SteelSeries SteelPad 5L Mouse Pad<base href="http://www.atruereview.com/" /> <link rel="shortcut icon" href="http://www.atruereview.com/images/favicon.ico" /> <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=iso-8859-1" /> <link href="http://www.atruereview.com/templates/rt_versatility_iii/css/template_css.css" rel="stylesheet" type="text/css" /> <link href="http://www.atruereview.com/templates/rt_versatility_iii/css/style10.css" rel="stylesheet" type="text/css" /> <link href="http://www.atruereview.com/templates/rt_versatility_iii/slimbox/slimbox.css" rel="stylesheet" type="text/css" /> <link href="http://www.atruereview.com/templates/rt_versatility_iii/css/rokmoomenu.css" rel="stylesheet" type="text/css" />  <link rel="shortcut icon" href="http://www.atruereview.com/images/favicon.ico" /> <style type="text/css"> td.left div.moduletable, td.right div.moduletable, td.left div.moduletable-hilite1, td.right div.moduletable-hilite1, td.left div.moduletable-hilite2, td.right div.moduletable-hilite2, td.left div.moduletable-hilite3, td.right div.moduletable-hilite3, td.left div.moduletable-hilite4, td.right div.moduletable-hilite4, td.left div.moduletable-hilite5, td.right div.moduletable-hilite5, td.left div.moduletable-hilite6, td.right div.moduletable-hilite6, td.left div.moduletable-hilite7, td.right div.moduletable-hilite7, td.left div.moduletable-hilite8, td.right div.moduletable-hilite8 { width: 175px; } div.wrapper { margin: 0 auto; width: 868px;} </style> <script type="text/javascript" src="http://www.atruereview.com/templates/rt_versatility_iii/js/mootools.r462.js"></script> <script type="text/javascript" src="http://www.atruereview.com/templates/rt_versatility_iii/js/roktools.js"></script> <script type="text/javascript" src="http://www.atruereview.com/templates/rt_versatility_iii/js/mootools.bgiframe.js"></script> <script type="text/javascript" src="http://www.atruereview.com/templates/rt_versatility_iii/js/rokmoomenu.js"></script> <script type="text/javascript"> window.addEvent('domready', function() { new rokmoomenu($E('ul.nav'), { bgiframe: false, delay: 500, animate: { props: ['opacity', 'width', 'height'], opts: { duration:400, fps: 100, transition: Fx.Transitions.sineOut } } }); }); </script> </head> <body id="page_bg" class="f-default"> <script type="text/javascript" src="http://www.atruereview.com/templates/rt_versatility_iii/js/slimbox.js"></script> <div id="fxContainer"> <div id="fxTarget"> <div id="fxPadding" class="wrapper"> </div> </div>  </div> <div id="template" class="wrapper"> <div id="header"> <a href="http://www.atruereview.com" class="nounder"><img src="http://www.atruereview.com/images/blank.png" style="border:0;" alt="" id="logo" /></a> <div id="banner"> <div class="padding"> <form action="index.php?option=com_search&Itemid=5" method="get"> <div class="searchroflmao"> <input name="searchword" id="mod_search_searchword" maxlength="20" alt="search" class="inputboxroflmao" type="text" size="20" value="search..." onblur="if(this.value=='') this.value='search...';" onfocus="if(this.value=='search...') this.value='';" /> </div> <input type="hidden" name="option" value="com_search" /> <input type="hidden" name="Itemid" value="5" /> </form> </div> </div> </div> <div id="horiz-menu" class="moomenu"> <ul class="nav"> <li><a href="http://www.atruereview.com/">Home</a></li> <li><a href="http://www.atruereview.com/search.html">Search</a></li> <li><a href="http://atruereview.com/oldrev.php">Old Reviews</a></li> <li><a href="http://www.atruereview.com/atruereview/articles.php">Old Articles</a></li> <li><a href="http://www.atruereview.com/contact/contact.html">Contact</a></li> <li><a href="http://www.atruereview.com/links/links.html">Links</a></li> <li><a href="http://www.atruereview.com/accessories/2.html">Reviews</a></li> </ul> </div> <div id="top"> </div> <div class="clr" id="mainbody"> <table class="mainbody" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0"> <tr valign="top"> <td class="left"> <div class="moduletable"> <h3> Main Menu </h3> <table width="100%" border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0"> <tr align="left"><td><a href="http://www.atruereview.com/" class="mainlevel" >Home</a></td></tr> <tr align="left"><td><a href="http://www.atruereview.com/search.html" class="mainlevel" >Search</a></td></tr> <tr align="left"><td><a href="http://atruereview.com/oldrev.php" class="mainlevel" >Old Reviews</a></td></tr> <tr align="left"><td><a href="http://www.atruereview.com/atruereview/articles.php" class="mainlevel" >Old Articles</a></td></tr> <tr align="left"><td><a href="http://www.atruereview.com/contact/contact.html" class="mainlevel" >Contact</a></td></tr> <tr align="left"><td><a href="http://www.atruereview.com/links/links.html" class="mainlevel" >Links</a></td></tr> <tr align="left"><td><a href="http://www.atruereview.com/accessories/2.html" class="mainlevel" >Reviews</a></td></tr> </table> </div> <div class="moduletable"> </div> </td> <td class="mainbody"> <table class="sections" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0"> <tr valign="top"> <td class="section w99"> <div class="moduletable"> </div> </td> </tr> </table> <div class="padding"> <h1 align="center">SteelSeries SteelPad 5L Mouse Pad</h1> <p><strong>Description:</strong></p> <p>As the above listed dimensions show, the SteelPad 5L from SteelSeries is a large mouse pad. The overall shape of the pad is very much rectangular, though the bottom edge has a slight concave curve and the four corners are rounded.</p> <p align="center"><a href="atruereview/steelpad_sl/03.jpg"><img src="atruereview/steelpad_sl/03th.jpg" alt="SteelSeries SteelPad 5L Mouse Pad" title=SteelSeries SteelPad 5L Mouse Pad" width="250" height="186" border="0"></a><br> <font size="-1">Click on image for larger picture</font> </p> <p>SteelSeries' SteelPad 5L consists of 5 layers of different materials. First, there is a layer of hard plastic which gives the pad the rigidness and stability of a plastic hard surface mouse pad. This plastic layer accounts for roughly half of the 5L's thickness. Below plastic layer is a layer of rubber elements which sporadically covers the bottom of the pad. These rubber elements give the 5L a non-slip grip on whatever surface the pad is placed on.</p> <p align="center"><a href="atruereview/steelpad_sl/04.jpg"><img src="atruereview/steelpad_sl/04th.jpg" alt="SteelSeries SteelPad 5L Mouse Pad" title=SteelSeries SteelPad 5L Mouse Pad" width="250" height="171" border="0"></a><br> <font size="-1">Click on image for larger picture</font> </p> <p>Above the plastic layer is a layer of soft polyisoprene. This layer of polyisoprene (a dense foam-like material, almost as thick as the plastic layer) gives the SteelPad 5L the softness of a soft surface pad which makes it easy on the wrist. This is especially appreciated during long gaming sessions or other long periods of mouse usage.</p> <p align="left">Above the polyisoprene layer is a thin layer of "highly durable and extremely strong" cloth. This cloth layer gives the 5L the low sensitive smoothness of a cloth pad. Lastly, to top everything off, the top of the cloth layer is covered with an ultra thin layer of plastic coating. This plastic coating enhances the durability and helps maintain the texture of the cloth layer.</p> <p>The top surface of the SteelPad 5L displays a wicked black, blue, and white goopy-swirly graphic. As with all of SteelSeries' SteelPad mouse pads, the 5L's name is printed inside a circular logo at the bottom left corner of the pad.</p> <p> <strong>Performance:</strong></p> <p> The SteelPad 5L's fusion of five layers does indeed create one unique mouse pad. Like a hard surface pad, the 5L is rigid which allows it to work on any desktop surface even if that surface is uneven. At the same time, the surface has a semi-soft slightly cushiony feel which feels really good to rest my wrist on.</p> <p align="center"><a href="atruereview/steelpad_sl/06.jpg"><img src="atruereview/steelpad_sl/06th.jpg" alt="SteelSeries SteelPad 5L Mouse Pad" title=SteelSeries SteelPad 5L Mouse Pad" width="250" height="52" border="0"></a><br> <font size="-1">Click on image for larger picture</font> </p> <p> <a href="http://www.atruereview.com/two_gaming_mice/index.php">Logitech's G5</a> was the mouse used to test the pad. For the most part, the SteelPad 5L's surface feels more like that of a cloth pad. However, the thin plastic coating on the 5L's surface gives it a slightly slicker and overall smoother surface than a standard cloth pad (such as the SteelPad QcK). This slick yet low sensitive texture allowed me to comfortably and more accurately use the G5 mouse at a high cursor sensitive setting (something I am not able to do with hard surface pads). In addition to providing a superb gliding surface, the 5L also proved to have a very accurate tracking surface. When using the G5 mouse on it, I exhibited absolutely no cursor skips at all DPI settings. SteelSeries' SteelPad 5L also worked quite well my test <a href="http://www.atruereview.com/diamondback/index.php">Razer Diamondback </a>optical mouse as well as a generic mechanical ball mouse I had on hand.</p> <p align="center"><a href="atruereview/steelpad_sl/05.jpg"><img src="atruereview/steelpad_sl/05th.jpg" alt="SteelSeries SteelPad 5L Mouse Pad" title=SteelSeries SteelPad 5L Mouse Pad" width="250" height="35" border="0"></a><br> <font size="-1">Click on image for larger picture</font> </p> <p>One negative aspect of the SteelPad 5L I noticed is that the bottom layer of rubber elements do not do that good of a job holding the pad to a desktop surface. Slight jolts to the side of the pad as well as rigorous mouse movement caused the pad to slide around slightly.</p> <p><strong>Conclusion:</strong></p> <p> SteelSeries has certainly put a lot of thought into the design of the SteelPad 5L and for the most part, they have been successful. The 5L's five layer design has resulted in a truly unique pad that does a really good job combining the benefits of both a hard surface and soft surface mouse pad. The 5L's plastic coated cloth surface is the best "control" surface I have ever used. Anyone looking for mouse pad with a highly accurate tracking and slick low sensitive surface cannot go wrong with the SteelPad 5L.</p> <p><strong>Pros:</strong></p> <ul> <li> Unique smooth low sensitive surface</li> <li> Rigid pad works on any desktop surface</li> <li> Slightly cushiony surface is easy on the wrist</li> <li> Works superbly with the latest laser mice</li> <li> Works well with legacy mice (optical, mechanical)</li> <li> Generous surface size</li> </ul> <p><strong>Cons:</strong></p> <ul> <li> Bottom rubber elements does not grip desktop surface well</li> </ul> <p><strong>Ratings:</strong></p> <p> Excellent</p> <p align="left"><a href="atruereview/steelpad_sl/index.php"></a> <a href="steelpad_sl/index.php">Previous (Introduction & Features)</a></p> </div> </td> </tr> </table> </div> <div id="footer" class="clr"> <div class="rk-1"> <div class="rk-2"> <div id="the-footer">  </div> </div> </div> </div> </div> </body> </html>