Ultra Slim Large Mouse Pad

I was taking a look at my mouse pad the other day and it is in rough shape.  It's got some odd discoloration from that day we had nachos and the threads are starting to fray.  It's doing a reasonable job of collecting various dog and/or human hair along the rubber sides.  I was looking at some of the fancy mouse pads available to step out of the doldrums of rounded squares-ville mouse pads.  I found the Innovera Ultra Slim Mouse Pad.  It looks like it has the same general properties of your standard mouse, but according to the feature list is so much better than a standard mouse pad.

Innovera Ultra Slim Mouse Pad

It features a "Grid Pattern" that is supposed to enhance mouse tracking.  I don't know anything about that, but it sounds reasonable and enhanced mouse tracking is something we all strive for.  It is advertised as credit card thin.  That's cool, it won't look so out of place and bulky on my desk.  It has a non-skid backing made of natural rubber.  That sounds about right to me, because a mouse pad is useless if it slides around and nobody has come up with a reasonably priced rubber alternative yet.  Lastly, it advertises a large surface for more mousing.  As monitors have grown over the years mice either need to get more sensitive or need more room to roam the desk, so larger mouse pads would be great.

Innovera Ultra Slim Additional View

So I checked out the 360 degree view of the mouse pad.  It looked about what I expected but without the large black border in the original product photo.  That's cool because it probably just gives me even more space for mousing.  The fact that it has odd rounded edges did start to bother me when I realized that all computer monitors are rectangular.  But what really killed me was that it measured in at 8.75" x 7".  That seemed just a bit on the small side so I went looking at other standard mouse pads.

Super Cheap Belkin Mouse Pad

Yeah, this mouse pad isn't going to win any beauty contests but it is under a buck and is actually larger than the Ultra Slim.  Measuring in at 9.84" x 7.87" you will get more mousing room for your buck.  Sure it might discolor more easily or come apart a little more easily, but at this price you might as well buy yourself a couple.