SteelSeries Experience I-2 Glass Mousepad

Product: SteelSeries Experience I-2 Mousepad
Provided By: SteelSeries
Real-Time Price:

Introduction:

I was exited to get this product because I had never heard of a glass mousepad before, I was curious to test it and find out exactly what it was made of.

Front Of Box

Back Of Box

About SteelSeries:

SteelSeries is a company that makes pretty much every single peripheral item a gamer could need. In fact their product page has 6 categories and they all start with the prefix “gaming.”  Quote from their site:

SteelSeries is all about gaming. Our mission is to create performance enhancing gaming gear, created for and by leading professional gamers. We continuously strive to better ourselves, and work with leading professional gamers from 3 different continents to create our products.

Our staff is distributed throughout the world, working from offices in Europe, North America and Asia.

The SteelSeries headquarters are located in Europe (Copenhagen, Denmark), and host the primary office facilities for the company. The headquarters handle all planning, production and partner coordination.

For logistical reasons we also have sales offices in Asia (Taipei, Taiwan) and USA (Los Angeles, California). From Taipei we can each the entire Asian market, as well as New Zealand and Australia. From Los Angeles we can reach North America, Canada and South America. All manufacturing is done by sub-suppliers from Europe and Asia, and then delivered to one of our warehouses for final processing.

First Impressions:

When I first opened the box I was greeted by the horrifying sound of squeaky Styrofoam. We all know what that sounds like, definitely not a sound pleasant to hear. Anyways, back to topic, this product comes in white, black, blue, or pink coloring. I received the black one; the pink one looked very bright and gay, but cool at the same time. It would definitely catch many a gamer’s eye at LAN parties.

Size Reference

On first glance the mousepad was medium sized but from the top it did not look like glass to me. However feeling the texture and holding it reassured me that it was indeed glass. The mousepad was thick enough to be sturdy and not very easily breakable (unless dropped a meter to a cement floor) and yet thin enough to be easy on the wrist and arm.

Specifications:

• Material: Glass
• Surface treatment: Trade secret
• Dimensions: 250mm*300mm (10 x 12 in)
• Size: Medium
• Glide: Smooth
• Compatibility: Optical, ball

Testing:

I used following mice to test compatibility of the I-2.

• Logitech 1800-dpi MX™ mouse
• Generic Microsoft USB 5-button mouse
• Targus mini laptop mouse
• Generic 3-button Compaq ball mouse

Throughout the day as I was doing my normal everyday activities, I didn’t notice the mouse skipping at all.  During games, the mouse was smooth; there was no jerking around. I even dug out a very old ball mouse to try. Even with the ball mouse everything worked perfectly. But that Targus mini mouse was horrible, it kept jerking around the screen randomly. Even sometimes when I held it in one spot, the pointer would shake a little and then jump around the screen again.

The size of the mouse pad was just about right, high-sensitivity settings won’t even come close to the sides but low-sensitivity settings I got probably ¾ across the screen before I ran out of room.

When I was testing it the only thing I noticed that was out of the ordinary was the noise made when moving the mouse across the mousepad. It sounded scratchy and dry, which annoyed me a little, because I’m used to a cloth mousepad which doesn’t make those sounds.

I also found that it was very easy to clean, a simple wipe of the hand would get all crumbs and little pieces of food off quickly. Also, not only does it feel nice to touch, some sort of special coating prevents it from getting fingerprints.

Back Of Mousepad

Thinckness

Conclusion:
   
To sum it up, the SteelSeries I-2 mousepad is an amazing piece of gaming heaven. Even though the Targus mouse didn’t really work, I think it is safe to say the majority of mice will work smoothly and accurately on this mousepad. The easily cleanable and medium sized surface make this mousepad a good choice for LAN parties where food and drink is of abundance. With its durability and surface finish that hides fingerprints, the mouse pad isn’t going to wear out and lose it’s coloring very easily either. The noise and its price tag are the only two downsides I have to say about this product.

Sweet!

• Accurate & Smooth
• Easily cleanable
• Good transport size
• Nice to feel
• No fingerprints
  

Doh!

• Pricey
  
• Noisy

I'd like to thank SteelSeries for sending this pad across the water.  Thank goodness for the well packaged products as shipping glass across the ocean could end in a bad way.  Please feel free to post your thoughts, comments and questions about this product in the forum at the "Comments" link below.