Mousepads.

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There seems to be a distinct lack of mousepad threads. What's everyone's experience with various mousepads? (Artisan, LGG, X-Raypad etc).

 

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Not ashamed to say I probably spent many days of my life looking into mousepads the past couple of weeks.

I just hate it and being in the UK we're in the worst possible scenario.

No matter where you look it's "Oh just get an Artisan"... yeah let me just look through the 18 quintillion different versions that Artisan has. Zero, Hien, Hayate Otsu, Raiden, Key 83 it goes on and on. Don't forget you have to then figure out what softness of base you want (X Soft, Soft, Mid) so multiply that choice again by 3. Even if you somehow then figure that out, good luck actually getting it. The actual Artisan site seems completely broken and afaik there are no UK retailers. You're talking about £80 if you import which is ridiculous. OcUK if you read this I know you stock Glorious and EGG pads but apparently Artisan are looking for retailers. The main thing putting me off Artisan though is the substantial differences in x and y axis. I can tell they look well made but what good is it being well made if the weave is so ridiculously biased in one axis that you constantly overshoot or undershoot.

You then have to look elsewhere because I'm sorry but £80 for a mousepad is just bonkers. Further searching leads you to stuff like the LGG Saturn Pro which you might be able to get for under £60 but still... meh.

It lead me to look into glass mousepads. At first I was like that seems way too far out and weird but the more I thought about it I liked the concept. I can have a pad that will just always stay the same and now being in the UK is actually a massive advantage for glass. We don't have these ridiculous humid environments so likely don't need arm sleeves or similar. Some brand called Tekkusai is getting a lot of traction and it's not ridiculous at about £50 for the soon to be released Singularity.

If I was forced to go cloth (which I might still) I think the Endgame gear EMC or EMB would be my pick. EMC is very close to Saturn Pro and price is reasonable and I give points to a company for actually having proper UK distribution (done via OcUK).

Haha, I found this company called Matrova that has 7 different surfaces and 7 different bases. The choice paralysis was insane. I did end up getting one of their pads,but with so many combinations, I can't help but wonder if I got the best one. Still reasonably happy with what I got.

 

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I found dot skates worse than full coverage personally (also collected more dirt with frequent use, so constant cleaning of skates needed more regularly) Full coverage worked better for me with superglide glass skates for my superlight 2

but I also have a cheap Mchose L7 Ultra mouse that has plastic skates as shipped and while not as smooth gliding across the surface still have no issue using it.

Are you doing glass skates on a glasspad? Does it work?

 

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Got plastic on one mouse and glass on the other, it works either way glass skates have less resistance.

I would have thought glass on glass would scratch like my cat on a fresh sofa but that is interesting. Do you ever have too little resistnace or are you looking for even less?

 

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Artisan seem to have updated their website. Looks a little cleaner and they’ve knocked off a couple quid from the shipping.

 

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Does anyone have any experience with the Zero soft compared to an LGG Saturn pro? I was leaning towards the Saturn due to the supposed hair issue on the Zero, but now the Zeros slightly cheaper and it does seem more popular.

 

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Hair issues aren't too bad on the newer Zeros, the old ones (as in ones from 2019/2020) were a bit of a pain. My current Zero is from last year and it's been fine with the hair issues compared to my one I used back in 2019 and 2020. That one felt like I had to keep one of those cat hair removal things on my desk!

Haha sounds promising then. I’ve got two furry cats so if the hair issues were prominent I’d be swamped. One of their reps mentioned that they were looking for cheaper shipping options which is enticing. I think I’ll grab a zero soft when those shipping options come in.

 

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Shipping seems to have come down in the last 12 months, I tended to either buy 2 pads for myself or would go 50/50 with a mate and buy 2 at the same time as shipping was always a slightly easier pill to swallow when it was delivering 2 pads.

Zero soft is what I'm running at the moment (XXL in orange) and I'm liking it a lot, smoother glide than from my Hien soft and much less friction compared to my Hayate Otsu. I might try the Key83 next, seen some really good feedback on that!

I’ve heard the Key83 is unique when it comes to cloth. If I get two I’ll end up with a Type 99 mid as well. That matcha green is nice and I’m fond of control pads.

 

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Tenta X Jinsoku, very nice unboxing experience, shipped flat. Will have better feedback once I use the pad a bit more.