There are numerous types of mouse pads out there today, and it all depends on what you personally are looking for in your mousing surface, the type you’ll end up getting. Lately I’ve skewed more toward hard surface pads, but I used to prefer the cloth type, and my favorites have always been those from XTracPads, I’ve found them to be an excellent choice, an all around great pad. So today for review I have the Ripper cloth mousing surface from XTracPads….
XTracPads Ripper
Reviewed by: Kristofer Brozio AkA Dracos
Sponsor: XTracPads
Tech Specs,Features or the Basic Info:
XTracPads Ripper
The XTracPads Ripper is a gamers best friend. Roll it up and take it with you to your next LAN party. It’s soft and your mouse can slide with less friction than a standard cloth mouse pad thanks to our specially treated surface.
XTracPads Ripper features:
-Whisper quiet cloth surface
-Soft and comfortable
-Frey resistant edges
-Sure Grip rubber backing
With more real estate than most mouse pads, the XTracPads Ripper is an excellent choice for the discerning gamer.
Specifications:
11" x 17" x 1/8" (280mm x 432 mm)
Sure Grip rubber backing
Cloth mousing surface
XTracPads Ripper
Designed in the USA
Made in USA
Tested and 100% compatible with the following mice:
Logitech:
MX300/500/510/518/700/1000 G5 & G7
Microsoft:
Intellimouse Explorer 3.0/4.0 Laser Mouse 6000
Apple:
Mighty Mouse
Product Link:
http://www.xtracpads.com/ripper.htm
A Better Look at Things
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Packaging for the Ripper is rather cool, it comes in a clear plastic tube that could double as a carrying case as well. I was a bit concerned about having the pad rolled up as others I’ve owned stayed curled for quite some time. The Ripper though only took about a day actually to get back to a nice flat mousing surface.
Included with the Ripper is a nice large XTracPads sticker.
The bottom right corner of the pad features the XTracPads logo, the Ripper name and the XTrac website address. Other than that the pad is fashionably solid black.
The surface of the Ripper is a tightly woven cloth that makes it fairly smooth, but yet still offers quite a bit of resistance for those that like it. The entire back of the pad is rubber to make sure it stays in place while fragging your opponents.
In the below picture you’ll see a standard sized gaming mouse, the A4Tech X-750F Laser Gaming mouse, you can see that the Ripper offers quite a bit of space to move about.
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Installation, Testing and Comparison
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For testing and comparison of course I got my game on with a bit of Battlefield 2142 and STALKER.
I found the XTracPad Ripper to be an excellent pad actually, it offers quite a bit of space to move around with no worries of falling off the edge. No matter what I did I never fell off the edge of the Ripper, no matter how intense my gaming session or how engrossed I got into it the XTracPad Ripper never missed a beat.
Tracking was excellent for all my gaming, though I did have to up the resolution of my Logitech G5 mouse to make up for the increased resistance of the Ripper.
Going from a hard surface pad like the SteelSeries S&S was a big difference and it took a lot of adjustment for me to once again get used to mousing on a cloth surface pad.
For regular everyday usage the Ripper was perfectly fine, the thinness and softness of the Ripper makes it very comfortable to use for long periods of time.
All the mice I tested with the Ripper, including the Logitech G5, A4Tech X-750F, Ideazon Reaper and even a Microsoft old fashioned ball mouse, all of them worked fine with the Ripper. I could find no problems at all with tracking besides the fact that I was not used to the resistance of the cloth surface pad….
Summary:
If you prefer cloth pads then the Ripper is a great option for you, it offers a large, smooth surface that tracks exceptionally well. As I mentioned there are many choices out there when it comes to choosing a mousepad, and it all will depend on your own preferences as to which you’ll choose. If you are in the market for a new pad, please check out XTracPads, you won’t be disappointed.
For my personal preference though I’ve grown fond of hard surface pads and well I’ll be moving back to my SteelSeries S&S pad….
DragonSteelMods gives the XTracPads Ripper a 4.5 out of 5 score.
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Pros:
-Excellent tracking
-Large surface
-Quiet mousing surface
-Rubber grips well
Cons:
-None really,just personal preferences now…
I would like to thank XTracPads for the chance to review the Ripper and for their continued support of DSM.