• Product: SteelPad QcK heavy
• Manufacturer: SteelSeries : http://www.steelseries.com
• Supplier: SteelSeries.com : http://www.steelseries.com
• What you get:
  1. XXL-sized cloth mouse pad.
• The Official word:
  • XXL-sized cloth mouse pad
  • Heavy thickness eliminates uneven surfaces
  • Ideal for low sensitivity mouse settings
  • Compatible with all mice
  • Specially designed non-slip rubber base
  • 450 x 400mm (17,7 x 15,7in) - thickness 6mm (0,23in)

Official info:

SteelPad QcK heavy is a monster among desktop cloth pads. Nothing less. It is a super-sized mouse pad made of a high quality cloth material with a specially designed non-slip rubber base which prevents the pad from sliding; no matter what surface the mouse pad is placed on.

SteelPad QcK heavy was developed in cooperation with leading gamers from two very different First Person Shooters: Counter-Strike and Quake IV. These games are among the most popular eSports-games on the planet and both games demands the most from players as well as the equipment these gamers use.

Let's get one thing straight about this:

Yes that pic shows a full sized MS mouse, and yes the dimentions on that scale are correct also... 17.7 inches by 15.7 inches! This thing is extremely large to say the least, it HUGE, GIGANTIC, OVERSIZED and in general ONE BIG MOTHER.

I'm glad I've got that across now.

Now then, what we have here is the newest cloth mouse pad produced by SteelSeries. After producing the SteelPad Qck+ , which is incedentally the same size on the desk, SteelSeries saw the need for a thicker version which can offere a few benefits over their previous cloth pads.

For the pro gamer for example, if you took this pad to a LAN event, you would be guaranteed a flat surface to use your mouse on, obviously this is not really a concern when you are at home, at least for most people, as I imagine the majority of people have a nice desk at home. Which is something you are not guaranteed at a tournament. A thinner surface just might not offer the optimal surface you need.

I played around a bit and put some coins under the pad just to test the effectiveness, obviously you wouldn't expect foreign objects to be lying round or at least be glued to the desk so you cannot move them, but it's a test nothing more. The pad certainly offers a great deal smoothness than any other pad I have around here, including some thinner cloth pads, so a good plus point in the design here.

The extra thickness is welcomed also in regards to the comfort issue. I think most gamers will spend a lot of time with their arm out on the desk, which does eventually start to ache no matter how much of a hardened gamer you are. It doesn't take a rocket scientist to work out that a fatter, more cushioned pad will be more comfortable, which the SteelPad QcK Heavy is. The material that the pad is made from is probably not as soft or spongy as you might imagine, the surface does remain fairly rigid to keep the flat surface, but there is a certain amount of give when pressure is applied. Because it's not too soft, the pad is more durable to.

The very top layer of the pad is cloth as previously mentioned, and offers very little friction, so the mouse glides effortlessly. As it is cloth, it does not get cold like a plastic, glass or metal mouse pad, so no sweaty hand marks, which optical mice hate. I think this is one of my favourite reasons for a cloth mat. The downside of the surface is that it can get dirty, and I'm not sure if it washable, although I'm sure you would be ok to give it a quick wipe with a sponge. I'm speaking from experience as my old cloth pad did a great job at soaking up a drink I spilled on my desk. I could also imagine dropping some chocolate or similar onto it and getting ground in, having said that, I have not had any food based problems with other mats, cloth or otherwise.

The base of the mat is rubbery and has a kind of small tire tread pattern, and this thing ain't gonna move anywhere, it would be near impossible to slide this about, certainly in normal working conditions it would never happen.

Some might say that the pad is actually too thick, which would cause a problem if your mouse went off the edge of the pad. I think the SteelPad QcK heavy has this angle covered because of it's sheer size, I mean it would be unlikely that you would even get to the edge, but it could happen I guess. If indeed this is or could possibly be an issue then you should give this pad a miss and the SteelPad QcK+ would be a much more suitable companion for your mouse.

Regular low sensitivity gamers will appreciate the pad's size 100% as will those who actually have a desk big enough. just to help you judge the size here's a couple more pics. This shows two "normal" sized mats, you can see that i have them vertically anyway because of limited space, but I also rest my whole arm on there so I would have them in that orientation no matter how much space there was.

and now with the monster in place:

It kind of makes a mockery of my modest desk and makes me feel like a need a new workspace :( where is that Ikea catalogue ...

However, I love this mouse pad! It's actually really nice to have one large constant surface, I don't have to reset the mouse very often if at all back into the middle of the pad, because the pad is always there, no matter where your mouse wonders off to.

This has been quite useful when using Photoshop, not only does the pad help your accuracy by not skipping or glitching, you can perform larger movements when you're zoomed in, and again the comfort factor is a key benefit.

For gaming I've mostly been testing the pad with my Razer Pro in first person shooters, where it is essential that you have a good surface for your mouse to move over. It's a pity that some gamers just refuse to buy a mousemat or a decent one because"it's not needed", because that's just not true, and they will be too stubborn to give a great mat like this a chance, but I guess no matter what you do, some people take things more serious than others. If you are one of those who like matches and tournaments, and have gaming ambitions, then you can do a lot worse than treating your mouse to a SteelPad QcK heavy. Highly recommended.