Maintenance:
The rubber feet do occasionally slide (my
room is really dusty,) but wiping it down with a little bit of any liquid
(saliva works, but I wouldn't recommend it,) will prevent the LAP from sliding
around and ruining your well timed rail shot. The actual surface does not
attract much dust, so you "ball" mouse users will not be forced to clean it so
often. The LAP's surface can be kept clean by wiping it down with a damp
cloth every month or so. The logos will eventually fade away, but
that does not affect the performance of the LAP, so don't worry, as it just
gets ugly with a fading logo.
Testing:
To test the LAP, I
naturally played Quake III for a few hours, and did my daily Windows tasks as
usual. Here are my findings:
1: Movement is
SMOOTH, and slick. I had to lower my sensitivity a little bit after using
the LAP, because the mouse response was greatly enhanced over the 3M
PMS.
2: Quake III is quite
a bit easier to play with now, I can't say that I'm now an "l33t" player or
anything like that. But the LAP has made the game infinitely more
enjoyable, because aiming and movement is very smooth now.
3: Windows navigation
is really smooth, and less tiresome, just moving the mouse around is now
effortless, as the mouse almost feels like it's floating on the LAP. There
is almost no resistance. Additionally, RTS games should also be "better"
with the LAP because you are required to make quick movements, and having a LAP
helps with that.
4: The LAP does
perform miracles, it makes even the cheapest mouse easier to use, and traction
and accuracy is increased greatly. So even those cheap $15 Aopen wheel
mice act and behave as if they were worth a heck of a lot more!
5: Although the
MS Intellimouse Optical does not REQUIRE a mouse pad, the LAP is still quite a
bit smoother and better than my desktop surface.
Conclusion:
There are a few designs available for purchase, I actually have the
normal "Everglide" one, as well as the "Quake III" model. They perform the same
to me. My sister (not a Quake III player) has the Quake
III logo LAP, and I have the plain Everglide LAP, go figure. Regarding my points
about how Windows performance is enhanced, they should be taken seriously, as even my
sister who does NOT play any games, prefers the LAP over any other mousing surface.
I would have to recommend the Everglide LAP because the
Everglide Large Attack Pad is a nice upgrade from all of my previous mouse pads,
and is definitely worth the price of admission.
Now if I could only get a "RatPad" for
comparison...