cool

How's the glide/feel in comparison to the HIEN HARD? Now there are 4 different Shiden mousepads. Hard to figure out which might be the best choice after the Hard (haha twice hard get it?!?!)

:P

I've got the mid and the glide is excellent. Much lighter/smoother. Its like my wmo is glued to the surface. There is still enough friction to have control.

Sounds good.

I'd love to know how it compares to the Zowie G-TF.

Also would want to know about it's durability.

Can't they take some high quality photographs, and maybe do a youtube vid. I mean I don't know, _something_?

I tried making pictures with my phone camera..but you need a good camera to show the details, because its all about the details.

I love these Japanese sites:

"My Gaming mouse pad

The kind of rubber used for the table tennis racket has 100 or more.
The table-tennis player chooses rubber that is appropriate for own skill and play style. And, the racket is made by using chosen rubber.
PC gamer must choose the gaming mouse pad that suits oneself. It is your best gaming mouse pad."

I got a shiden KAI XSOFT on the way, btw mcfly don't get G-TF, i've wore out both of mine already, they're not even water resistant anymore, too bad ,i really liked their feel when they were "fresh". Not to mention that their shitty rubber base does NOT want to lay flat on my desk :S :S

Artisan hien g3 v2 blu L hard is very good btw, it's supposed to be very durable, humidity proof and the glide is pretty close to that of a func F30R / steelseries SP, in other words, it feels fast rough and accurate since you get quite a bit of feedback when you move the mouse, it's also a bit more comfortable than a plastic pad. very good quality imo.

Oh, sad to hear your G-TF has worn out already. :(

Please give us a review on your Artisan pad when it has arrived.

I was particularly interested in how it compares to the G-TF because I have one myself (which hasn't worn out yet).

I'm always interested in finding something with better glide. This Artisan 'glass' pad(s) sounds promising.

fyi, my hien feels like a brand new g-tf, minimal drag and lots of feedback, G-TF loses that roughness in just a few days, so you lose feedback and fast glide, it becames more comfortable to the touch this way but it's still a dissapointment.

Maybe it was partly my own fault because i used a IE 3.0 with 0.8mm teflon feet on it for quite some time, it is well known that this combo can produce scrapping against the mousepad, but i remember that the glide instantly improved when i put 4 0.5mm SS glides on top of the zowie 0.8mm feet, eventually after a few days it felt shitty and slow again tho.

So as bullveyr said in another post (or was it vib ? :p ) , hien hard is pretty much as fast as a fresh g-tf but much more consistent, due to higher build quality i presume.

I'm really curious about the shiden kai, that's why i payed for EMS shipping this time :D

Sounds good @ Hien.

I'm wondering if these pads are/will be available to order from Europe.

Ordering something that costs $40 from Japan will end up costing me nearly $80 when it arrives at my door here. :/

More expensive than a new mouse.

80??? I bought my Hien for 15 dollars, shipment included. The SHIDEN was more expensive. About 32 euro's with shipment. Took almost 2 weeks to get here because I choose SAL-mail :) But the HIEN hard is really good. Ive had it for like 3/4 months and its still like new.

Ive ditched my abyssus because it doesnt work well on most pads, even on artisan pads it doesnt feel 100% like the wmo.

=)

The large pad costs $40 as far as I can see on their website?

Then factor in shipping costs, then the customs taxes I have to pay here, then the VAT and custom taxes on the product. And then once more VAT on shipping costs. And on top of that, the postal 'services' have a flat rate fee they charge to handle anything shipped in from outside the EU. This figure is 160kr. [about $32]. This has to be paid sometimes - sometimes not...

All in all, it usually amounts to about double the price of the product I purchase outside of the EU. In this case, it could very well turn out to be even more.

Don't forget, I'm living in the highest taxed country on the planet.
We get fucked over left and right.

O the bright side, the EU are opening their free trade market to include South Korea in July.
This should mean that EU citizens can purchase goods directly from Korea, without having to worry about taxes, customs etc.

I guess that will be interesting for a few people here on ESreality. I've come across people buying mice and computer parts from Korea.

No idea what prices in Korea in general are. But if they are low enough, we could all be getting our mice from Korea soon. :)

You've only forgotten that you also live in one of the richest countries in the EU : ) It's not like you don't have the necessary money to pay the taxes. I guess it's kind of: the more I have the less I want to give out.

This is a bit off-top, but I noticed that people that are really poor and have next to nothing to give out are simultaneously mostly those that care about people even poorer than them.

rich country != everyone's rich. i thought that was a given?

Yeah, quite obvious, although I didn't take that into account :P but I guess he wouldn't be sitting here and thinking about buying expensive gamer products if he'd be that poor, would he?

depends on your definition of poor :) if you just have enough money every month to get by, buying gamer hardware for 40 instead of 15-20€ (even worse with some mice) gets pretty unreasonable.

True, we do have very high wages, comparably.

But I, personally, am not one of those people with high wages. Very far from it. lol. :<

For Danish standards, I'm poor. (everything costs so much).
And you're right, I don't give to the poor. :x

poor you : (

Poland sucks either way :P

You dont want to live in a rich country. Jean jacques rousseau warned us about about 'progression', 'science' and all the bullshit we got from the enlightment. We are diggin our own graves. Only way we can satisfied our needs(=basics of capitalism) is by destroying the earth! ;)And we are quite good at it!

You need to follow up your comment a bit more.

How could scientific progress be a bullshit? Or you would rather like humans to live in stone ages forever with zero technology? It just go against the human nature! Humans want to think and understand things.


I'm not mad, just discussing as I drink my tea after waking up :)

What has sciences done for us?

For instance: We killed our immune system with science. It made us weaker. And now we can't live without medicins or a hospital. One trip to the forrest and we are dead!

I am talking about physical stuff now. Its much worse what it has done to our moral etc..

Aha. Science made us weaker. I guess that is why the average life expectancy has sky rocketed during the last 100 years.

Yeah, that must be it.

Eh? So what? What does that say of the quality of life? How many of those even know they are alive? Yeah thank god for those medicins! :>

How many people/kids in America have obesity? Sitting 24/7 behind a tv/pc eating chemical food is a great progression. And don't worry. Germany, and the rest of EU, are not much better.

The progress of knowledge makes the government powerful but not individual liberty,

Jean-Jacques Rousseau

Specifically and particularly in the microelectric field, I would say that its development has definetly molded the way we live and communicate today. The very same tool could be used for bad or for good, depending on one's intentions. Would you say that internet is bad for humanity? That mobile phones are bad? That TV is bad? I mean, we can always see the dark side of things. Because people makes poor choices and bad uses even with bad intentions sometimes of a technology it doesn't mean that the technology itselft is not good. If I kill a person with a pencil should we blame the pencil for bringing violence to the world? If I make a piece of art with it should we solely give credit to the pencil for bringing culture to the human kind?

The ideas from Rousseau are not critics to science, but to the government system that rips the benefits of it and only share them with the regular citizen in an injust basis.

Take for example food production, we produce far more food than the world population is able to use but still there are many millions that starve.

The average growth rate till the middle age was about 0.04 percent annually, since the industrial revolution that world average gdp has busted to about 3 percent. Do you think that the benefits of it have been distributed in an apropiate way? Even if we take as a must that some should benefit more than others because they take more risks or have more skills the capitalist system is based (in theory) in values that do not exist in reality, like equality of oportunities. The system is flawded at its core.

Science is the only good thing humans have created, its the most powerful tool and those that seek a world without science, that is, without knowledge, are the perfect example that people should be scared of getting what they want. Maybe you would prefer living in a world were life expectancy is less than 30 years and the opportunities to learn and share and communicate are almost 0 and your believes and ideas are almost certain to be just the result of have been born in an specific culture, taking from you most of your individuality without noticing, but as an economist I can tell you that the economy of subsistence sucks big time. You should blame the politicians, the bildenberg club, the banks, the lawyers even, but to blame science deserve an adjective that would make you feel ofended sir.

Just take a look at your examples, chemical food is not the result of science, in fact its the result of ignoring it in favor of an economic profit. Obesity (if not produced by some illnes) is not the result of science, in fact its the result of ignoring it. A tv or a pc are tools and as such they can be used for the good or for the bad, dont confuse your disgust for the use that we do of them or the problems of our society with science! The truth is science has given us almost everything, and if you dont like it you can always go to a desert island and have a taste of ancient times, or maybe go to one of those mormon communities. My advice would be to not forget a satellite phone... you know, just in case.

Science help us control our environment, more science only means more power to control it, if we chose to use that power to destroy nature waste its resources make poisons and wars and all kind of horrors thats not science, thats just us behaving in the oposite way a scientific would do. The highest goal a person could seek is the seek for knowledge to share with all humanity, the lowest one the seek for personal power. You blame the first kind of persons for the wrongs of the second ones.

Your kiddin rite? The hien g3 has the highest friction of all the pads i've used, the texture is rough yes but it doesn't glide as well as the f30 or sp, not even the tf. Not saying its bad, in fact its a damn good pad, but it isn't close to being low friction at all!

You should compare razer goliathus speed vs. control edition. Last has also rough texture but most ppl say its still faster than speed (which has smooth texture like most cloth mouspads). It seems that that the definition regarding mouspad friction differs...

Ofc i know that rough textured ones are quicker, im not confused by that, just saying that the hien is by no means a quick pad compared to plastic pads(especially the sp) or the tf. Shiden i think so, but i dont have one with me so i cant tell. Then again yes i merely saying he might be confused by the same texture which is rough(similar between sp and hien or tf) with friction/glide/light whatever is about easier mouse movement or less resistance on the surface. But my hien isn't a hard one but mid, so i guess i shouldn't comment.

Artisan, hands down best mouse pads ive used. Bigup the Japs! \m/

got mine (shiden mid) as soon as it was released, definitely the best mousepad all categories. very smooth glide, reminds a bit of a brand new goliathus speed but even smoother and WAY better precision, bit faster glide.. but similar I guess.
softness is just perfect, not mean on my wrist like the zowie pad was.

really don't know what to say more, just can't praise it enough. I thought I would never find a clothpad I'd like this much!
the white color looks great with my all black gear too :P

no change in precision etc after the period I've used it. I'm guessing the durability is great, since my G-TF and goliathus both were noticably degraded in just weeks ... :(

owned the Kai.G3 HIEN just before, and it's a nice mousepad too but with a lot of friction. very good precision though.

sorry for posting anonymously but I don't really have an account here I think

Thats what i've been saying i have a hien mid too alot of friction when most rough pads have less, still waiting for the shiden kai thou, wanted too see how slick can a hybrid cloth pad be, good to hear its consistent and not wear out fast like a qpad or other platic pads, thanks for the heads up!

How long have you had it? (I don't know when it was released)

Thanks.

around the beginning of march was release date

Anyone know what the difference is between "light" and "fast" glide, according to their website?


http://www.gup.co.jp/artisan/cloth_ov.html

In terms of friction little heavy> light > fast
So, "fast glide" is the quickest pads they had to offer, personally still waiting for the shiden kai.

Alright, thanks.

Saddens me that a company that makes such good pad dont have publicity compared to other B$ businesses.

Yeh. For once, these mousepads are worth the premium price versus other brands. I'd be interested if they moved into producing their own line of mice though, as their facebook page seems to discuss the redundancy of the MS ie 3.0 shape.

Talked to Mr.Kobayashi the other day, if he sold enough pads this year he might have the finances to do so.

They really could do a much better website though.

Will tell him that. Don't think he can communicate very well in english thou.

how these compered to the G3 hard?

You cannot compare the g3 hard with the shiden mid. Totally different. Shiden has much more glide. Its like a white sheet of paper!

Glide:
Imagine a worn down QcK+ then half it, That's quiet close maybe even smooth.

Feel:
It's slightly firmer then a QcK+ Heavy

Anyone know how well the deathadder or its sister sensor avago 3090 track on the shiden?

My abyssus without jittery did ok. Nothing special to be honest. High LOD. I didn't tape the sensor though, so dont know how good it would be with a taped sensor.

So zowie g-tf wears fast and glide around on the desk, puretrak talent doesnt glide as well and absorb sweat


but what about artisan hien vs the artisan shiden? Which is best and provide the fastests gldie? Which provide the best tracking?

Tracking wise hien and tf will be better, shiden has the fastest glide among them, especially the kai version, never heard about the tf wearing out the fast before, you should maybe try out the new speed version.

Has the speed version been released?

I read a review where the guy reviewing wasn't that fond of the speed version because It didn't track if you put the dpi up a little.

http://xsreviews.co.uk/2011/06/zowie-g-tf-speed/

So I have my concerns, even I mostly play at 800dpi. But after all the reviewer is just a journalist and not a gamer... so can't be so sure about his claims

Dont know about eu, but its available around asia already, will post a review once i get mine.

shiden is smooth and has a better glide/less friction. Kien hard is rougher and has more friction. Ive been using the shiden now for almost a month. It took me a while to get used to this new material. I had to adjust my playstyle abit. But i wouldn't go back to a different pad now! :D Just love it, constant smooth glide with my intelli =]

getting the shien kai then ;) thanks alot

i blame most of the wear done to my g-tf to the lack of proper mouse feet, I used both of m y g-tf mostly with explorer 3.0 and zowie 1.1, both had zowie 0.8mm feet installed while it's advised to use 1mm feet or thicker, I presume that the the texture lost its roughness in about 2-3 months of usage due to constant scraping.

I would get the speed edition anyway, rubber base is so shitty in the regular one.

I thought prozac was sponsored by them? Why does he not help them to make a proper web-page :P Every mousepad with a review on youtube would be the bomb :x

I got the moue pad this morning and I have to say it's amazing,
Truly the best mouse pad I have used by far.

I will answer any questions about the pad.

Does it really feel like glass, yet is soft at the same time?

You wouldn't know their was a glass coating if Artisan diddnt tell you.
It's built like a QcK+ were it's a rubber base with a thin plastic cover stuck on top.

How long did it take for yours to arrive from Japan?

I ordered my pad like 3 weeks ago. Still nothing. :(

I'm standing by with the Geiger counter and the biohazard suit. :x

Well it says on the receipt it was shipped on the 27th June.
So 6 days whats quite impressive considering it's coming half way across the world.

6 days wtf.

Where in the world are you?

UK

Now I'm worried...

Did you choose some express delivery etc?

I can't recall what I chose. Probably the cheapest option.

I can't remebr which one I picked I just ordered it.

Well maybe he choosed ems while you choosed normal airmail? I got mine after 2weeks with normal airmail

Yeah, I guess I went for the normal airmail.

If it isn't here by Friday, I'm contacting them.

4 weeks mine :P

I got my artisan pad in 1 day (24hours or less).

Ordered with the more expensive mail though, because I don't like to wait weeks for something I've bought.

You mean answer... ;)

:D

What's the difference between the Shiden Kai Mid and the Shiden Kai XSOFT?

I imagine that the Xsoft version is more squishy than the Mid version.

I have the Mid version and in terms of firmness it's slightly firmer than my QcK+ heavy, around 30-40% firmer.

I did a review on the shiden kai here if anyone is interested

http://www.overclock.net/mice/1055784-artisan...awn-p.html

Mine's been in the mail for a month now.

I emailed Artisan a few days ago, asking what's going on.
No reply...

I think I might have been ripped off.

Try posting on their facebook. It's updated pretty regularly so you'll most likely get a faster response there.

Thanks for the tip. But I don't have a FB account, and I cba creating one just to spam Artisan.

They should have the decency to reply to my email inquiry - and not just ignore me.

i had to wait 5 weeks :P

Where are you? Europe?

Netherlands. My first order, Artisan Kien Red, was received within a week. The Shiden took almost 5 weeks. Mainly due problems in Japan (tsunami, earth quake etc).

The tsunami was a valid reason for a 5 week shipping duration, obviously.

But I haven't hear of any tsunamis lately that could've delayed my order. :/

btw, they dont rip off man. Ordered few times already. Depends what sending methode u used :)

Yeah well, its been nearly a month.
And another Dane, who chose the same shipping method as me, got his in 2 weeks.

And on top of that, they have not replied to my email that I sent 5 days ago.
That's just not good business etiquette.

If you want, pass me your order number and I can post on their wall asking for status of your order.

I finally got a reply from Artisan (after spamming their email incessantly).

Turns out they never sent the pad. They ran out of pads some time ago, and are waiting for new pads to arrive from the factory.
New pads should arrive some time in August.

That did not stop Artisan from charging me for the pad and for the shipping a month ago, though!

lol sounds like my current situation with Puretrak.

Which mousepad did you order?

Shiden-Kai

When did you order it? I ordered mine June 13th and got it after 2 weeks with SAL airmail

Ordered June 14th.

Guess they ran out of shiden kai pads 1day later then :D and we are ffrom the same country too

Compatriot has grabbed the last one. Poor McFly :(

That they have the gall to charge me for the pad - and never inform me that they ran out, has me fuming.

They have not even offered to refund me the money.
They basically stole my $54.

I doubt I will ever see a mouse pad from them - at any point in the future.

Absolutely horrendous business etiquette.

I expected more from a Japanese company.

I could see this sort of BS coming from a Nigerian company - but not a Japanese one.

lol? Chill out man...You will get your pad. Their English is really bad.

Chill out?
I guess you didn't read what I wrote...

And what has bad English got to do with charging you money and never sending you the goods in the first place?

If Artisan ever get around to sending me a pad, remember, they said they are to receive new pads from the factory at some time in August. That means, in theory, the pad could arrive as 'early' as September (shipping takes some weeks, too).

So we're talking almost three months from the date I ordered the thing. (even though I doubt it will ever arrive).

But they charged me for the pad + shipping already on June 15th!

In my country, this is illegal.
A company may not charge your creditcard until the parcel has been shipped. Anything earlier than that is illegal.

Obviously, I do not know the Japanese laws. Whether it is legal or not, I can't say. But what I can say is that this is extremely poor business etiquette. Absolutely shameful.

And PS: they never intended to inform me of anything. I had to send them around 35 emails before they finally got around to respond. And 'respond' is an exaggeration.
They never gave me anything specific on how they were solving the problem with my order.
They just said "ah yeah, sorry, we're waiting for new pads from the factory. We hope they get here some time in August. Bye."


Yeah, thanks a lot, Artisan...

I guess the Japanese figured that, if Puretrak can fool around with their customers...so can we.

:D

Too tired to make a long post! :D

I meant their English is bad thats why their support is so bad. Ive had contact with their support team and those mails were unreadable. Did u pay with paypal or creditcard? You can get your money back by calling PP or your CC company.

I paid with PayPal.

I guess I'll have to create a conflict or whatever GayPal calls it.
But I'll wait until mid-August, I think.

I really do want that pad.

You won't regret it. Trust me. I got mine since may and it has not worn at all. And the glide is so consistent it makes cum everytime i sweep my mouse around the pad x]

Haha, cool. :)

You got the Shiden-Kai as well, or another one?

Did you get your pad McFly?

No, I never received my pad from them. [gg, late reply]

for those wanting to buy an artisan mousepad i'd suggest seeing if anyone has them available on amazon, i bought mine new for about $11 cheaper + shipping.