Everglide FuZe Mouse Pad

A mouse mat is a mouse mat end of story right? Your mouse sits on it and it just sits on your desk. How different to these things get?

If you are a home user that uses a computer once every year maybe a sheet of paper is a good enough 'mousemat'?
If you are a computer supplier you can get away with giving out $1 pieces of foam with your products and pass them off as 'mousemats'.
Maybe you run a school IT dept. so a $1 piece of foam with the school logo on is great, hey it looks ok and the kids won't steal them!
If you are a more regular computer user you will realise that the cheapo mousemat is totally useless, you move the mouse and the pad sticks to the mouse but not the desk. So you end up sliding the mousemat around the desk and the cursor on the screen isn't moving one inch.

To make this a little shorter I will explain, if you use a computer to play games on then you need a decent mousemat. It is a very simple concept.
What makes a mousemat 'decent', ok maybe I will go over this point.

Size - bigger the better, so you can move your arm about without fear of the mouse falling off.
Material - solid is better, will not crease or peel, leaving you with a flat even surface.
Texture - depends on the mouse you have, textured pads will grip the ball more, and a matt finish will not reflect well for optical mice.
Profile - a really deep pad will cause wrist ache, a thin pad will keep your wrist straighter.
Grip - must stick to desk.
Looks - there is a style aspect believe me ;)

Let's take a closer look at the FuZe pad from Everglide:



The FuZe pad is quite big, I have seen bigger pads but this is fine. It is certainly covers the area I can move the mouse side to side using my wrist. There is not a lot to say about its size really other than it is 'big enough'.

It is made from solid plastic and can bend slightly but is tough and you will not snap it. There is no chance of shattering so if you dropped it you will be totally safe. It appears to be hard wearing also so hours of gaming will have no effect. The surface is very flat and the mouse makes very good contact with the pad.

Textures are hard to describe, like explaining colour to a blind person. There is definitely a texture, I guess like really rough skin, you know what I mean. It grips the mouse ball well and has no slips, there doesn't seem to be a problem at all with the mouse movements, even very fast movements which all gamers do at some point. I also tested out an optical mouse, in fact I have just used this pad during a match and I have no complaints about it at all. There were no jitters or loss of accuracy at all during the games. I guess a match situation was a good test for the FuZe pad and it passed without problems. There is also low friction between mouse and pad and the mose glides over the surface easily.

The FuZe has a low profile at 3mm, this makes it comfortable to use. The edges of the pad are smooth and rounded for more comfort.

I have like most people, a desk which my computer sits on. It has a very smooth surface to test the grip of the Fuze to its limits. Stuck to the bottom of the pad is a rubber pad designed to keep the pad where it should be. The harder you push the pad, the more it seems to stick, it is very impressive. There is no way ever that that pad is going to move while you are playing games on your computer.

Finally there is the looks of the pad. It has the shape that a lot of pads have these days, check the picture and you have some idea of how it looks. It s rounded and smooth and has a notch cut out where your wrist goes. I wouldn't really say it is stunning to look at, it has no pattern and is just black (also available in 'charcoal') but it certainly isn't offensive to the eye.


Let's see what Everglide say about their product:

The fuZe is another example of our commitment to provide mouse surfaces to suit all styles of usage. This pad is similar in shape to the popular Giganta surface but is very thin at just 3mm deep and features a Non-Skid Rubber Backing guaranteed to stay put under any conditions. The surface is produced using the FineCell® texture:

Consistent across the pad.
Has a denser grain.
Has a lower coefficient of friction.
Has a flatter finish.
Is compatible with optical mice.

Dimensions:
24cm tall
29cm wide
3mm deep


Ok there is what the texture is - "FineCell® texture", that is the official word.

The pad retails at £19.99, which I think is quite a lot for a mousepad. It is the cheapest pad they make and this price is the only bad thing about it really. It certainly is better then most mousemats I've seen however.

This is a slight update to the review, and I will show you an example of general global computer hardware prices:

UK FuZe price: £19.99 GBP ~ $36.72 USD ~ €29.24 Euros ~ $48 AUD
US Fuze price: $14.95 USD ~ £8.13 GBP ~ €11.90 Euros ~ $19.62 AUD
EU FuZe price: €19.95 Euros ~ £13.63 GBP ~ $25.02 USD ~ $32.78 AUD

So basically if you live in the US then this product is a much better buy, in fact if you live in the UK it would be worth ordering from the US and shipping it over!
Bearing in mind you would need to add VAT and shipping (and a long wait). So it is really best to buy from your specific country :)
Check the FuZe pad out here.