ROCCAT Alumic Double-Sided Gaming Mouse Pad

This is the best mouse-pad I've owned. I will never go back to the soft ones except for light office use. I'll start by saying this thing is the right size for me and my desk. I've had the small, crappy pads and they aren't very nice to use unless you're setting the mouse to an extreme DPI. Likewise, I've tired some of the bigger ones and I found I never used all the real-estate they provided. My desk could handle one of those huge keyboard, mouse, everything pads, but I see no need. This thing is solid as a rock. It's obviously aluminum and rock solid. The little rubber pads keep it planted. It has two different sides but I notice minor differences. I like using the 'control side' (the black picture). The 'speed' side (the blue picture) works just as well, but it makes more noise so that was the deciding factor. As a note about using both sides and I was worried if I wanted to use the speed side was the bright blue picture. Every review, stock photo, etc. made this picture look like it'd keep a small village lit. That's not the case, it's more tasteful and toned down than it seems. Also, I use my mouse at 800dpi (I think that's the setting, maybe 900?). So, a bit lower than some but not the lowest. This pad works very well at this setting. I tried the lower DPI (400) and that worked well too. I don't go above the lower DPIs on my mouse - I hate it. The tracking is superior as is expected. I don't know how well a cheapy, 'included' mouse or some tiny $4 mouse would work, but I imagine if there were any tracking issues, it's the mouse and not this pad. The only downside to this set-up is the wrist rest. Unlike some of the competition out there, it is a distinct item and you can use it or not. I only use it for light office work, if I'm gaming or using photo-shop, I ditch it. It's too small for me and to properly use it, I have to let it sit at an angle on the mouse pad instead of flat on the desk, otherwise it hurts my wrist. I'll get a nicer one for office work at home. It's not a deal-breaker at all as this mousepad is quite fine on its own and this is a good bonus if you like it or need it.

The first thing u will notice about this pad is that its HUGE!!! lol If you have the space to put it u will have no problem, u will never be moving the mouse outside the pad ever again. Its metallic ass the mane suggests it, with rubber corners so it dont slide, seems very durable and sturdy, with good quality rubber and a really nice, quality, long and ergonomic wrist support that u can put whenever u want. The pad have 2 sides, one optimized for control (blue one) and one optimized for speed (black one), and incredibly i notice the difference with my Roccat Kone XTD Max mouse, that really surprised me. I play de FPS with the black side, and RPG or Strategy with the blue side, also i consider the blue side best for normal activities in windows. i did this comparison using the same profile and DPI in the mouse if u like to know. Its a really nice looking pad, that feels its gonna last for a long time and surprised me in a very good way. Its a bit expensive, but u get what u pay for and the time this is gonna last could definitely make it worth the extra.

hmm, worth $45. Not too sure. Its heavy, sits well on the desk, the Roccat Nyth mousse moves well on it. But that's it. I can tell no difference between the speed side and the precise side of the mat when using the mouse. The wrist pad is comfortable though. It does however match the Roccat keyboard and mouse that I also use.

This is a good product, but could be a little better in a couple of ways. I bought this mouse pad because it is aluminum and would not flex. This is important to me because I place it on a keyboard tray and about half of the mouse pad hangs over the edge of the tray, so it is important that it does not bend at all when I roll my mouse over the part that is not sitting on the keyboard tray. Since the pad hangs over my keyboard tray, I use a small spring clamp I bought at Home Depot to clip it to my keyboard tray when I use it. The clamp is metal with a small rubber tip. Unfortunately, the metal clamp broke through the rubber one day and left some aluminum colored markings on the edge of the pad. It's really no big deal, but I wish the black finish around the edges of the pad was a little more durable so that a scratch would not show through so much. I wish the four corner pieces of rubber attached to this mousepad were not there, or were lower. There are not really high, but I would have preferred to have a flat pad for two reasons: 1) I don't like my mouse pad being raised off the surface it sits on because I find it more comfortable to use a low mousepad, and the rubber feet just make it higher on the desk. 2) because the "feet" are raised on both sides, they get in the way of moving your mouse sometimes. I don't want my mouse to hit the rubber feet and stop it from moving! I've gotten killed in BF3 more than a couple of times because this has happened during the heat of battle. Lastly, I like that there are two different sides, but my mouse doesn't track as well on the smooth side as it does on the rougher side. It sometimes loses tracking and the on-screen mouse stops moving for a fraction of a second even though I am moving the physical mouse. I use a Logitech G700 gaming mouse and do not have this issue with other mouse pads. I suspect it is because of the black or blue color on the smooth side - not sure. It works fine on the rough side, which is mostly black. Overall, I like the pad, and don't regret the purchase. I really wanted a flat one, but read reviews about another product that said the surface started flaking off. I DO NOT have that problem with this product, so am happy for the durability.

If you're wondering why it's so expensive...it is because it is WORTH IT!!! OMGOSH this baby delivers in every way for true gamers. I am quite fast enough on the control side, the other one glides EXTREMELY fast lol, so if that is what you want, and even tho I did at the time I bought it, I found the other just plain better for gaming, but hey that doesn't mean everyone will! As I was saying if that's what you want then this is your pad. If style is what you want this is your pad. Or if you are intrigued by the idea of a pad that won't get burnt by dropped cigarettes, won't be hard to clean EVER, and will still stay in place even with it being so ridiculously smooth and sleek and fast, then this is your pad!! But, be prepared, ROCCAT has one problem, once you use something of theirs (other than a mouse itself, they just don't have any with enough buttons) you can never go back! You will NEVER go back to a fabric pad, much like once you get used to their awesome Isku/FX, or the Ryos and all of their awesome customization, plus the greatest invention in the last few decades of gaming with a board, the thumbster keys, you are stuck. There just isn't another board quite like this, the fact that it's as awesome to use, beautiful and sleek, and my gosh I never thought I'd hear someone say this about a pad, much less myself, but it has a durability quality that you suddenly realize is important. Plain and simple, best pad (again, if you can call it that) EVER, and it is easily worth the bucks!

A quick comparison between the mouse pads I've used over the years. - Razer Mantis - cloth pad, slow, too much friction for my taste (high friction = hard to adjust slow precise movements) - Razer EXactMatX - metal pad like the Alumic, almost no friction, slightly slower/stickier, awkward shape, I often run off to the edges of the mat during heavy gaming sessions. The Naga's laser also doesn't seem track as well on the neon green lettering on the mat. - SteelSeries 9HD - almost no friction, surface is a bit rougher the the other pads, unfortunately the Naga does not track very well on it for some reason, I often get small skips, lower dpi feels imprecise. - Roccat Hiro - like the Mantis, has lots of friction. -Roccat Alumnic - absolutely no resistance when when making precise aims, control side (gray Roccat silhouette) feels smooth, speed side (Roccat on blue light) is even smoother, tracking on either side is very accurate and always smooth. Wrist rest can be placed anywhere, prevents my wrist from dragging on the pad. One of the biggest problems with hard surface mouse pad is that they tend to wear out the mouse feet relatively quickly. You can prevent that from happening by applying teflon tape to it - either tape the whole bottom of the mouse or cut them exactly around the the feet with a hobby knife. This is the tape I have used on every single new mouse I've gotten so far without any issues, and just a single application can last you at least a year. You only need to buy one and that should last you a lifetime. CS Hyde Conformable PTFE Tape With Silicone Adhesive http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000REJN48/ref=wms_ohs_product?ie=UTF8&psc=1

I purchased this Mouse pad because it looked cool which it does but for some Reason my Brand New Optical Mouse doesn't work well at all on this thing. The Mouse cursor just stops moving when I am using this pad. Looks Awesome works bad with an Optical Mouse. I even used another optical mouse thinking my mouse was bad but had problems with that one also.

Pad is OK. Wrist rest is rock hard.