If you want smoothness i'd say that you should definately go for cloth. I've tried everything from metal,glass, to cloth and plastic. But although for example the fast side of the fUnc is faster than cloth. I preferre a bit of control, and really there is no problem with moving the mouse fast on for example Corepad deskpad (its HUGE). Which in fact is the best mousepad i've tried. It really is soft, yet smooth but provides great control. Would recommend it to anyone tbh.

i use the XL allsop good mousepad.

everything else is racist.

First of all it's called a "mousepad". Wtf @ mouse mat?

Secondly, "smooth" is a very vague term that means different things to different people. If you mean lowest-friction (which is a term you used later, and you also said "faster"), then glass is the best that has been achieved so far for that.

And what is with esr lately being flooded with all these noobs asking "What should I buy?" "What should I use?"
... ANSWER for ALL those questions: IT'S A MATTER OF PERSONAL PREFERENCE, FIGURE IT OUT, FIND SOMETHING YOU LIKE, AND USE IT.

1) I've seen both terms used, who cares?
2) I mean low-friction, I'm using other terms I've seen people use but I would have thought that was obvious. (Lower friction = less force needed to accelerate mouse = "faster". Lower friction = easier to overcome standing resistance = smoother, i.e. you don't have to shove it as hard to get it to start moving, less snags etc, bla bla bla..... think about it)
3) I'm asking people who have experience of trying different types of mat, otherwise I'd have to spend about £100 on different mats.

As you can see from most of the replies, people did NOT understand what you meant by smoothest, which proves that it is a vague term that means different things to different people.

You should have said slickest or fastest or lowest friction, which people will understand.

For low-friction, you go with a hard mousepad. It depends on how much you are willing to spend on a mousepad. The glass icemat is the best for this that has been invented so far, but it is expensive for a mousepad. Plastic does quite low friction also, but at a much more reasonable price. So I would go with a plastic mousepad, unless you are willing to spend more then you can go with glass.

It's a mat (A mat is a generic term for a piece of fabric or flat material, generally placed on a floor or other flat surface, and serving a range of purposes ) that you use your mouse on.

Heh. It's like a pointless debate between pronouncing "gib" with a hard G (like gun) or more like jib. I have my position on that too.

But throughout all of the 90's, no one ever called it mouse mat. It was a mousepad. It was only maybe post-2002 that people started to use the term mat, especially after companies released mousepads using the term mat because they thought it sounded cooler, like "icemat". Now the CS crowd uses mouse mat a lot, but it will always be mousepad to me.

Er, it's always been called a mouse mat in the UK.

Basically you're a clueless dick who just assumes things (CS whine)

"clueless dick"?

You're raged.

And to hell with anything or anyone related to CS.

I'm raged?:<

apparently, insulting someone means u r rgd.

i c

raged cunt.

pika

I had an argument with some guys in the UK, I thought it was so weird they called it mouse mat... but that's what they really call it here, and always have.

love my ice mat, a consistent surface. if anything happens to it I'm buying another immediately.

ive used everything and icemat + hyperglides = smoothest

if by smooth you mean fast, then put hyperglides on your mouse and go for func rough. If you're more into clothpads the fastest I've tried is the eyepad, highly recommended.

The allsop raindrop has a decent amount of friction yet also feels nice and slick. Plus you can pick up a standard size one for about £6 usually so it's not a huge gamble.

Smoothest is Icemat with mousefeet from hyperglide.

I just ordered an Icemat, it came as a new version called the SteelSeries I-2. The website says it is the same surface, only difference now is that it has a SteelSeries logo on it and not Icemat.

same company

yea, I know it's the same company. I guess I was just curious if the only difference between the SteelSeries I-2 and the original Icemat was the logo change? or if they made some modification to the surface of the mat?

if they made changes/revisions to the icemat, steel series would probably announce/market it so.

they should add a rubber base instead of those 6 stubs imo tothe icemat.

not a bad idea, ofc the cost would go up

Problem with rubber base is that the paint goes on the back of the glass plate. You can't attach a rubber base directly to it so they would need a small protective plate between the paint and the rubber base. Feet should just be lowered IMO.

Soft-Trading started Icemat first, then Steelpad. They merged the two companies into Steelseries.

Icemat is the smoothest glide you can find, but it requires precission from the user as it has very little resistance which most people use for safety margin. Small movements are really easy to make on Icemat, it's the larger ones where you often overshoot unless you are very precise. Some of the best aimers I know of uses Icemats though (I don't use one myself as I need a bit more friction and texture).

I use a razer mantis control and I've heard that the speed version actually gives more friction then the control. The control version I use has little to no friction for my mouse (IME 3.0).

i've had that for a year, and thought the same. then i switched to qck+, its like switching to silk after using sandpaper

I'm using the QCK+ too, and I'm very happy with it.

wrong

razer mantis speed is the better pad, its probably one of the best cloth pads

youre stupid. no one said anything about it being a better pad or not.

do you know how to read english?

its already proven that the mantis speed has more friction then the mantis control, and thats what i was saying about it. i dont give a shit which one is better.

any proof here? it seems odd to call the pad with less friction "control"

go to shop and buy table polish, like "mr sheen" in the UK... then put this on the bottom of your mouse, leave it 10 seconds, then use any pad you want... its nice... i use it when i play important games so i dont have to buy a new pad to replace my old worn one :D its like new xDDDDDD


i like qpad ct, its beteen cloth and plastic

Lowest friction is the icemat but unfortuneatly has one major problem - cause its quite cold being glass you very easily get a bit of hand sweat on it (anytime of the year) and it then messes with mouse tracking.

An alternative would be the steelseries sp - a low friction plastic pad - faster than func & steel s&s.

Lowest friction is not nec the best for gaming - should be a balance betwen speed and control. Steelseries s&s very close to good balance imo.

Cloth is the way to go. Good cloth mousepads are: fatpad, steelpad QcK, allsop, snowpad.

The steelpad and the snowpad have less friction than an allsop. The fatpad is a bit in between iirc.

Price/quality wise I might have to recommend an allsop. If money isn't an issue and you want to improve your hitscan, go for a Steelpad QcK Heavy (or +)

obviously you forgot about everglide titan and qpad ct which is prolly the best one :p

I haven't tried an everglide since their hard surface pads from 7 years ago :). Qpad seems to have a decent mousepad, but then I'm talking about the UC version (ct one is not my type).

I've tried UC as well but I got some problems with it. I mean I expected something like CT or even better, but lift-off distance is horrible, at least with my DeathAdder (much higher than on CT). It's one of the things I dislike the most in mice/pads. :p

steelpad qck+ but its only smooth for some months, then it gets abit crap:P

i heard the Xtac HYBRID was quite nice, doesnt work with lazer mouses tho

useful link http://users.kymp.net/feuer/mousepads/mousepads05.html

really? my qck+ also acts as a tablet for eating in front of my computer, handwashed it 4-5 times. as good as new!

i have mine for 8 months now and it is good to use but not as smooth as it was before and at the most used places about slow

ye that's the problem with qck. it's a great pad but it turns to slow crap after few months. you should try corepad eyepad. it's cloth, faster/smoother than qck and lasts forever.

i wanted to buy the CT from corepad but i couldnt buy it there so i just bought the steelpad qck ;(

Smooth? As in a pineapple cherry smoothie or as in the lowest coefficient of friction?

If its the latter, then it would probably be the icemats, because those are literally kin to an airhocky table. But if its the former, I think it's really up to personal preference. Some people prefer more friction than others. Friction can be a good thing, but it also should be consistent, aka the surface should not impede movement at any speed. Which enhances the other factor of precise control. I'd say lately that people are starting to lean towards the balancd level of friction offered in cloth pads.

That being said, I prefer cloth because it a) doesn't wear down, b) doesn't jitter around with rubberized bottoms and it conforms to the surface below it, c) theyre cheap and d) perform just as well as a hard mats with a quality mouse.

If you're looking for a nice cloth mat with a consistent surface, I'd look into a Razer Mantis or Goliathus. You could easily get away with a Supermat though and I won't think you'll notice a tremendous difference. I have yet to try a Steelseries cloth mat, but I'm sure they will get the job done as well. Whichever one of those you pick, the differences between them are probably arbitrary.

I think the steelseries SX is much better to control on high sensitivities than the icemat is. It's friction is just perfect ;)

Wana ask, mantis speed and qck, which has less friction?

steelseries pads are just supermats with a logo on them.

razer has actually phazed out the Mantis lined, they have been replaced by the Goliathus, which still comes in speed/control but now in 3 different sizes. I love my goliathus speed.

oh really? And where did you happen to pull this information out from? I still see it advertised on their site...

so its just the same as the mantis?
Btw the goliathus and qck which is slicker?

keep your eyes out for the new retardidus pad

get a supermat and stop being a bitch. no, a certain mousepad won't make you better at games. a big cloth pad is all you need and supermat is the cheapest. the end

i still have my old supermat, id use it but it got stains on it and i'd feel dirty killing people with it.

I do have a big cloth pad (everglide titan), but as I stated, it's deteriorated through wear n tear, spillages, etc. Rather than just get exactly the same thing again I wanted a rough survey of what's out there with the emphasis on low friction.
I've decided I don't like the idea of glass/steel mats though, because the sweat problem people have mentioned sounds pretty irritating. It's also nice having the forearm cushioning of a big mat over the edge of the table.
Increasing my sensitivity a few points has helped recently, I don't feel like I'm "fighting" my mousepad as much as I did a few weeks ago.

i have had this supermat for 2 years and it is in great condition. solution is to stop being so messy.

all i do is wash it out every few months. i have other mousepads i won in tourneys but i never used them because my supermat is doing fine

hand wash or?

i personally use some sort of detergent and wash it out inside of my sink and scrub it with whatever is handy to get the grime off. if you do it right it feels like new after drying

you can also throw it in the washing machine on delicate cycle and it will come out like new aswell. do this to my pad every month or so.

if you're scrubbing it, wouldn't that make the surface feel rougher or at least make it look fuzzy?

when i had my supermat, i usually just used a lint roller or tape to get dust off. occasionally i'd just rinse it with just water. just rinsing it would still show the sweat or whatever where i placed my wrist. wasn't a big deal. black supermat btw. with a grey one, probably couldn't see any dust or sweat stains.

no it doesn't make it fuzzy, and it feels just the same as it was.

no it doesn't make it fuzzy, and it feels just the same as it was.

Desktop ftw ;<

I shave my inner thy.

I broke my first icemat like 1 year ago and i bought immideatly new one... and if i break this one i would buy another one tommorow... CONCLUSION.. There is no better pad then icemat DOT

coming from first an icemat, then a metal pad, and now to cloth, i would have to prefer cloth over all
qck heavy is smooth enough to be fast, but could be faster with the aid of teflon feet
that being said, it has just enough friction for minute and precise movements required with making slim rail shots or hitting good lg/plasma
just my $0.02

the lowest friction is without doubt aluminium or plastic in combination with PTFE mousefeet (or even better, quality PTFE tape, for total flat surfaces) with silicon emulsion (preferably fUnc Liquid, cause it leaves no mess behind)

i think a smooth coated aluminium surface with PTFE-tape wins it on friction, but it also has the worst 'control', thats why I prefer a coarse plastic surface with PTFE-feet (and fUnc Liquid)

my sx is pretty smooth.

only problem i have with it occurs when u get even the smallest crumb or piece of ANYTHING on it. it gets extremely irritating when some dirt build-up on your mouse falls off onto the pad. you, pretty much, have to pause the duel and scrape it off.(well, i do anyway)