BlueSmoke - Review : Icemat

		Date	: Feb 23rd, 2001
		Category	: Input Devices
		Manufacturer	: Icemat
		Author	: Jin-Wei Tioh

The tech world nowadays is abuzz with talk of mousing surfaces. Why? Well you see, all the mice in the world joined together to form a mouse union. The union deplored the working conditions of mice. They don't get paid for overtime (in fact, they don't even get base pay), get heat strokes after being used for excessive periods of time, and get sore err... appendages after being made to run around on lousy surfaces. You can't blame mice for not performing up to par in light of all these job difficulties. Yet some masters give them a good smacking or even toss them around a couple of times in frustration.

Great story, eh? :) But seriously, mousing surfaces may be one of the most overlooked things when it comes to computer peripherals. 3M, being the first to see the light, started the craze with its PMS (Precise Mousing Surface) mousepad. By many accounts, it was an innovative product, but flawed in implementation. It was followed closely by Everglide and Ratpadz, each of which had their own fan base.

For a while, the mouse union was quiet, but a ruckus soon started again. Enter the Icemat, kindly provided by Michael Nord of Icemat, to salve the situation. Note : Even though this product was supplied directly by the manufacturer, there is no bias in this review. If a product is lousy, I will say that it is lousy (and bluntly at that).

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.

The Icemat retails for US$24.75, excluding shipping. While this price roughly 10 times the price of a generic, cloth mousepad and about twice as expensive as a Ratpadz, it is still worth it if you factor in the Icemat's durability. Some people have reported wearing down their Everglide Giganta within 4 months (see here) whereas the Icemat has a much longer life expectancy. A customization service is also available, where you can have your own graphics replace the stock Icemat logo. Great for clans or company promotions. If you frequently go to LAN parties, your setup would certainly have a distinguished look with a glass mousing surface with your own logo on it! Not to mention if Icemat decides to include some form of tin box.

In conclusion, the Icemat makes for a very nice mousing surface. It performs well in both applications and games usage while looking good. About the only bad things about it are that the soft hissing sound might put some people off, it lacks support for optical mice and fingerprints tend to accumulate on its surface. I know US$24.75 is quite a bit of moolah for a mousing surface. However, you won't be disappointed with your purchase. Highly recommended.