Intro:
What is this? Another cloth mouse pad? Technically, yes, sort
of. The MicroTracker mouse pad sports what feels more like velour, or felt, than
the old el cheapo mouse pads you can buy for 2 bucks at your local discount
store. Does it stand up to the test? This pad you can wipe off with a damp
cloth, or rinse off, hehe. I feel a real test for this pad is needed... See how
the washing machine and dryer handles it! Read on,
or click the link to the review, whichever is applicable...
About Central Trading Agency: (Taken from
the Central Trading Agency Website)
Central Trading Agency, Inc. was formed by a group of
friends who had a common goal. Our strength lies in our ability to work
together. Individually we each have our own areas of expertise. Using those
skills as a group creates a powerful team. The most wonderful thing we have
found is that as the company grows and expands, so do the very people who
created it. Learning to operate together as a cohesive group has become as
important to us as the success of Central Trading Agency. This learning
resonates from within the center of the company itself: from our products, our
services, our way of doing business in general.
In the process of trading numerous products, we are also constantly in the
search for new and unique products to market. We began importing the
revolutionary microfiber cleaning cloth in 1996. The Microfiber Mouse Pad,
introduced in the fall of 2001, is an offshoot of our activities with microfiber
cleaning cloths. Watch our web site for a continued stream of innovative
products.
The Hype:
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Ultra Precision Tracking Gives You Total Control
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Keeps Dirt Away From Mouseball
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Keeps Dust and Scratches Off Optical Mice
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Easier on the Hands and Wrist
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Use Microfiber Surface to Clean Your Computer Screen
The package:
All that was need was a simple envelope, which contained the
retail package that you would see in pictures 2 and 3. The retail package has a
window cut out of it so you can feel the mouse pad in its box, which
incidentally, has to get plenty of fingers on it at CompUSA.
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| (1) The Envelope |
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| (2) Front of package |
(3) Back of package |
The pad:
Measuring in at around 9" x 8" x 1/16", you can see below at how it
looks compared to the larger X-Trac Pro HS, in pictures 4 and 5. Mine is the red
one, but also green, gray, and brown exist if those colors turn you on more. I'd have to
describe the size of it as, well, just about a normal mouse pad size.
Since the mouse pad is very flexible, no further packing was needed. This also
means that you could easily fold or roll up the pad for taking to a LAN, or for
use with a laptop. Now I can't really recommend this for LAN or gaming use, we'll get to
that in a bit, but for not really being portrayed as a "portable mouse pad,"
it does fit that bill nicely. CTA even recommends you can wash it under running
water. Yeah, we'll do that. :)
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| (4) Top of pad |
(5) Bottom of pad |
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| (6) Close up scan of the
mouse pad on my scanner |
The bottom of the pad as you can see in picture 5, is made of
some rubbery material. Ok, it is rubber, but one thing I've found in my
particular situation, even without having a mouse on it, if you put barely any
pressure on the pad, and try to move it, it slides along my desk. If I put a
little pressure on the pad, it won't move. There have been times that the pad
has moved on me when I didn't want it to, but it could be just my particular
desk which is veneered... Although it can easily be fixed with almost any pad.
Just go get some two-sided tape and plop in on your pad or your desk. I'm not
saying you have to do that to use the MicroTracker to your advantage, but keep
that little pointer in mind if you ever have a flat mouse pad that moves on you.
=D
Use:
Honestly, moving optical or ball mice across the surface of
the MicroTracker is more effort than probably everybody will be used to no
matter what mousing surface they have used before. The only acronym I could come
up with, while not exactly accurate, maybe, "it's like moving your mouse through
mud." The micro fibers on the pad
grip not only your mouse ball, but your mouse feet too. It does take a bit more
effort. However, that little bit of extra effort will reward you with accurate
mouse tracking. There may be a slight learning curve for some, and perhaps some
might get some strain from having to use the extra effort to move your mouse
along. Although I am not saying that will happen in your particular
circumstance, but it might be some worry to those that are prone to carpal
tunnel, or have wrist injury already from typing and using a mouse.
The real test:
Washable huh? Well, you can rinse it off... My initial
observance was that you had to scrub the pad in places to get the water to soak
the micro fiber, which would work fine in any case. But, hehe, let's take it to
the extreme... See below what's going on...
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| (7) Rinsed off under tap water |
(8) Go washing machine! |
I added some liquid Tide to the water. After the 15 minutes
of washing, the pad held up just fine. (Not pictured) No fraying, or separating
of the fiber from the rubber base was seen. Well, off to 15 minutes of the dryer
too then. :)
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| (9) Washer/Dryer, and ready to go! |
Summary:
Ok, while I'll admit I have never put a mouse pad through the
wash before, the MicroTracker surviving with no ill effects tells me this thing
is tough. I really like the accuracy that the mouse pad has with ball mice, but
the fact of the added drag that associated with the micro fibers may not appeal
to some. But objective opinions are what drives reviews huh? I still like the pad, even
though I am more of a smooth hard mouse pad person.
Pros:
As you can see, a tough as nails pad
Can clean off your monitor or scanner, as long as you have nothing abrasive on
the pad at the time
Color choices
Inexpensive
Good accuracy
Cons:
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| "A different kind of mouse pad that
should appeal." |
Closing:
I'd like to thank the
Central Trading Agency for sponsoring a
pad for review. Due to some circumstances, this review was started a long time
ago. Ok, ok, I actually misplaced the pad during the review progress. It was on my
scanner all the while. I meant to scan the pad in, but apparently those late
nights got to me, and I just plain forgot. Since I don't use my scanner very
much, well, it sat there, hidden away until just a few days ago. My apologies,
and regardless, I hope you readers enjoyed the review. Until next time...
