy new foot pads once they wear down after a year or so. Had the mouse for 4 months now.

Here's a site I googled for about $10 for 2 sets of feet I believe.
Hyperglide Gaming Gear: Best replacement mouse feet / mouse skates / padsurfers in the world

 

steel series that i found @ fry's for only 8 bucks.

 

thanks guys ive looked at a few but i think based on all of the "best pad ever" talk for almost every pad, its a personal preference. so im gonna look around and see what fits my needs best. i think im going to take the mouse back despite how incredibly much i love the mouse to use, it fits my hand like a glove and never skips a beat, although a bit tricky to go from wireless to wired in game due to the oddly shaped connector. and im going to try razer again only because its what fits my hand best from what i tried, ill try the g700 and a couple others to see but that way i can also get a headset as well for close to the same price. idk for sure though i might keep it but i just think this thing is awesomely powerful. any other suggestions are welcome im not biased at all towards these things because im so new to the whole gaming thing so anything is welcome as long as its comfortable lol.

 

If you like the shape of the Mamba, check out the DeathAdder. It's the exact same shape, just without wireless mode and different texture on the thumb and pinkie grips, for half the price or less. Amazon usually has it for $45.

 

yeah ive looked at it a few times but i really like wireless becuase im using a laptop and my mouse is less then 5 inches from the usb where its plugged so ill have like 3 feet of cord wound up with a zip tie always in the way... i think ill try the g700 for feel if i go to take my mamba back. and if they dont have it there ill get if off newegg or logitechs site or something. i just really like the wired/wireless feature and the feel is probably the best ive ever felt in a mouse.

 

If you end up looking for one, I may be selling mine... Like new condition, currently using on my aluminum mouse pad, only for about a month.

 

I do noticed that no one here mentioned the Razer Sphex.Extremely cheap & thin,like a paper yet very good tracking properties.

 

i dont like thin mouses though, for example the apple magic mouse is awful for me to use... it just dosent feel right, i know it sounds stupid but i like a bulky mouse that comforms my hand.... i looked at future shop for a g700 and it 99 bucks but on newegg i belive its like 70 ish... i guess ill just keep looking around, maybe just a cheap one then i can buy a razer headset too.

 

^The Sphex is a mouse pad, not a mouse.

I had the Sphex once, didn't really care for it. It literally is paper-thin, so it relies entirely on your desk surface being perfectly flat. Any bumps, cracks or imperfections will transfer right through the Sphex.

As for a headset, the Carcharias is nice, but save yourself some money and get a Plantronics GameCom 377. It's a similar quality headset but significantly less expensive. And Plantronics is a fairly well known brand when it comes to headsets.

 

Razer Mamba, as most other mice, on the crap surface will feel crappy - compared to the decent surface. If I was buying for the full price, I'd probably go with something less expensive than Mamba and spend more on a decent surface. Any of the Razer ones I used were nice (I wouldn't go for the cheapest super-thin ones tho).

 

Well,didn't realise we're talking about mice now as i thought OP was considering "cheap mouse surface".Anyway,i would that if one were to use a mouse pad,at least he would be wise enough to actually set it onto a decent surface.BTW,the Mamba works very well with majority of mouse surfaces,especially their own razer hard mats,moves like hot knife through butter.

 

oh dont get me wrong, i LOVE the mamba but its a tad to much mouse price wise, even though i dont want wired im going to order a g9x and try that from newegg. its 69.99. i looked at the g700 and i could get it for 54.99 with a mail in rebate but by the time it gets here the rebate will be over because it ends on 4/4/11 so i might as well get the g9x anyway. ive got a wireless one anyway that i can use for surfing the web and such

 

I agree it's really overpriced. I like the mouse a lot, but would never pay the regular price for it. Logitech laser wireless mice are probably going to be equally good for majority of the purposes but a bit cheaper.

Just please get a decent surface.

 

yeah i think im going to get a ocz pad with the mouse

 

Yeah, even I think the Mamba's overpriced, and I own one. I bought it refurbished as a Woot daily deal for $70.