As a habitual gamer (when I can find the time that is...) I am always keeping a sharp eye out for new gaming gear such as better mice and mousing surfaces. I like to think that I am pretty up to date with these types of products so I was pretty shocked when the guys at Xoxide asked me to take a look at a mouse pad I had never heard of before. After informing me that they were sending an Ulti-Mat mousing surface I went to check out the item on their website. I was a bit curious when I saw the that the price tag of the item was around $40. Obviously this is meant to be a high-end mousing surface which includes a coating of Teflon to ensure a slick surface.

The most I have ever spent on a mousing surface is $20 back in the day when 3M first released their new thin 3M Precise Mousing Surface. To this day that is still one of the best performing and feeling surfaces I have ever used but that surface was plagued with a design flaw. Dust, crumbs, whatever would get stuck in the tiny areas between the peaks on the surface and it was VERY easy to scratch. Plus, this design was mainly for ball-type mice. I was very eager to give this product a lengthy test run in some productivity apps as well as in some gaming sessions.

Package & Contents

The package arrived in an unremarkable small box with nominal amounts of packing material. Not much is really needed since the mat itself is a solid 1.25mm steel plate. It's pretty hard to really mess an item like that up even for "Attila the UPS Guy" (as AntiM calls him :) ). Included in the plain and simple package, which consists of an envelope style wrapping, is the Ulti-Mat surface plus a separate small package containing a few strips of teflon coated tape.

Specs

Here is the product info on the Ulti-Mat direct from the manufacturers website:

Ulti-Mat mouse pad
Finally a mouse pad that is perfect for both the common ball mice as well as the optical mice. One key attribute for the functionality of a mouse is the surface on which the mouse is used on. Especially optical mice require a smooth pad to function perfectly and the common mouse pads don't often fulfill that requirement. Therefore we have developed a patented pad for players and for graphic industry professionals.

After exploring the suitability of different materials, we came to the conclusion that a metal pad would be best due to neat appearance and easy-care. On a 1,25 mm thick metal plate there is a Teflon® -coating* that makes the Ulti-Mat more durable and slippery than normal mouse pads. The Teflon® -coating* is also scratch resistant in normal usage and therefore the pad stays clean and usable many years.

Both players and professionals from advertising have been involved in the testing and development of the Ulti-Mat mouse pad. Several different types of mice have been used in tests. All testers have been very satisfied how their mouse is working with the new Ulti-Mat mouse pad. Ulti-Mat is the solution for most common problems caused by the mouse pad.

Technical information
- Teflon® -coating*
- steel plate 1.25mm (0.04 inch)
- size: 300 mm x 250 mm x 3.25 mm (11.82 inch x 9.85 inch x 0.12 inch)
- foamed plastic 2 mm (0.08 inch)

The mouse pad is manufactured of a Teflon® -coated* metal plate. Under the pad there is foamed plastic that prevents any echoing sounds. Due to this there are no additional and unnecessary sounds when using the mouse. The pad stays securely in one place because of the foamed plastic glued to the bottom of the pad.

*) Teflon® -coating Ulti-mat / DuPont Teflon®

The Ulti-Mat

The pad is extremely sturdy (what else would you expect from a 1.25mm steel plate?) and the surface is covered with a very light texture as well as what looks to be an enamel coating containing some charcoal-colored metal flakes. I am sure this is also where the Teflon is. The product info says it is scratch resistant and I have to concur. I tried scratching the side edge a little and it required quite a bit of pressure to leave any sort of mark on the coating. The backside of the surface has 2mm anti-slip foam covering the ENTIRE backside of the pad. This is a very nice feature since I have fallen victim to a sliding mousepad when under fire in games... a frustrating event to say the least. The pad has an impressive amount of space for your mouse maneuvers coming in at 11.82" x 9.85". Even you very large-handed folk are sure to have a comfortable amount of room for your favorite games.

To ensure that your mousing experience is as smooooooth as possible the package includes 3 strips of teflon coated tape they call Mouse Skates. The tape should be cut to fit sparingly so that it just covers the mouse feet. All you need to worry about is the areas touching the pad. I have currently been using the mouse pad for about 2 weeks and the tape has shown no signs of wear yet. That's a good sign that under heavy use (say 8 - 12 hours per day?) this tape will last a while. After covering my Logitech MX518 "Gaming Grade" mouse there was enough teflon tape left over to redo the procedure about 12 - 14 more times. Nice!