Home : Hardware : Reviews : SteelSeries SP
A mousepad for the gaming nomad
The most underrated piece of equipment in any PC gamer's arsenal is usually the mousepad. This mat, home of our beloved interface device, is typically unnecessary or just an afterthought. Something that you get free when you buy a certain component, or order a new magazine. Right? Wrong.
Today we take a look at a real man's mousepad, the SteelSeries SP. This medium-sized mat matched wits with our barrage of mice, namely the Logitech MX 1000, Creative HD7600L, Logitech G9 (reviewed here) and the Razer Lachesis (which has newly arrived and will be reviewed soon).
The Gear
For those familiar with SteelSeries and our several reviews on their hardware, you know that they aren't kidding around. The products coming out from this company are top-notch, top of the line gaming-addict hardware. The type of stuff that you would feel comfortable putting in a suitcase because you know it was sturdy, well built and could take the rough treatment, but you still wouldn't because it could get lost all too easily.
It's no surprise that the same holds true for the SP. Coming in a massive plastic envelope bag, the SP is travel ready at all times. It's obviously easy to store, and the perfect-fit bag is an added bonus that any travelling gamer can appreciate.
As well as the bag are five specially-made Teflon pads. While they're made specifically for Microsoft mice, they can fit any mouse. We found that while they are excellent in every way, for anyonelegitametly picking up an SP, they'll have a suitable mouse to go with it. The option to use their special Teflon pads, however, is anything but bad.
The SP itself uses a "Macroscopic Texture" that helps keep friction to a minimum, and basically the exact opposite to keep the pad stuck to your tabletop. It's not huge for a gamingmousepad at 12.6" x 10.6" x .1" (3mm), so if you're one of those types that likes to set your mouse sensitivity really low and just throw the mouse across the table, this might be a bit small.
Now that we know what we're dealing with, let's take a look at how well it performs.
