I have heard good things and bad things about the Icemat mousing surface.  One of the bad things and the most obvious is the fact that it is made from glass.  When I first heard that, the first thing that came to my mind was “why in the world would someone want that, especially if they travel to many LAN parties”.  Well, for some reason, I must have been thinking about a thin piece of glass coming from the kitchen window cause the Icemat is almost as thick as a CDROM jewel case!!  I didn’t want to try this badboy with any drop tests, but I’m pretty sure if it were to fall off of the table onto a carpeted surface it would be fine.  Concrete might give you an unsatisfactory result.  In any case, that will be one of the things that must be taken into consideration when reviewing this product on it’s own merits.  At the end of this review, I will then compare the Icemat with the 3S Steelpad and determine which mousepad would have the highest percentage of remaining on my desk for the near future. 

The Icemat measures 210mm x 250mm (8.26" x 9.84" x .25").  The thickness of the actual glass itself is about .125" (1/8") and with the rubber feet it combines for a whopping .25" (1/4") thickness.  You can feel the weight of the Icemat and tell this is no flimsy mousepad were dealing with here.  On the reverse side, you will see six rubber feet to help lock down the Icemat to just about any desktop material.  I placed it on several surfaces and tried to slide it back and forth, but it wasn't about to move at all.  This is very good!  When I play games, my regular mousepads are all over the place and I usually have to take my pinky finger of my mouse hand and slide it back to it's original starting position.

The Icemat as it arrives from your friendly neighborhood delivery person. Click picture for a larger image please.	Surrounded by alot of styrofoam, the Icemat seems to travel safely. Click picture for a larger image please.
Difficult to catch a glimpse of this product against a white background. Click picture for a larger image please.	Much better with a darker or wood grain table, much better! Click picture for a larger image please.

Snipped from the Icemat website: 

The most obvious distinction from an ordinary mouse pad is the fact that the Icemat is made from glass. The surface has been developed and tested by gamers, and a special developed treatment of the surface gives the user an experience of great accuracy and precision.  The polyurethane feet beneath the Icemat, secures that the Icemat will stay in place, be stable, without sliding. Furthermore the feet will not turn yellow in time due to the expose of sunlight.  The logo on the Icemat is placed on the bottom of the mat, in order not to affect the mouse movements on the surface.  Our product has gone through a strenuous stream of testing, and it is very difficult to break, but it is still important to remember that our product is made of glass, and therefore should be treated that way.

Customize your Icemat:
One of our services is that you can get an ICEMAT with your own personal graphic on it.
What to do:
Step 1 - Decide which graphic you want and the quantity required - minimum order is 100 ICEMATs.
Step 2 - Contact us to get an offer: sales@icemat.com
Step 3 - Send us the wanted graphic on a CD in highres (min 305 dpi) in EPS or TIFF format
Step 4 - A pdf file will be mailed to you for approval
Step 5 - When approved - simply wait for arrival of your custom ICEMATs
Depending on the quantity - the offer given to you will include a startup-fee at DKK 2000.- This fee covers development and producing of the film with your graphic.

Cleaning:
For optimal performance it is recommended to clean the surface of the Icemat occasionally. We recommend products used to clean mirrors applied on a cloth.  Warning: Do not attempt to clean the Icemat in a dishwasher.  To prevent the mouse from making scratching noise when used on the Icemat, it is important to keep the mouse feet clean, either by regular cleaning or by using the enclosed Padsurfers (Teflon).

How to apply the Padsurfers:
When applying the Teflon tape we recommend that you make the pieces bigger than the feet, and make sure that the tape is glued all over the feet - right down to the mouse bottom. Ensuring no edges will pick up dirt.
Instructions:

1. Size the Teflon tape to the mouse feet
2. Cut one slice for each foot of the mouse
3. Pull the brown tape off of the backing. *Make sure your hands are dry, ensuring the glue doesn't rub off*
4. Press the adhesive side onto the feet of the mouse to cover the existing foot
5. Make sure to seal the edges with your finger nail. 

Testing methods for both mousepads:

I will use each mousepad over a three day period.  I don’t have a set amount of time that will be allotted to each review or test, just going to stop when I feel comfortable and confident about each mousepad.

• General Everyday Use: Internet browsing, Word, Excel, spinning mouse around in circles for hours on end, ect…
• Gaming: The games played will be Quake 3 Arena, Unreal Tournament 2004, Battlefield 1942: Desert Combat, and Warcraft 3.
• CAD Modeling:  Designing in AutoCAD 2004, both 2D Wireframe and 3D Solids Modeling.

Mouse used:

The mice that was tested with this review was none other than the trusty Logitech MX500 and the Logitech Dual Optical.  Note, both the model 3S Steelpad and the Icemat have warnings about mouse errors when using older Logitech optical mice predating the MX500 series.  This is why I tried to use the older model Dual Optical mouse I had lying around for testing purposes.  Results to follow.

The older model Logitech MouseMan Dual Optical	The newer model Logitech MouseMan MX500

General Usage:

This product when compared against all other mousing surfaces that I have used in the past including most of the 3M, Ratpadz, and Everglide models; (func 1030 in particular) the Icemat is a superior product.  The Icemat glides effortlessly across the mousing surface with the padsurfers properly in place.  Daily use of this mouse will only make you love it more with each use.  Again, I put it through the ultimate rapid zig-zagging and rotation of the mouse for a sustained period of time test method.  Guess what, this time I’m not joking!  I actually did that with the first review a few times just out of sheer boredom, but let’s keep that on the down-low.  If that were a real test, this particular mousepad would have passed with flying colors.  There is still a little annoying scratching sound, but it wasn’t as bad as it was with the previous review so that is one more positive for the Icemat.

The Logitech Dual Optical with Padsurfers (Teflon tape) from the 3S kit. Click picture above for a larger image.	The Logitech MX500 with Padsurfers (Teflon tape) from the Icemat kit. Click picture above for a larger image.

One thing that I should mention is that you can probably save yourself alot of the Teflon tape that comes with the box by cutting just enough tape to fold over the edges of the original mouse feet.  As you can see from the picture above, I used too much tape to cover the feet.  The padsurfers that came with this review did not have a very good adhesive "glue" if you will, and the leading corners of the tape would roll up and cause drag on the mousing surface.  This defeats the entire purpose of having a smooth gliding mouse to surface contact if the edges roll up all the time.  No matter how often I stopped to use my fingernails to press down the corners of the tape, it just would not stay put.  I was almost tempted to use some epoxy resign to see if that would help hold things in place, but I felt that would be reaching outside of this particular review process and so I did not bother.  I do feel that for the price your going to pay for the Icemat, they should at least humor you by throwing in a second strip of Teflon tape just to make life a little easier for you.

Gaming:

I am a dedicated gamer.  I have been gaming seriously since 1994 and the advent of Descent.  I also run a local monthly LAN group here in wonderful Lawton, America, so I keep up with everything on the gaming side.  I love FPS (First Person Shooter) games with a passion and this is the perfect way to thoroughly test this product.

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If you wish to jump straight to my final thoughts and personal pick between both mousepads, you can find those results right here!