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X-Trac Pro HS Optical Mouse Pad
Review Date: April 26, 2003
Reviewed by: Dwayne Sessom
Sponsored by: PCXMods
With the PC gaming scene getting as popular as it is, it is important to have a good mousing surface to insure accurate fragging. Today, I am taking a look at the X-Trac HS (HS stands for Hard Surface) Optical mouse pad from PCXMods, and compare it to some of the more popular mouse pads available. The X-Trac HS is a flexible pad made from crystal laminate with a hexagonal pattern and random dot configuration on the mousing surface, and has a non-slip rubber foam backing.
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Features:
- Large mousing area - 8.5" x 11"!
- All new thin, hard surface
- Sure-Grip backing, holds onto most surfaces
- Slim line thickness
- Flexible crystal laminate
- Hexagonal and random dot pattern on mousing surface.
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OK. Even I am wrong. Er, from time to time... The X-Trac HS turned out to be a much better product that I expected.
Comparison:
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Here are the contenders. The X-Trac HS from PCXMods on top, the fUnc 1030 on the left, RadPadz GS in the center, and the 3S Steel Pad on the right.
Since one of the selling points for the X-Trac HS is its thin profile, the first comparison will be to see just how it actually stacks up against our competitors.
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It is definitely thinner than the RatPadz GS pad, but it is dead even with the fUnc 1030, and the SteelPad is just slightly thinner.
Real Estate:
The next thing we need to consider that is another selling point for the X-Trac HS is its surface area. Most gamers know that more surface area is generally better, cause having to pick up your mouse during a frag session can have deadly consequences.
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The X-Trac HS most definitely has a larger mousing surface than both the SteelPad and fUnc 1030, but it is nearly too close to call on the RatPadz GS. I would have to say the RatPadz GS has slightly more surface area, but not by much.
Testing:
For testing, I used both ball mice and optical mice - even though the X-Trac is advertised for optical mice only. While testing, I mainly wanted to see how slick the surface was and how easily the mouse moved across the surface using 3 different mouse types:
- Microsoft Intellemouse Optical.
- Logitech Optical.
- Chieftec Wireless Ball mouse.
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X-Trac HS: Both optical mice operated nicely, even better than the RatPads GS and about on par with the fUnc 1030. The ball mouse didn't fare as well and had a noticable drag. Now I see why the HS was meant for optical mice only.
RatPads GS: All mice operated in a very smooth fashion, but all other pads beat it as far as sheer smoothness, especially in gaming.
SteelPad: Ball mice hate this pad. Due to it's flat, untextured surface, balls will not roll properly if at all. Optical mice fared a little better, but not much. The Logitech mouse skipped at times due to the completely black surface.
fUnc 1030: All mice did very well with this pad, and the surface is about as smooth as they come. Almost like glass! As far as smoothness goes, the X-Trac HS is the only other pad that comes close.
Durability:
In the course of this review, I realized that the X-Trac was the only mouse pad that was pliable - all others are completely hard surfaces. In fact, the RatPads GS and particularly the SteelPad would make excellent weapons in a LAN cheater dispute. So just for the hell of it, I thought I would damage the X-Trac HS intentionally to see how resiliant it would be. I put a hard crease in it to simulate what might happen if someone accidently sat on it and folded it in half. (Hey, it could happen!)
To my surprise, the pad made a nearly 100% recovery. It only took a few minutes, and the pad eventually regained it's original form! Very nice.
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Conclusion:
In the end, I was very pleasantly surprised with the X-Trac HS. Lesson here: Never judge a book by it's cover! I didn't see this pad as being able to compete with the "Big Boys", especially in a gaming environment, but I was way wrong. The X-Trac HS does what it was designed to do, and does it very well. The price is on par with the rest of the group, the surface is nearly as slick as the 1030 and the area rivals that of the RatPadz GS. What more can you ask for?
PCExtreme gives the X-Trac HS our highest rating of 5 X's!
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