reviewstash

Dwijesh Sheth · 1/30/08 5:17 PM

Tags: [fatmat, gaming, mouse pad, xtracpad]

Edited By: Daniel Levy

A mouse pad is a mouse pad right? Wrong. Today it looks like Xtracpad is out to clear up the difference between just any old mouse pad, and their self-titled "Fat Mat". With it's large size, thickness, and versatility, Xtracpad may have created the best pad for both professional gamers, graphics designers, and home users. Let's see if the Fat Mat has what it takes.

• Fray resistant edges
• Extra thick Sure Grip rubber backing
• Large Surface

12” X 16” X ¼ (305mm x 406mm x 6.35mm)
Designed in the USA
Made in USA
Price $28.95 (USD sold only online)
XtracPad's Product Page

The Fat Mat comes in a reusable plastic tube which is great for going to LAN parties or for traveling; however, you might want to be careful as the container doesn't look like it's meant to be opened and closed oftenly.

While unpacking we noticed an unusual smell such as that of a burning cigarette which seems to linger on the mousepad for what seemed like two weeks. We would recommend that if you are going to use this mousepad to set it out for at least a week, otherwise when you touch the mousepad you might be suprised to find that your hands smell like cigarettes.

The bottom surface of the mousepad is very grippy and it is nearly impossible to have it move or slide around. This is pretty awesome, considering we're getting tired of our "Allsop" and "Belkin" mousepads sliding around our desks during long TF2 sessions. Don't thank Xtracpad, thank the nano-fibers. On the subject of nano-fibers, this product features “Whisper quiet nanofiber textiles” which supposedly decrease the "noise-level" of your mouse. I honestly can't say I've had a mousepad make "noise" during normal use besides button usage. And no, this mousepad won't make your button clicks quiet, sorry.

The size of the mousepad is quite large so you will need a very large area or you can just tuck in the remaining under your keyboard. Once you manage to fit these behemoth on your desk you'll find their ergonomic claims to very well be true. When keeping my wrists on the surface of the mousepad I found myself being able to "mouse-around" for longer periods of time. You can also drape part of this mousepad over the edge of your desk for a "ghetto" wrist-pad, works great. (Thanks for the tip Xtracpad)

Verdict:

If you're interested in a mousepad that's completely glass-like and coated with ridiculous amounts of teflon for your "High-DPS" sniping activities, you'll most likely want to look elsewhere. However, if you're a casual FPS player, or a hardcore MMO player, or if you just want a large comfortable surface for work or browsing, the Xtracpad Fat Mat is just what you need without anything you don't.

Positives:
Large "Mousing" Space
Superb control / grip
Smooth enough for most gamers, yet enough control for us 'shoppers (Photoshop)
Comfortable Surface

Neutral Ground:
Price (Most mousepads seem to be right around this range)
Smell (I blame the nano-fibers, damn them)
Nano-fibers (While slicker than any other cloth pad we've seen, we're still not sure)

Negatives:
Difficult to keep clean (Be sure to use a damp rag)
If you want a surface without control (FPS Competitors), you might want to look at the IceMat or Xtracpad's Hammer Surface

Advertisement Bot · 1/30/08 5:17 PM

Daniel Levy · 1/30/08 9:08 PM

Haha, this review goes. I'll have to check this pad out for myself.

xdsx · 1/30/08 9:10 PM

yeah, i was thinking to buy one of these when it first came out good review you guys. keep up the good work smile

sporketh · 1/30/08 9:10 PM

shouldn't be an issue for smokers haha

xdsx · 1/30/08 9:14 PM

sporketh wrote:
shouldn't be an issue for smokers haha

lol i dont get why it smells like that. i would understand normal factory smell but cigarettes? something is wrong hahaha

samjack56 · 1/30/08 9:20 PM

That is weird that it would smell like smoke.. I'm definitely going to have to look into a cloth mousepad because every one I have wears smooth after a while and it loses it's 'slippery-ness' and doesn't read the same. Thanks for the review! smile

heshsk8r · 1/30/08 9:21 PM

this is somewhat cloth like it seems

Last edited by heshsk8r (1/30/08 9:21 PM)

marilik · 1/30/08 9:22 PM

i believe it is cloth

GDknight76 · 2/01/08 3:24 PM

cool i might go out and buy one of these bad boys

Dwijesh Sheth · 2/01/08 4:02 PM

GDknight76 wrote:
cool i might go out and buy one of these bad boys

Hahaha I havent seen these in stores. Its sold only online I think.

jlsolutions · 2/19/08 2:11 AM

A great mousepad i tink this is a copy of the original.

Look here http://www.qpad.se

Dwijesh Sheth · 2/19/08 12:26 PM

Yeah they are quite similar to one another. Makes me think.

painless187 · 5/15/08 11:05 AM

Hi there - I'm Christopher and I own XTracPads. I thought I would chime in here to help clear up some confusion. First, we don't have any smokers here in our company and I've never heard that the Fat Mat smells like smoke before. lol. So, (shoulders shrug) don't know where that came from.

We make our pads here in the USA. This way I have complete control over the quality of every single mouse pad that rolls off of our assembly line. Five days a week I spend some time randomly checking all our pads for defects and anything that I don't personally like. Fortunately, we've got awesome equipment that works well for us and doesn't booger many of pads off of the line.

Ok, now the Q-Pad thing. First, I recently learned that they even existed. I had the chance to see one of their pads in person and it's really awesome. The good news it's nothing like our Fat Mat at all... two completely different products and technologies. We used to have a product that was really close to the Q-Pad... it was called the HYBRID. It's currently out of production but I think that's going to change soon.

No, the Fat Mat started it's life as a regular cloth top pad. One night I was laying in bed and had an awesome idea that I had to try. I spent the rest of the night in the production room trying variations of my invention and finally came up with a killer way to change the cloth top pad to what I call Nanofiber.

Nanofiber is now a real product and it's my invention. It's a highly modified cloth surface... so you're half right! Anyway, the Fat Mat is in a class by itself. I don't expect people to like it... I dont care if people like it... I like it and that's all that matters to me. I'm not in business to please people. I'm in business because I'm a gamer that likes awesome mouse surfaces and so that's what I make... awesome mouse surfaces.

Our company isn't really very profitable because I made the decision to make all our stuff (except our D-Gel wrist rest) here in the USA. It costs me 5X more to make my pads here than in China but that's the way it goes. My products rock because I love them and the people that work here love them. If the public loves them too then cool, if not, that's cool too.

Don't get me wrong though, I want people to be happy with our pads and accessories of course but I dont want people to think we do this so I can be some uppety jerk in a BMW making tons of profit not caring about the quality of my products. This isn't the case at all. I'm a regular guy/gamer that just wants to make things a little better in this imperfect world and that's what we're all about.

Thanks for reading this long post. Lemme know if you have any questions/comments/flames... I'm here :-)

Daniel Levy · 5/15/08 4:03 PM

Hey Chris, thanks for clearing those items up, it's good to have you over here.

steve0 · 5/21/08 2:41 AM

"sold only online",yeah,i think so !But i still think it's nice!

reviewstash

Guest Information

#1 1/30/08 5:17 PM

1/30/08 5:17 PM

#2 1/30/08 9:08 PM

#3 1/30/08 9:10 PM

#4 1/30/08 9:10 PM

#5 1/30/08 9:14 PM

sporketh wrote:

#6 1/30/08 9:20 PM

#7 1/30/08 9:21 PM

#8 1/30/08 9:22 PM

#9 2/01/08 3:24 PM

#10 2/01/08 4:02 PM

GDknight76 wrote:

#11 2/19/08 2:11 AM

#12 2/19/08 12:26 PM

#13 5/15/08 11:05 AM

#14 5/15/08 4:03 PM

#15 5/21/08 2:41 AM

Quick post

Board footer