What does one indubitably say about a mouse pad? After all it’s just a flat surface that your mouse rolls over right? Well, yes and then again, no. The mouse pads surface or surface skin makes a big difference in how well your mouse responds and how accurately. Back when the mouse was first introduced a little ball was used to determine where the mouse’s pointer was directed at and it was very inaccurate in it’s over all efficiency. The thing was is that just about any surface could be used as a place to use your mouse as the low-tech design of the wheel was functional, even though not all that accurate. It did however work in more places than not.

As the technology of the mouse has gone through a few metamorphoses in its design we see the need for a surface that is not only dense enough in its ability to have the mouse’s DPI reported accurately, but smooth and responsive as well. With the advent of first optical and now laser driven mice the design of the mouse pad has changed a bit from its first emergence to working with a little ball to having to have a surface that can translate the optical or laser beam back to the mouse. If you have had much experience using these new-tech mice you may have noticed how picky the mice are about what surface they can read on. Many companies have jumped on the bandwagon of making mouse-pads geared entirely to the market of optical or laser driven mice. From slabs of slick feeling plastic to neoprene rubber the race is on to see which company makes the most responsive and ergonomic mouse pad.

Black seems to be the color of surface that the new generation high DPI mice seem to find the best compatibility with. I say this as all the latest pads that are gamer oriented are black. This has something to do with the way the optical/laser mouse laser reads a surface, as white mouse pads do not work well at all, regardless of the surface composition and I have yet to see one made. SteelSeries is a rather new company and seems to be focused on the gamer or media user. They make an assortment of products from headphones to keyboards to mouse pads as well as a few others, and seem to be gaining a little steam here in the states as their products get recognized. Today we take a look at one of their signature series products, the QcK heavy steel Professional Gaming Mouse Pad. I know there is not a whole lot to get into when it comes to a mouse pad, but I think this is one product gamers should really check out.