Mouse Pads. In today’s world they are becoming something of an endanged species. The days of needing a mouse pad so your mouse can properly track your desired movements on screen is pretty much at an end. The introduction of optical mice opened the door to that with laser mice pretty much kicking the door wide open.
These days all you need to use a mouse is a smooth surface. However not all PC users feel that the days of the mouse pad are at an end. Quite the opposite. This particular group of PC users will swear up, and down that a mouse pad is still a necessity. These group of PC users are gamers.
It’s almost unheard of a PC gamer not using a mouse pad in conjunction with a mouse to game. That is why companies like Razer, Corsair, and Steele Series, just to name a few, have continued to produce and distribute mouse pads designed specifically for gamers in mind. Trying to improve on their designs to give gamers the edge they desire in whatever games they play.Recently CM Storm has joined the ranks of companies trying to build a better mouse pad (You get it? Mouse trap? Mouse pad? Ha!), and have introduced into the market the Speed-RXL gaming mouse.
Now ok there are so many companies making gaming mouse pads why should you go with CM Storm? Well besides the fact that for the most part we have had nothing but good things to say about the products we have reviewed from CM Storm, the Speed-RXL is offering something a bit different then other companies. The Speed-RXL is a hybrid mouse pad. Not quite fabric, and not quite hard surface. It tries to bring the best aspects of both types of pads into one. Today we get to see whether, or not they have succeeded in their efforts. So Lets get to it.
Packaging & Product Overview
The Speed-RXL comes in a black, and red themed boxed which is pretty much the standard for CM Storm packaging. On the box you get the CM Storm, and Cooler Master logos as well as the Speed-RXL name. The box also has a picture of CM Storm’s flagship mouse, the Sentinel.
Some of the features of the pad are also shown which include it being made of microscopic synthetic mesh, smooth nano fibers, and grip coating on the bottom just to name a few. A sample of the material the pad itself is composed of is also provided on the side of the box. Nice touch in or opinion to add a sample as to give you a preview of what kind of material you are going to be working with.
Taking the RXL out of the box we see that it is rolled up, and needs to be flattened. Grrr. This is one of the reasons why we prefer hard surface mouse pads vs. fabric pads.
Here is a shot of the pad sprawled out. Nice huh? All black with the CM Storm logo shown on the bottom right. The logo is big enough to see, but also small enough as to not be overbearing.
Below is a pic of the underbelly of the pad. As was mentioned in the product feature, the bottom is made of a non slip material which should keep it nice and steady on your PC area
You are definately going to need ample space to use this mouse pad.
The Speed-RXL measures 450 x 350 mm. Just to get a visual aide on how big the pad really is we measured it up to our in house Razer Scarab mouse pad. As you can see it dwarfs the Scarab which measures 350mm x 250mm x 3mm. Even the Razer Goliathus Alpah L comes up a bit short compared to the Speed-RXL with it being measured at 444 mm x 355 mm x 4.3mm.
The RXL is also considerably thick as you can see. CM Storm doesn’t give an exact thickness measurement, but we took the liberty of measuring it ourselves, and found it to be a little over 6mm.
Now we mentioned before the Speed RXL comes rolled up, and you will need to flatten out. Out the box you can see that it doesn’t lay exactly flat on the desk. The pad didn’t completely flatten out until after a few days of use.
Next Page: Testing & Conclusion
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