2155 Last June I reviewed here the Danish steelpad 4S mouse pad. The 4S actually wasn't steel -- it was made from 3.5 mm aluminum plate with a proprietary hardened surface coating engineered to optimize both performance and traction., and while it provided a nice, roomy mousing surface, I found the sound of the mouse traveling across the coated metal surface off-putting. Another characteristic of metal surfaces is that they tend to feel cold under normal circumstances, although I also found that the black SteelPad would get very hot when exposed to direct sunlight.

The steelpad folks have now addressed these issues by releasing a similarly large (11" x 10" or 290 x 267 mm) mouse pad styled identically to the for 4S model, but this time made from plastic -- the steelpad 4D. (The 4S continues to be available for those who prefer the rigid metal mousing surface).

Aside from the new (and quieter) material, the steelpad 4D is also double-sided, with one mousing surface smooth and the other rough-textured, which may work better with in certain mice.

The steelpad 4D also comes with a more heavily-textured soft underpad made out of a "stickier" plastic material that cushions the mousing surface and provides traction to keep the steelpad from skating around on the desk or table surface.

The original steelpad 4S that I reviewed last spring had problems with some optical mice, notably certain Logitech models, but I found that my Quill optical mouse tracked erratically on the metal surface too. The manufacturer says that the plastic steelpad 4D is compatible with all mice, and indeed I found that it worked fine with the several I tried -- both conventional ball and optical units, including the Quill.

The steelpad mousing surface is very slick and fast, offering minimal resistance to tracking motion, especially if you employ the included "padsurfer" teflon mouse foot appliqu� material on your mouse.

"padsurfer" is made of solid teflon tape and is developed especially for the SteelPad. A strip of the PadSurfer material comes with the SteelPad, so the first order of business was to apply it to a mouse. This turned out to be a moderately tedious job. You have to measure the mouse feet and then cut the Teflon film to match their shape as closely as possible (a bit of overlap is recommended). It took me nearly an hour to do two mice (7 "feet" in total). Someone with nimbler fingers might be able to do it quicker.

Tools I used included a ruler, an X-Acto knife, and a pair of scissors. Aside from getting the shape of the cut out material accurately matched, the trickiest part of the job was separating the sticky Teflon film from its backing and then transferring it to the mouse feet without it sticking to itself or my fingers. Also, don't forget to wash any dirt or oily residue from the mouse feet before applying the Teflon film.

The manufacturer recommends that when applying the Teflon tape you make the pieces bigger than the feet, and make sure that the tape is glued all over the feet - right down to the mouse bottom surface, to ensure that no edges can pick up dirt. Seal the edges with your fingernail.

However, once you succeed in getting it applied there is a nice payoff. The padsurfer teflon really minimizes friction, and your mouse will scoot effortlessly across the steelpad surface. The tape seems durable. The padsurfer appliqu� I applied for the steelpad 4S review back in June is standing up well more than five months later.

The extra-generous steelpad mousing surface was especially appreciated with my Quill mouse, which is one of the physically largest mice -- perhaps the largest -- available for the Mac platform. The Quill is great --very comfortable for those of us who struggle with mousing pain, but it does tend to be a bit cramped for space on a standard mouse pad.

Incidentally, steelpad mouse pads were developed in consultation with the Schroet Kommando Gaming clan http://www.Schroet.com, and are touted as being especially well suited to gaming applications.

I was obliged to say that I while was not blown away by the metal SteelPad 4S as a mousing platform, happily I can now report that I really like the plastic steelpad 4D, which has eliminated the complaints I had about the 4S while essentially retaining its virtues, as well as costing roughly half as much.

Steelpad 4D sells for:19.95 Euro, 19.95 USD, 149,- DKR + shipping

Steel PadSurfer: 2 stripes of each 100 mm Price: DKK 30,00 (EUR 4,04 / USD 4.75 ) + shipping

It is now possible to choose an Express delivery service when ordering a Steelpad. They use DHL when shipping Express. This worldwide Express delivery includes a Track and Trace service.

For more information, visit:
http://www.steelpad.com/
or
http://www.steelpad.com/products.asp

C/O Soft Trading
Ryesgade 19C
DK-2200 Copenhagen
Denmark

Phone: +45 7025 0075
Fax: +45 7025 0076

Tags: Reviews ï Hardware Reviews ï MooresViews ï

Login † or † Register † †