Turns out your mousemat can make a difference…
We’ve not gone mad, we really are reviewing a mousemat. Or rather, a lineup of mousemats from favoured accessory maker Roccat.
Now, we like these guys, we’ve played with their mice, keyboards and headsets, but we were a bit surprised when we got a press release from them about their lineup of mousemats.
I mean, it’s a pretty minor purchase, surely? I personally can’t remember putting much thought into my mouse mat purchases in, well, ever! We all own mouse mats, but that’s just the point; we don’t tend to think about them as an important choice, they’re just something we use.
But, after having a play around with some of the samples Roccat sent, we’ve changed our minds. Ladies and gentleman, the Roccat Taito….
OK, so they’re still just mouse mats. But, they’re probably the most comfortable mouse mats that any of us have used… ever. We’re not just making this up, they really are that comfortable.
The surface of the Taito has been specially designed to minimise drag from your mouse, as well as ensuring that optical tracking operates efficiently. Roccat are calling it a “Heat-Blasted Nano Matrix”, we just think it feels really cool.
What it means is that when you want your curser to go somewhere, it goes there. Not nearly there, not just to the side of there, but there, and there quickly.
We were honestly surprised. The surface is smooth and even, except for the Roccat logo, and the material seemed to stick to desks in the TME office like glue. There was no shifting these things around accidentally.
The Taito range comes in three different sizes, and two thicknesses, giving us six models in total:
– Mini Size – 265 x 210mm
– Mid Size – 400 x 320 mm
– King Size – 455 x 370mm
All three are available in either 3mm or 5mm thicknesses.
Now, the Mini is probably about the size of your normal, run of the mill mouse mat. And it’s great; it works, it doesn’t slide around the desk, you’re mouse glides over it. But it’s probably no good for gaming.
We’ve never thought about it, but how often do you find yourself losing a frag in your favourite FPS game because you reached the edge of your mouse mat? Gamers take heed; the Mid or King size mouse mats were made for you.
Granted, the King size one does take over your desk a bit, check it out below, but you’ll never find yourself reaching the edge of the mat while panning around to see who’s shooting at you.
What’s more, having a larger mouse mat means that you can decrease tracking speed and still have the same amount of reach, which means you should be able to get greater accuracy while playing.
The Taito range has also been extensively tested with all Roccat mice to ensure compatibility, as well as a number of rodents from other manufacterers like Microsoft, Logitech and Razer. If you’re worried, a compatiblity list is available on Roccat’s website, but we don’t envisage you having any problems.
If you’re into your gaming, or even if you’re just a heavy PC user, then we recommend investing in a decent mouse mat. And if you’re investing in a decent mouse mat then we would suggest you take a look at the Taito range.
The only downside that we can see is that there’s no wrist support, but then if you need a wrist support then you’re probably gaming too much anyway, so maybe the lack of any support is a good thing.