SteelSeries is a company known for making high end mouse pads. For those of you who don’t who they are, SteelSeries is one of the leading gaming mouse pad manufactures in the world. They started out with the SteelPad 4S model, and now have a full lineup of quality pads to offer. SteelSeries knows about gaming, because they manufacture performance gaming gear, for gamers by gamers. SteelSeries has come out with a new pad to add to their already perfect pad lineup, the SteelPad 5L. They have sent us the SteelPad 5L, and some SteelGear Padsurfer all-round for us to review. The 5L pad is a 5 layer mouse pad, as it combines plastic with cloth for strength and comfort.

Introduction:
The 5L pad looks to be of very high quality. When it arrived I was happy to have it to review. Once I opened the package it was a lot larger than I expected. I know a lot of gaming mouse pads are very large, but you don’t know how large it is until you actually get it. The 5L is about the same thickness as a normal mouse pad from back in the day, so don’t let the 5 layers thing scare you. The packaging is very attractive and pleasing to the eye. All I can say about the design printed on the pad is “WOW!”. The design of the image is amazing, as i’ve never seen this kind of design done on a gaming mouse pad before. Maybe there is one, but none that I have seen. The 5L base color is black, with the design being in a darker blue, and ranging blue hues through out the pad. The bottom of the 5L has some rubber elements, which is the rubber splatter design to help it from moving around on various surfaces. I have tested it out on a wood laminate desk and it didn’t slip, nudge, or even move slightly once.

I will list the 5 layers of the pad, taken straight from the website:

1. Plastic coating
   Thin plastic coating ensures durability and maintains the texture of the underlying cloth material.
2. Cloth
   A highly durable and extremely strong cloth material provides a smooth gliding experience. The texture of the plastic coated cloth surface allows for minimal mouse movements and maximum precision.
3. Soft polyisoprene
   Specially treated soft polyisoprene provides softness to the touch. The softness of the rubber foam is very easy on the users’ wrists, even for hardcore gamers and others who use their mouse for extended periods of time.
4. Hard plastic
   A hard plastic compound maintains the stability and the shape of the mouse pad, and helps ensure a consistent gliding experience even on uneven surfaces.
5. Rubber elements
   Small soft rubber elements ensures complete non-slippery steadiness.

SteelPad 5L Specs:

• 14,9″ x 11″ (380mm x 280 mm)
• Compatible with optical, laser and ball mice
• Suitable for all mouse sensitivities
• Combines the strength of plastic with the softness of cloth

When the SteelPad 5L is combined with the Padsurfers, it is even more slick than it was before. The 5L is already a very smooth pad to start with, but this just what I needed. The pad is so large that I had to put part of it under my keyboard, and it only lifts it up a little. I’m used to the thickness of the 5L now, since I have used it for more than a couple of weeks. While just looking at the 5L you can see the different layers of the pad from the side. This is one high quality mouse pad for gamers, and designers alike. Since I’m a gamer and designer, I get to test this pad out in various tests using games and designing with my everyday work. The tracking of my mouse on the pad was great, and I used a Logitech MX518 gaming mouse to test with the SteelPad 5L. The SteelPad 5L is a combined hard and cloth surface mouse pad, so it’s not supposed to bend in any way. The 5L is very sturdy and hard, but the cloth adds some comfort to your wrist with everyday usage. The 5L was optimized for use with laser mice, as taken from their site;

“After extensive testing with first generation laser mice from Microsoft, Logitech and others, the entire production lineup of SteelPad 5L was changed to ensure 100% compatibility. In total the release of SteelPad 5L ended up being delayed for 3 months because we wanted to ensure optimal performance for the new laser technologies.”

So the 5L pad can be used on various optical, and laser mice from different manufactures. This is how a mouse pad should work. Some newer pads can’t support the newer versions of certain laser mice, for what reasons no one knows right now. The large 14,9″ x 11″ surface of the 5L is large enough to move your mouse all over the place without running out of room, like you would do on standard mouse pads. The Padsurfers I got with the SteelPad 5L are very nice and small. It looks like the Padsurfers only would fit on cetain Logitech mice from the MX series. I say this because of the design of the Padsurfers, but these happen to be the SteelGear Padsurfer all-round design. They are very slick and not very thick at all. You get 5 Padsurfers in the package total. Applying the Padsurfers is very easy, as it only involes a couple of steps. Remove the thin adhesive backing, make sure not to touch the sticky area of the Padsurfers with you fingers, place the Padsurfers sticky area to fit the feet of the mouse, apply pressure for at least 25 seconds with your finger on the Padsurfers to the mouse feet. Wasn’t that simple enough? Yeah that’s what I thought, now you have a great mouse pad and mouse feet combo, that is super slick, agile, and responsive.

Overview:
The SteelPad 5L sticks out from the rest of the mouse pads on the market with their unique design printed on the 5L pad. The 5 different layers all compliment each other, as it makes the pad what it is, an awesome mouse pad. The 5L worked very well with my Logitech MX518 mouse, and some of my other Logitech mice as well. I didn’t get to test any Microsoft mice out on this as I don’t own any, cause I’m biased when it comes to mice you could say. Having a large surface to move my mouse around in is always pleasing, as I’m a designer it helps when I’m n the middle of something and don’t run out of space. In the past with standard mouse pads I would run out of room all the time. Not anymore! The MX518 mouse that I have runs on a 1600dpi, and is already fast enough. Combined with the SteelPad 5L and the SteelGear Padsurfer all-round it glides across the pad with very little effort at all. If you’re looking for a mouse pad that looks great, has great performance, while combining hard and cloth surfaces, then the SteelPad 5L is for you. It not only works for optical, but laser mice as well, and it doesn’t matter if you’re a straight gamer, or designer because it works well for anything. This should be a definite buy for any gamer or designer who needs a new pad with tons of space. The SteelPad 5L gets a 10 out of a 10, and Editors Choice Award.

I would like to further like to thank SteelSeries for the review opportunity, and sample SteelPad 5L for us to review.

• Categories
All Announcements Ask a Monkey Audio Bookmarking Books Browsers E-mail Free Music Graphics Hardware Interviews Networking Podcasting Podcasts Portables Productivity Resources Reviews Security Services Shopping Software Storage Tricks and Hacks Video