Introduction
Within the last several years, what used to be called a niche market in the PC industry has grown tremendously.  That market, whose main consumers are PC modders and PC gamers is pretty large today, and many products are developed especially for this group computer enthusiasts.  We have all seen these products which include, for example, neon case lights, case window kits, so called “gaming” mice, high-end video cards, and so on.   Today we will be looking at often overlooked component that has also undergone some transformation to be marketed towards PC gamers, and that is the mousepad.  For today’s review I will be taking a closer look at the SteelPad 5L Professional Gaming Mouse Pad; a mouse pad designed especially for computer gamers supplied to us by the nice folks of  SteelSeries.com.  Having looked at another gaming mousepad recently, the Icemat Mousepad, what makes this SteelPad 5L different, and is it really only beneficial for gamers to have such a mousepad?  Read on to find out more.

     

What’s Included & First Impressions
What struck me immediately as I surveyed the packaging of the SteelPad 5L was the sheer size of this mousepad.  According to the specifications, the mousepad measures approximately 15″ long by 11″ high.  To put this into perspective, this is about three times bigger than the average mousepad that you are probably using right now.  The SteelPad 5L itself also a different make up and texture than ordinary mousepads out there, which is one of its main selling points.  Looking again at the packaging, the SteelPad 5L mousepad is made up of five layers, which are (from top to bottom):

1. Plastic Coating:  to ensure durability and maintain texture
2. Cloth: provides for a smooth gliding experience; texture allows minimal mouse movement, maximum precision
3. Soft Polyisoprene:  a soft rubber foam that is very easy on the wrist; allows comfortable usage of the mousepad for extended periods of time
4. Hard Plastic Compound:  maintains stability and shape of mousepad allowing for a consistent gliding experience
5. Rubber Elements:  small rubber elements keep the mousepad from slipping

It appears that quite a bit of thinking went into designing the SteelPad 5L to make it a very marketable product (notice even the cool artistic design on top of the plastic coating). Now for the all important question though, how does the mousepad fare in everyday usage and in games?  Let’s find out.

Everyday Usage
After using the SteelPad 5L for a while doing ordinary everyday tasks such as web browsing and word processing, I am quite impressed with the smoothness of the mouse movement.  The SteelPad 5L’s large size virtually avoids the user from ever running out of space and having to go off the mousepad altogether.  As the matter of fact, the SteelPad 5L would probably suit professionals that use two or more monitors quite well, as they will be able to move across all their displays without ever going off the mousepad.  The rubber elements on the bottom of the SteelPad 5L keep the mousepad nicely in place now matter how jerky or abrupt the mouse movement may be.  Movement of the mouse itself is very precise as claimed by the packaging and after extended usage I do admit that the Steelpad is a very comfortable surface to rest your wrist on for longer periods of time. 
Gaming Usage
Since the primary application of the SteelPad 5L is for usage during gaming, I was of course curious how it would perform in this category.  I went ahead and fired up the Quake 4 Demo (a fast paced first person shooter game) and “fragged” around for a while.  After several minutes of playing I was impressed with the precision and smoothness of the mouse movements in the game as I took aim and eliminated the aliens in the game.  Furthermore, as I have mentioned previously, my wrist felt very comfortable resting on the SteelPad 5L for the whole duration of play.   The SteelPad 5L does indeed make for an excellent mousepad for gamers.
Conclusion
Having looked at the Steelpad 5L in more detail, let’s summarize by listing some of the pro’s and con’s of the mousepad:
Pros:

• large surface area
• smooth and precise mouse movement
• very comfortable

Cons:

• price

Overall, I was very happy with the Steelpad 5L.  While this mousepad is marketed primarily towards gamers I found it very applicable in a desktop environment as well especially for a dual or triple monitor setup (e.g. for graphics professionals and the like).  The ~$30 pricetag is a little steep for the average user in my opinion, but if you are a gamer or professional and purchasing top gear anyway, the Steelpad 5L Professional Gaming Mousepad is definitely worth considering.