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Date |
: Feb 23rd, 2001 |
| Category |
: Input Devices |
| Manufacturer |
: Icemat |
| Author |
: Jin-Wei Tioh |
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So what makes the Icemat different from all the other mousing surfaces on the market? For starters, it is a slab of glass. Glass!? What happens if I lost a multiplayer match to my 1-year old sibling and I gave my mouse a good smackdown on the Icemat? Quoting Michael Nord, the Icemat's creator about this issue :
"I just smashed 30 Icemats because there were production faults in the surface. So I had a good chance to check out how much they could take. I must say that they could take more than I was expecting, but it's still glass and you have to treat it like so. So we don't recommend that people bash at it.
I can further more say that we are looking into make it even harder to crack."
I can certainly attest to this. The mailman flung in the Icemat package over the gate, hitting a wall with a loud smack. Needless to say, I was more than a little distressed, as I very well couldn't review a mousepad in 4 pieces, now could I? Well, the Icemat wasn't even nicked. Additionally, I did try banging my fists, as well as smashing an old mouse on it. Same result, not a scratch. However, as Michael Nord states, it's still glass and you have to treat it accordingly.
The Icemat was evaluated for a whole week using an OEM Logitech wheel mouse, with lots of applications and gaming usage. In fact, this article was written whilst using one. Let's take a look at how it fared.
The Icemat has six small feet attach to its base. These serve to keep it stable and prevent it from sliding around. In the midst of hectic rounds of Giants and Unreal Tournament (with 14 Godlike bots, mind you), the Icemat did not budge. No doubt about it, those feet do their job darned well.
The surface is very smooth. Grip is not only good, but is consistent as well. This facilitates very precise mouse movement tracking. You would not lose tracking even when doing fast mouse flicks. I wouldn't say that my frag count miraculously changed. However, I will say that games (RTS, FPS, RPG) are more enjoyable. In applications, such as Photoshop, the extra precision afforded was very much appreciated. Additionally, the Icemat logo is printed on the reverse side, so it won't get in the way of mouse movement or wear off.
The Icemat site states that specially treated surface of the Icemat is supposed to prolong the life of a mouse's teflon feet and minimize dirt deposition on mouse parts (ie. ball and rollers. The dirt on the mouse feet in the pictures were due to the previous mouse pad that I was using). The Logitech's ball and rollers were cleaned beforehand, and there was no significant dirt deposition after a week of use. This is especially important as you wouldn't want your mouse to have testicular difficulties, eh? Not like poor old Grandpa Borjoyzee :)
Be warned though that moving the mouse over the Icemat creates a soft hissing sound. To minimize this, it is suggested that you clean the teflon feet on your mouse. I used a rather dirty mouse to test the Icemat, and even then, the sound is not the slightest bit annoying.
This is actually the second (and current) version of the Icemat. Version 1 had square edges, which doesn't lend itself to comfortable use. Version 2 fixes this with rounded edges, which makes the Icemat quite comfortable to use. Even though it is made of a rigid material, resting your hand on it doesn't feel that different from a regular, cloth mousepad.
Not everything about the Icemat is good though. First, it does not officially support optical mice. Light passing through glass will diffract, which might cause the optical sensor on optical mice to go haywire. Another gripe is fingerprints. After a few days of use, I noticed an abundant amount of prints which needed to be cleaned off. The prints don't noticeably affect mouse movement tracking, but they do look ugly. Fortunately, the Icemat is easily cleaned with a cloth and some water. The soft hissing sound mentioned earlier might tick you off. Lastly, while the shipping packaging of the Icemat is good, it is not really reusable. The Icemat would be perfect if it came with a nice tin box, akin to the fUnc sUrface1030.
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