Product:  Zowie Gear P-RF (13.4 by 11.4 inches)
MSRP: $24.99
Author: Bill Hicks
Date: May 2, 2009

I’m a fan of cloth mousepads. They’ve always held up for years, worked best with mechanical mice, and have never let me down. I have one mousepad signed by Leo Laporte and Patrick Norton (Honk if you remember TechTV) that I regularly use, and has not faded. I’ve since stopped using a mousepad with my ownership of optical and laser-based mice, but I still miss the ever-present rubber-backed cloth on my desk. The Zowie Gear Mousepad presents itself as a cloth mousepad that has caught up with the times. It’s waterproof, durable, large in size, and will present the hardwearing feel of cloth once more.

Product

The pad comes wrapped as a tight cylinder inside a cardboard box. Once again I’m seeing a reduction in packaging, and I welcome this. I had the mousepad out and on my desk in thirty seconds, and did not have to resort to a razor blade to do so. The mousepad was wrapped so tightly, however, that it kept its curled shape after I slapped it down on my desk. This worried me, but disappeared after a minute of lying flat as I photographed it.

The material is decidedly cloth-like, but not quite what I remember from yesteryear. Times have changed, and Zowie used interesting new materials in its product. The surface is a best described as a woven nylon, but I’ve been assured its not nylon. It’s quite large, and sits on an eighth-inch bed of foam. This is not a mousepad that will lay flush with your desk, which reminded me of traditional cloth mousepads. The underside is a matte grey rubber, textured with the Zowie logo. I found it to grip desks exceptionally well, and will not move once placed.

It’s a larger mousepad at 13.4 inches by 11.4 inches, but by no means the largest available from competitors. The P-RF is the largest Zowie offers, while the other models are 9.8 by 8.5 inches. I felt it provided ample room for everyday computing, but different sizes are available to suit personal usage patterns.

Testing

I tested the product for two weeks of general computing, casual gaming, and a few torture-tests. I used a Microsoft Sidewinder X8, a Logitech MX1000, and a Razor Copperhead, none of which experienced any tracking problems. Out of curiosity I tested a mechanical mouse (an original Microsoft IntelliMouse) and found it worked wonderfully on the surface.

The surface is not a particularly “fast” one, but this could be expected from a cloth-like material. I rather enjoy a more precise experience, especially when editing photos or performing other precision tasks. Given the right combination of resolution settings and mouse gliders, it can be sufficiently fast for gaming. If you are looking for an ice-rink, however, this is not a viable solution.

The pad is touted as being almost indestructible, being able to withstand waterlogging, being twisted and retaining its shape, and being able to resist sweat. Apparently this latter point is a problem for some users whose wrists sweat and soil their mousepad’s appearance. While I cannot comment on this particular issue, I tested the mousepad by spilling water on it, and it refused to absorb a drop. The surface is so tightly woven that I could leave water droplets on the pad for 5-10 minutes before noticing any absorption (or at that point, evaporation). I twisted the mousepad into a figure-eight and tied it in place overnight, only to have it spring back the next morning. I would expect this from a molded-plastic material, but this was incredible to see from a cloth-like surface.

Conclusions

I enjoyed using this product immensely, and will continue to use it at my desk. I was thoroughly impressed with the durability of the material, and am glad to have some cloth under my wrist again.

Pros

+ Cloth!
+ Durability
+ Tracking
+ Non-slip base
+ Simple style / appearance
+ Variety of sizes available

Cons

I couldn’t specify any “cons” for the product, but I will say that you need only purchase it if you know you’d like a slower cloth pad. If you know you won’t like a cloth-like pad that sits up an eighth-inch from the desk and feels a little rough (or “slow”), this will not be a comfortable fit.

Tags: Gaming, mouse, P-RF, pad, ZowieGear