Customer Reviews: Read 3 more reviews...
 Doesn't wear out! July 4, 2006
Robert E. Williams (Phoenix, AZ, USA)
7 out of 7 found this review helpful
I bought one of these back around late '94 or early '95, and I'm still using it now in mid-'06 (11 to 12 years - wow!). I thought this model went off the market years ago, but I guess not.
After several years of use, the pad accumulated quite a bit crud. However, the pad really traps the crud, such that if you look at the bottom of my mouse, the feet have absolutely no dirt around them, whereas mice feet tend to scrape up stuff on most pads and certainly on a desk. Since my mouse stays clean and the crud doesn't affect the optical tracking, I've just not had enough incentive to clean it and so I haven't.
Aside from the dirt, the pad itself shows very little wear. This really surprises me given how heavy a user I am. Also, the gel pad shows virtually no wear. There are only two slight negatives that I can think of:
1) When I purchased the pad, it had a sort of oily film on the underside of the gel pad, like a lubricant. Not sure what it was for--perhaps a conditioning agent for the rubber--but it's still there after all these years. You can actually turn the gel pad over and draw in the oil. However, I've never tried to clean it, and in fact have always kept the pad in its place except for pulling it on rare occasion to see if the oil is still there. (Not sure where I expect it to go, but heh...) In use, you would never know it's there and you never come into contact with it, so even if you leave it, as I did, there's no danger of it getting on your cloths or anything.
2) The lycra finish on the gel pad is nice in that it doesn't make your wrist sweaty as a lot of gel pads can. And as I said above, it's very durable. However, you can very easily leave cosmetic scratches in it by, for example, fairly gently scratching a fingernail across the surface. These marks are not permanent, though. As far as I can tell, they're very similar to vacuum marks on carpet, and they can be rubbed out or they will simply disappear with a few hours' use. But if you handle the pad, you may look at it afterward to find it all "scratched" up, which is a bit disconcerting.
In one of the many (living quarters) moves I've made with it, the front part got cracked, but other than a crack being visible, it's not affected usability one iota.
I'd kinda like to replace it just for the sake of getting something new, but I'm having a hard time justifying it. I do think the pad requires a bit more effort to move the mouse compared to good modern pads, and that may become my incentive, but for the moment, at least, I'm sticking to it.
BTW, I'm a professional computer user who spends 10-20 hours per day (sometimes more) working on my computer, and with multiple big monitors, I use the mouse an awful lot. Thus, this pad has gotten *very* heavy use over the years. I've also had very few problems with my rather picky wrist, so it seems to a do a good job ergonomically, as well. (In case you're wondering, I use a Kinesis Contour ergonomic keyboard to handle the other half of general input. It's simply wonderful - I highly recommend it to any heavy computer user.)
Ol' Trusty February 2, 2006
Kevin L. Drum (VA)
3 out of 3 found this review helpful
I've been using one of these little guys for years. I think someone gave it to me as a present. I recently set up a nice new office, and it definitely sticks out as having been put through the ringer. Still works great, just not as clean as it once was, although I did vinyl dye the white tray silver a couple years back. I guess it's time for a new one, though. Awesome product!
No wrist pain July 31, 2007
Darren Majesty
3 out of 3 found this review helpful
I spent the last two years using this mousepad and recently tried the 3M precision mousing surface. The surface was fine, but the mock-leather (i bought the fancy one) wrist wrest felt like a brick. After 48 hours i returned it and went back to this. It's not the fanciest mousepad on the market, and its not the prettiest (note: available in different colors, just google or go to their site) but this thing works.
 Best mouse pad I've seen January 29, 2007
Ned Jeoffreys
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
This mouse pad by Fellowes is the best I have used. The wrist support provides constant support to your wrist, vitrually eliminating fatigue and discomfort using a computer mouse. After using this at a desktop computer, I used a regular mouse and mousepad on a laptop and immediately noticed the difference. So, I ran out to the store and bought another one of these mouse pads--its the only one I would recommend using. The gel part is very firm and retains its shape over the years (I've had mine over a year so far). Another nice thing about these are that it enables you to use a mouse wherever you want. If you have a laptop and want to look at something on the sofa, the sturdy plastic base allows you to use this right on the cushion beside you. The only negative could be the price, but this lasts forever and prevents wrist injuries and discomfort. Hope this review is helpful.
Impress Your Form on the Material! March 10, 2007
Kralizec
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
If I could rate the gel wrist support separately for its wrist-sparing effect, I'd give it five stars. As for the mouse pad, it probably works quite well with mechanical mouses, and it works well enough with the optical mouses I use at home and at the office. However, the mouse cursor is somewhat unsteady, and although I'm not sure, I tend to attribute the unsteadiness to some optical property of the fabric on the mouse pad that makes it imperfect for use with an optical mouse. I admit the problem may be resolvable by some change in the configuration of the mouses; however, if so, I don't know what it would be.
At any rate, however, if your main interest is comfort or protecting your wrist from injury, then I think the Fellowes 91741 Gray Gel Wrist Rest and Mouse Pad is likely to be quite a satisfactory choice.
|
