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Size Does Matter! The XTracPads Ripper XL is
one of the largest gaming mats available today! With the new version
2.0, the Ripper XL now sports an enhanced cloth surface which is fray
resistant and offers more control over previous versions. Here at Club
Overclocker we have seen plastic, cloth, hybrid, and metal pads, each
with their own personality. So what does the Ripper XL offer that the
others don't? Let's see!
The Ripper XL comes in a large
sturdy tube, you would never guess a mouse pad is what lies in wait. The
tube makes for a good LAN carry case for the pad as well. But just
curling it up works too!
The pad when pulled out of the tube
is wrapped in plastic, to prevent any water damage during shipping, and
comes with an Xtrac Pads sticker to put on your PC, or wherever you may
wish, hell it even glows in the dark, for those late night events!
What kind of mouse pad would
require such a large tube you ask? The answer is, this no ordinary mouse
pad. I love the surface of this pad, one big Benefit/Detracter depending
on your preference, this pad has a really consistant feel to it. I have
used the plastic pads, and didn't like the fact that you just slide all
over. I like to be able to count on the resistance of the pad. Many of
the other pads I have tried just aren't as precise. When you are Fraggin'
your friends you want to know where you are going to stop. I use a
Logitech MX1000 cordless mouse, I do use the Xtrac Mad Dotz on my mouse
and the combination works very well. The size of this pad is great, from
these pictures you can get an idea of the size.
Features
and Specifications:
- 14" x 17.75" x 1/8"
(356mm x 451mm)
- Sure Grip rubber
backing
- Cloth mousing surface
Tested and 100%
compatible with the following mice:
Logitech:
MX300/500/510/518/700/1000 G5 & G7
Microsoft:
Intellimouse Explorer 3.0/4.0 Laser Mouse 6000
Apple:
Mighty Mouse
Now for a closer look. Here you can
see a close up of the back surface of the pad. It has a very good
adhesion quality, I have one of those fake wood surface desks. Makes for
a terrible mousing surface, the main problem I have is the backing on
most mouse pads will slide on it. So when in "Oh (insert cuss word)
someone just snuck up on me" mode, my mouse pad decides to go where my
mouse goes. Doesn't work very well. I tried some heavy BF2 action with
this pad, and was able to get pretty crazy with the mouse with not so
much as a quiver.
It has also got
some meat to it, This pad is not the thickest on the market, and I
am glad for that. I didn't run into the old "dent where my hand
goes" thing. It was the reason I shied away from the cloth pads. I
want my hand to be comfortable, but not get the dent, makes for bad
movement when you do have full pad movements to make, and talking of
full pad movements this thing is the perfect size, at least for me.
Definitely qualifies for the XL name, but not so big I can't use my
desk.
Conclusion:
I was, and
am, very happy with this pad, for me when you have a small mouse
pad and are Gaming or even doing a little Graphic Design, there
were times when I would just move a smaller mouse pad out of the
way and deal with none. This pad allows you to get your game on,
and still use it for common everyday tasks. With the increase in
size over a standard Mouse Pad, it really gives you the freedom
to move around pretty aggressively. One word of warning, this
pad does have a definite resistance to it, personally I prefer
it, but if you are looking for a smooth as glass pad, get a
glass pad! After trying this pad without the Teflon tape, I
would not want to use this Pad without them, but for me with
them is a great combination.
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Club
Overclocker Rating |
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Innovation: |
10
out of 10 |
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Performance: |
9.5 out of 10 |
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Quality: |
9.5
out of 10 |
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Stability: |
N/A |
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Overclocking: |
N/A |
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Software/Drivers Pack: |
N/A |
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Value: |
10 out of 10 |
|
Overall Rating
9.5 |
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Skill Level |
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Project Skill Level
(10 being most difficult) |
1
out of 10 |
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