Gaming Mouse Pads – Which Type Will You Choose?

Any gamer who wants to improve her/his gaming skill and experience, ponders sometimes or the other upon a question, like “Should I buy a gaming mouse pad?” Basically a mouse pad is a surface upon which your mouse glides. Once it was quite essential when mice used a trackball to track their movements. However, today’s mice are evolved in that they have optical or laser sensors, rather than a trackball and work on most surfaces. But there is still a difference between random surfaces and optimized surfaces. And for that matter, you need a gaming mouse pad in order to enhance your gaming enjoyment. But you need to consider various types of mouse pads and choose the most suitable one for you. So, let’s see how you can choose the best gaming mouse pad 2014 amongst these various types.

Types of Gaming Mouse Pads

There are several types of mouse pads having their own particular shape, material and features, as well as advantages and disadvantages.

Cloth Mouse Pads

Cloth mouse pads are made generally from soft foam and fabric, and are considered to be the most comfortable sort of mouse pads. Although thin pads of cloth are not very comfortable, they have their own advantage of being less bulky. If we consider LAN parties, cloth pads are the most flexible and portable pads because they can be just rolled and tucked in the bag. Cloth mouse pads give quite a lot of friction and tactile feedback which is a preferable quality for some gamers. However cloth pads are likely to get dirty within a short time. Even their borders are more likely to fray or come off after about every 5-6 months which can be troublesome.

Hard Mouse Pads

Hard mouse pads are usually made of plastic and have a rubber base to prevent them from sliding. They are very thin and lightweight, but they don’t offer as much friction and tactile feedback as the cloth mouse pads do, and offer a smooth gliding. Hard mouse pads are available in several varieties with some having a smooth surface, and others having a rough one. Being made of materials like plastic and rubber, hard mouse pads are easily cleanable. They are also more durable and give a quite long service. Only disadvantage of them is they are not as flexible as their cloth counterparts, and so are not portable. In that case, if you carry them with you in travel, they may bend or crack.

Aluminum Mouse Pads

Most of the aluminum mouse pads are made from anodized aluminum. They are more expensive but are more durable too. Aluminum mouse pads are characteristically a little thicker than hard mouse pads, but thinner than thick cloth pads. Although they are smooth to touch, the friction they give is quite a lot, which might not be preferred by low-friction users. One more thing to consider before buying an aluminum mouse pad is the noise they make unlike cloth or hard pads.

Glass Mouse Pads

Glass mouse pads, as they are called, are made from glass. Though most of today’s mice track well on glass mouse pads, some might not be comfortable with them and therefore you should learn more about these pads before buying one. However, glass mouse pads look and feel very special, and can give your desk a classiness. But as they are made of glass, they are more fragile too and can be shattered upon dropping on or getting hit by a hard object. Therefore they are made bulky and thick. They give very little friction and tactile feedback due to their smoothness, but make a lot of noise when your mouse glides upon them.

Taking into consideration these various types of mouse pads you may get a good idea about which one will suit your needs the best. There are pros and cons of each of them, so better try each of them and then choose.