When Rude Gameware showed off a new mouse pad by seemingly grilling burgers on it - something slightly more interesting than your standard PC peripheral fare - we just had to take it for a test drive.
The Fierce Teflon & Steel is pitched as a serious gamer's mouse pad, being both hefty in size and somewhat hefty in price, at $30. For that $30 you're getting what's basically a slab of steel, coated with teflon with a thick rubber base for grip.
This makes it a handy thing to have around if you take your PC games seriously. If you're thinking of using it on the grill, though, you'll be disappointed, as not only does the rubber mat preclude you from putting it on a heated surface, but as many of you pointed out, this isn't the same kind of teflon you'll find on a saucepan, and it may well be hazardous to your health if you use your mouse pad for cooking.
Well. There's a sentence I never thought I'd have to type.
Loved
Well, It Works - The pad's large size means you'll rarely run out of room, but the real winner here is the teflon surface; my mouse almost flies across the pad, and while in some games this might take a little jiggling with your mouse's sensitivity settings, in others - like, say, Starcraft II - it's a real advantage, as you can cover a lot of screen real estate real quickly.
Dignity - Too many PC peripherals of this kind are pandering to an outdated stereotype of what a PC gamer is, slathering ogres, half-naked women and pink race cars all over their crap. This pad, however, is classy. It's nothing but a slab of charcoal steel, no pictures, no logos, and I like that kind of class in my gear.
Hated
A Freeze Is Coming - All that steel may make for fast mouseplay, but if you live in a cold climate - and where I live, it gets pretty damn cold in the winter - you'll find that early in the morning and late at night the pad is freezing, making it pretty uncomfortable on your wrist and forearm.
If you're serious enough about PC gaming to consider a dedicated gaming mouse pad, and think the idea of a mouse pad made out of teflon-coated steel sounds like a good idea, well, it is. Just make sure you keep it game-related, and don't try cooking a steak on it.
The Fierce Teflon & Steel mouse pad is distributed by Rude Gameware, and retails for $29.95. A pad was provided for review by the manufacturer.
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