XTracPads Ripper XL v2 Mouse Mat

Introduction

How many times have you heard often cliched phrase..."size doesn't matter, it's how you use it"? Well, the lads at XTrac Pads believe that it certainly does, and girth for that matter...And their debut entry into the OC3D Labs is certainly testament to the fact! I was fortunate enough to be offered the opportunity to road-test the Ripper XL v2 mouse mat, and not being familiar with XTrac' range of mouse mats I was certainly eager to give it a thorough workout. For those of you not familiar with XTrac Pads, let's hear what they have to say about themselves:

Started in March of 2002 by a group of hard-core pc gamers, our mousing surfaces and accessories have won countless awards. We offer an expanding variety of surfaces and optical mouse pad sizes. Not only are our products used in computer gaming, they are equally efficient for many other applications such as digital animation, desktop publishing and more. The medical, military, gaming, art, scientific and aerospace industries all benefit from the high quality, speed and accuracy found in all XTracPads optical mouse pads. XTracPads is headquartered in Salt Lake City, Utah.

It certainly seems that XTrac are held in quite high esteem for producing a quality product that can compete with the best when gaming, but its apparent popularity with vocations requiring a high degree of mouse accuracy for day-to-day work is also reassuring.

And here's what they have to say about the Ripper XL:

The XTracPads Ripper XL™ v2 is one of the largest gaming mats available today! Measuring a whopping 14 inches high and 17 3/4 wide, there's plenty of smooth surface to get your game on. After all, why should you take a chance on running out of mouse surface?

So will the XTrac Pads Ripper XL have what it takes to make the grade in the Labs? Let's have a closer look at the Ripper XL in detail...


Specifications

The Ripper XL's specifications were taken directly from XTrac's web page:

XTracPads Ripper XL™ v2 *14" x 17.75" x 1/8" (356mm x 451mm) *Sure Grip rubber backing *Cloth mousing surface *Designed in the USA *Made in USA *mouse not included Tested and 100% compatible with the following mice: Logitech: MX300/500/510/518/700/1000 G5 & G7 Microsoft: Intellimouse Explorer 3.0/4.0 Laser Mouse 6000 Apple: Mighty Mouse

Some may find it interesting to note that I could find no mention of any warranty information for the Ripper XL on XTrac' website, nor the included packaging. Speaking of packaging, let's head over the page and take a look...