The Razer Mantis Control / Speed Mat duo offer great surfaces for all your gaming or PC needs

The mouse moves rapidly, moving the point of view, coursing across the mouse pad, strafing the camera. And then, suddenly, you run out of pad real estate. It is either pick up the mouse and zip back to the middle or take chances on the bare desktop.

Ok, the advent of the laser mouse has enabled PC users to use any flat surface as an optical reference, but there are certainly times when running the mouse over the desktop is not the best option.

Well, hold the phone – Razer has just released some mouse pads that are a PC user’s dream. Under the product line name of Mantis, the Razer mouse pads are stylish, have a great feel and are HUGE!

Stylish, you say? Oh wait, you said HUGE. Explain that.

Gladly. The mouse pad measures 14” by 17 1/4.” GameZone received two versions of the mouse pad, a Speed Precision Mousing Surface and the Control Precision Mousing Surface. The foam pad is approximately 1/8” thick, providing a nice cushion for both the mouse and the wrist bone.

Both the surfaces have a nice colored design, both in green. The main difference between the mats is the surfaces. The Speed mat is slick cloth finish that cuts down on drag tension and promotes a fast transition in the way the mouse drags. The Control surface is textured and different mouses will drag slower on it. For example, there was not much noticeable difference in the way that the Logitech G7 mouse moved on either pad. But using a Touch Force Optical Saitek mouse produced much more drag on the Control surface than on the Speed surface. The optics of both of the mouses, though, responded very well.

There is a bone on the outside of my wrist that takes a pretty good beating on rough surfaces, but with the rubberized foam on these pads, even 8-plus hours in a gaming environment was easy on the bone. The Control surface did generate a little more friction than the slick cloth, but it still provided a viable and easy to use surface.

The biggest draw is the generous surface of these mats. It has been love at first mouse drag. Razer has put together a mouse pad that has a Fibertek cloth weave surface that feels great and is optimized for low resistance on its Speed surface and high sensitivity on its Control surface.

For such a ‘little’ thing, such as a mouse pad, these mats sure make a (ready for it?) HUGE difference.

Pros:
It looks good, it feels good and it is a great size. Any bigger and we may have to score it in the multiplayer category as well.

Cons:
You need a fair amount of desk space to lay down the mouse pad. Is this a con?

Verdict: 9.0
Great surfaces, great foam under-padding, and a huge surface make this a great mouse pad to use. Get one and enjoy it. This is a winner.