.::THE STORY::.

So when did it all begin? Did I ever bothered asking myself this question? I can't say I did; for me it started back in 2004, give or take a year.

It was the year when Logitech, who will be the main focus of this reviews, started releasing their first gaming oriented input devices. Did you know that their first mouse, named P4 was made back in 1982, when a bunch of white coat developers from Lausanne, Switzerland put this... thing on display, not knowing how pointing devices will change the world later on?


*Logitech P4, the first pointing device created by Logitech

Of course you didn't you fatty. All you ever do is play those "video games" on your "personal computer".


Did they ever think people will start bickering about not only native DPI steps, but sensor positions, which mouse tracks best on which surface type, that some incredibly frustrated 20 year old will shout at a screen because his Razer mouse isn't changing LED colors while moving? Probably not, and maybe... just maybe that very thought might have prevented them from ever entering the business of input devices.


It was followed by the C7, the first retail mouse by Logitech.


*Pictured above is the Logitech C7

That's about the same time the NES was released, and graphics were still blocky without Markus Persson's intervention.

Sure the MX series was available back in 2002 and featured an optical sensor with 800dpi and I could go on about the history but I'll let some of you meerkats take your time and read this 25 year anniversary PDF that takes a more in-depth look at the company
Logitech History

*It's a god damn meerkat reading logitech history, what else?

Great, now back to me. How is this relevant you ask? Well Logitech forced me to reconsider what gaming is all about. The recent purchases crushed all that I knew about mouse pads and mice for the last decade or so.
With these new products, I had to start building from the ground up and as far as I can tell, this is the future. I feel like I moved from a P4 to a C7. I feel like I've been "playing wrong" my entire life. Or did I? Who knows. I don't. And neither do you, lardo.

So now we are traveling through space and it's 2015 or what? Something like that. Well rewind a bit.

It's 2009, I'm still wearing long black pants on a hot summer day because I feel it emphasizes my likeness for dark music.
Not the right time, rewind a bit more.
2006? Not quite there yet.
Finally, we're in 2004. Spice Girls is long gone and OutKast releases their hit single "Hey Ya!" . I don't even know what competitive gaming is, all I know is there's a local 64 people public server on cs 1.6 with the regular faces, raging 30 year old admins kicking 14 year olds who found out how to use the microphone. I am not at all concerned about my input devices and that "latency" thing beside my ghastly nickname? Oh that's how much sound you make when walking.

See, if you run around with the gun the latency goes up to 150. When you're crouching, it remains on 90. Yes, that's how clueless we were. Oh golly, look at the time, it's my birthday and my brother got me something. It's an all new oddly shaped motherfucker called the MX510 - and what an odd specimen it was. The shape was different and it was much sturdier than my ball mouse. It was at that point that my long journey with the logitech products started.
I got ahold of the logitech headphones, logitech speakers, even wanted a logi keyboard but fortunately I dodged that bullet. Selling rubber domes for the price of a mech, SHAME ON YOU!

To keep it short, the CS/CS:S community was known (at least in my area) for unimaginably low sensitivity. The top players were known as "living roomers" - it was an insider joke when someone claimed that the top players swipe their mouse across the living room to turn 180 degrees. When I attended my first LAN event and saw my idols in person, they left for a drink and kept the game open... our "clan" was so excited to touch their filthy gear and spray cum all over it. It was like touching Federer's tennis racquet, it was like driving Rossi's M1, but the sensitivity... dear lord, it was embarrassing. You could move the mouse around the pad and the cross-hair barely moved.


*that fat slob in the superimposed red circle just randomly floating on the image is supposed to be me. Green circle dude was cool, rather skilled but also somewhat of a jackass and a clan hopper. Do not trust this guy.

At that point we knew what to do. Go above and beyond. Drop our sensitivity start using decimals. Why stop at 1 when you can go as low as 0,1 for your sens? This is why we needed those huge ass mouse pads. Cloth pads, none of that glass bullshit, we needed traction, we needed the whole table covered in cloth. I've stuck with the MX gear because they simply didn't fuck up when I did those long ass swipes. The diamondback failed me and it ended up being thrown out of the god damn window, where it belongs. It's a god damn snake, why would you want a stupid snake in your room? Are you insane?

The MX518 was my next most used mouse and I really have no complaints even to this day. I still see chumps using it to this day. It's an amazing mouse that stands the test of time.

So here I am, explaining what gaming meant to me and using QcK+ and a wmo/mx518/g400 for the past few years with low sens and dragging my hand across the table like a maniac sorting bananas into boxes when I finally decide to end this madness.

I saw some bang for buck deal for the g100s, cost me about $14 on eBay from some Chinese dude who probably stole it or whatever. They eat dogs so they're evil, I don't care. Let's get serious now.

While I wait for my mouse to arrive, I figure that I could replace my mouse pad, it's all sticky and torn from years of heavy use and abuse.

It looks like a used prostitute's underpants.


*A rendition of a prostitute mouse pad. A sad fate that many of mouse pads have to face after years of abuse. Please, donate to Humble Indie bundle or something to save the gaming prostitutes. Or do whatever you want with your money, whatever.

I figured I should get something to give nice warm company and fuzzy feeling to my newly obtained g100s. I searched high and low for the perfect mouse pad for a whole minute or so. Figured I should go with the G440, because it has G in its name and we all know what Logitech meant when they started the G series right?

Correct, you guessed it, it stands for Gagarin, the first bloke blazing it in outer space, financed solely by Logitech (not Razer, they suck)


*Pictured above is a happy Gagarin. Sources say that the happiness was dishonest and merely fabricated to empower the legalization movement.



.::THE MOUSEPAD::.

You have to admit, it goes hand in hand with the Hypothermia release.


*Rakbladsvalsen, Hypotermia's top shelf suicidal black metal release


So this thing crossed my mind - how to describe a mouse pad? All I know is that Roccat Taito is perfect for sanding a bench or if you're into mouse pads that make your mouse feel so sluggish like you've just put that bastard into slime. But what about the good pads, what's so good about them? How do you compare them? It all boils down to 5 things:

- How decent do they track
- How durable are they
- How comfortable is it
- How pricy is it
- How did those guys build pyramids I don't fucking know

Well, from what I can tell, the G440 is tracking insanely well. Maybe too well! (I'll get to that shortly). Never in my life have I witness such accuracy, it's almost as if it's... too accurate? I'm using both the QcK and the G440 side by side and the G440 takes the cake as far as tracking goes. I haven't been running any programs to prove this scientifically so you'll just have to take my word for it. The QcK is worn out and old, which contributes a lot to the fact that I consider it "worse" in this scenario. So as far as tracking goes, I've tested the IE 3.0, the g400 and the g100s and they all perform flawlessly.

I cannot comment on the durability just yet, but from what I can tell right now, it seems like it will last longer than a cloth pad.

Comfortable is not what I'd call the G440. It's both rough and loud. People who don't use headphones beware, this mouse pad is actually noisy. The edges and surface are rough, I think I've said rough enough times already to get my a point across. It's something that you will get used to. Definitely not a deal breaker, but worth a mention.



Also, notice how the cardboard "box" has a piece of the pad for demonstration on the back? You can search trashcans for these cardboards and assemble a pad of your own... FOR FREE!
LIFE = HACKED #2015

Here's some size comparisons


*The G440 and QcK+ size with both g400 and g100s


*g400 + g100s, what a lovely couple



*one more


Velvet Cacoon's release in comparison to QcK+

So long live the mx518+qck combo, and let the new era begin... one where swiping your mouse across the pad just won't work. Simply because the pad is too small, too slippery, the control is not there.

Imagine playing Air Hockey with a mouse. This is how I feel right now. Shit is all over the place, my cursor keeps flying around.

*my face when I'm trying to rail someone

Growing up in the age and culture of low sens and switching to a small mouse pad with glidey effect was a huge move for me. I cannot for the life of mine stop swiping and inadvertently destroying the mouse feet, I can't seem to comprehend that I don't need that much force anymore. If you just look at this bastard it will move a bit. It's a huge change in terms of how you perceive movement/aiming in a 3D environment. I now have to break whatever is hardwired in my brain and get used to a completely different aiming and moving method, not using swipes but just gently pushing the mouse around. It's a new world for me, a nicer, less angry world filled with regrets and broken dreams.


I'm slowly getting used to the claw grip and ditching the old habits. All I can say is that I'm pleased with the purchase so far, but I haven't really talked about the star of all of this.




.::THE MOUSE::.

The g100s. I cannot recommend this enough. I'm nowhere near a high level in any game, I'm actually rubbish at quake and my aim is not something to write home about. That's fine, I can live with that, knowing that I'm not good at video games. I'll survive, no need for a pep talk. But even from my beginner perspective all I can say is that this mouse is fantastic. The shape is perfect, it's not slippery at all even without any rubber coating. The first thing I noticed is that it's very, very lightweight.

Mouse wheel is fine, not too stiff, not too embedded into the shell, scrolls flawlessly (I'm looking at you, WMO).

Out of the box the DPIs are whack, I suggest getting the official drivers and using custom DPI - some smartass will kindly prove me wrong with MS Paint spirals and jitter info, but I just prefer ye olden 400 DPI. This is also the main reason why you're going to need the drivers. Without them, you are stuck with 1000,1750, or 2500 DPI - none of which suit my taste. This is kind of a bummer because I have a phobia that drivers will eventually change my settings somehow. So far so good though.

I kinda miss the sidebuttons switching directly from g400, but honestly the g100s does what's it supposed to do and it does so pretty damn well.

My gaming habits must change a lot, I'm now confined to a much smaller surface area and the mouse is literally gliding on this pad.

I did a poor man's test to see how "glidey" it actually is.

First of all, I placed a cardboard under the QcK+ so it doesn't bend. Then I placed the mouse on the edge of the pad and slowly inserted CDs under the pad.

This method might be ok if my qck was brand new, however the mouse started sliding downwards at mere ~5CDs, whereas the qck needed twice the amount and still the slide was inconsistent.


*pictured is a higly scientific approach to test how slidey mousepads really are

Sorry for the blurry pics, it was dark in my room and I had to use flash and they look ugly :(

This about sums it up, tl;dr version:

g100s:

+ Flawless sensor
+ awesome shape
+ decent build
+ Very lightweight
+ reminds me of WMO
+ price is outstanding

- Needs drivers for DPI steps
- mouse feet could be better
- Let's face it, it's ugly. An elementary school kid with no artistic sense whatsoever was hired to design the mouse.


G440:

+ Incredible never before seen "speed" - reminds me of glass pads with a cloth spirit. Best of both worlds
+ tracking or movement isn't obstructed by the logo
+ minimalist design, looks like the kid was fired
+ sticks neatly on the desk but at the same time it's easy to "peel off"

- Maybe a bit rough on the edges
- Would be nice if it came in bigger sizes
- A bit on the pricey side, although still cheap for a hard pad





Yellow Swans - Going places [2009] :

+ Reminds me of my ex
+ was a great motivational force that was played on loop during the time I wrote all of this down, took the images and did a bit of research
+ Symbolizes the end of an era, it's a valedictory album from Yellow Swans, hence the album name "Going Places"
+ Last track hits close to home, it speaks to you on a whole new level and you can really feel that they left with a bang, something that is forever ingrained in your mind

- Reminds me of my ex
- Some tracks are tedious