A little bit ago a I took a look at the IceMat 2nd Edition glass mousing surface, I found it to be a most excellent pad with nothing that could be improved upon. I thought I had found the perfect mousing surface, but today for review I have what comes in a very close second, the SteelPad QcK heavy, cloth mousing surface. Normally I prefer cloth mousing surfaces, but once I got the IceMat I was hooked on it, now though with the QcK heavy, it’s a toss up, it truly has to be the best cloth surface mousepad I have ever owned or reviewed. Now I’m ‘stuck’ with two amazingly accurate, high quality mousepads and I just don’t know which one to use…. Read on to learn more about the SteelPad QcK heavy cloth mousing surface.
SteelPad QcK heavy
Reviewed by: Kristofer Brozio AkA Dracos
Sponsor: SteelPad / SteelSeries
Tech Specs,Features or the Basic Info:
SteelPad QcK heavy
Information:
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.
It’s important to notice the difference between SteelPad QcK heavy and all other mouse pads from our SteelPad product line. This mouse pad features extremely heavy thickness which results in a very unique feeling. While the mouse pad is much more soft and comfortable to the touch, the height is also fairly massive, reaching a total of 6mm (0,23in).
Other mouse pads from SteelSeries are very thin, aiming to provide a high quality gaming surface, as close as possible to level of the tabletop it’s used on.
The heavy thickness of the mouse pad eliminates problems from uneven surfaces, making the mouse pad suitable for gaming at LAN-events and other which often provide battered, tilted or second-hand tables.
The extreme size makes SteelPad QcK heavy perfect for low sensitivity mouse settings and the smooth cloth surface offers maximum precision. The cloth surface, combined with the heavy thickness, is also very easy on the users wrists, even for hardcore gamers, graphic designers and others who use their mouse for extended periods of time.
Quick facts about SteelPad QcK heavy:
* 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)
Developed in cooperation with Team 3D and mouz|cooller
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.
The russian player mouz|cooller is considered one of the best allround Quake-players in the world, achievements include ESWC and CPL championships in both Quake III and Quake IV. You don’t win the toughest events in the world by compromising on your gaming gear.
The U.S. Counter-Strike allstars Team 3D is the first Counter-Strike team ever to hold world championships in both Counter-Strike 1.6 and Counter-Strike: Source. They demand perfection from their gaming gear, anything less would impact on their performance.
This mouse pad was furthermore tested and approved by zonic and hpx from Team NoA.
A Better Look at Things
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The SteelPad QcK heavy comes in sort of a combination package, where there is a cardboard slip cover over a plastic clamshell type package.
The back of the slip cover has the specs and features listed in several languages, and of course the recognitions as well, like the teams that officially use the QcK heavy for gaming.
The QcK heavy is rolled up inside the plastic clamshell, and I found it can double as a carrier as well.
There is a brief owner’s manual included with the QcK heavy and that’s it.
The SteelPad QcK heavy is a large cloth surfaced mousepad, in the bottom left corner is the QcK heavy logo.
The QcK heavy is the thickest pad I’ve ever encountered, at first I wasn’t quite sure about it, but after a while I found it comfortable to use.
The back of the QcK heavy is textured rubber that holds the pad in place no matter you are doing, it grips to any surface and stays where you put it.
Installation, Testing and Comparison
Installation is easy, just find a space large enough for it, and you’re done. Those with small desks might have a problem with the SteelPad QcK heavy, but I have a nice large desk, so there was no problem for me.
Here’s a picture of my A4Tech X-750F laser gaming mouse on the QcK heavy to give you an idea of size scale.
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You can see from the picture that the QcK heavy offers a lot of real estate for mousing about on. With this pad you should never worry about falling off the edge while gaming.
I don’t have much time for games lately, but of course getting the SteelPad QcK heavy gave me a real reason to get some gaming in. I recently picked up STALKER, and I play BF2142 whenever I can, so I made sure I put in a couple hours each night of gaming to make sure I got to test the QcK heavy for this review.
I have quite a few mice floating around here that I keep on hand for reviews and general use on my systems. On my main rig I always use the new Logitech G5 (review HERE), so it was used the most of all my mice obviously, but I also made sure I used other mice as well for testing. I have the optical gaming mouse, the Ideazon Reaper (review HERE), and two other laser gaming mice the A4tech X-750F (review HERE) and the Raptor M3 (review HERE).
As I mentioned in the introduction, I recently reviewed the IceMat 2nd edition mousing surface (review HERE) and found it to be as near to perfect as possible, better than any other hard surface mousepad. If I had a choice for a hard surface pad it would have to be the Icemat 2nd edition. Normally though, I am fond of and much prefer cloth mousing surfaces or cloth style mousepads, and I own quite a few of them from doing reviews and outright purchasing them just because I want it. I’ve found that not all cloth pads are created equal, and there are many differences in the types of cloth pad you buy. Some are slick and smooth, while others offer more resistance, and then of course there are the ‘cheapie’ types that are pretty much worthless.
I was kind of skeptical about the SteelPad Qck heavy as it is so thick, other smaller pads that are thick bother my wrist, but the QcK heavy is so big that is not a problem, my wrist and most of my forearm are on the pad.
The SteelPad QcK heavy is essentially made by the same people that make the Icemat, so it was no surprise to me that the QcK heavy is an excellent mousing surface. Out of the 25+ cloth pad I have bought and reviewed, the QcK heavy has to be the best yet. It offers an excellent mousing surface, that allows any mouse to track perfectly on. Being that it is so large is another bonus as well, I personally own the Corepad Deskpad and the Xtrac XXXL Deskpad, so I love large surface cloth pads. Now I have the perfect combination, I have my Deskpad down, and then the QcK heavy on top of that, so my keyboard sits on one part of the pad, while the mouse sits on a higher up section because of the thickness of the QcK heavy, it works very well for me.
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I did find one drawback to the SteelPad QcK heavy though, being that it was rolled up in the package, it just doesn’t want to lie flat now. For three weeks I’ve had the QcK heavy on my desk, and it is mostly flat, but there is still a slight hump near the top of the pad. I’m sure this will go away with more time, but I can’t help wonder what will happen if I roll it back up and take it somewhere, will I have to start the flattening out process all over again? I tried the old ‘roll it the opposite way’ trick, and that didn’t work, so I guess only time and use will make it truly flat. When I first put the pad on my desk the hump was very annoying and just really up in the air, I was actually sliding my mouse uphill, and I had to push down to make it go flat, but after the three weeks it is almost gone now. Still though, it would be nice if the pad was flat from the start, and avoid the ‘break in’ period all together.
Other than that small complaint, the SteelPad QcK heavy is the best cloth mousepad I have ever used, every mouse I used with it tracked perfectly no matter what I did.
Summary:
If you are a fan of cloth mousing surfaces then I suggest you look into getting the SteelPad QcK heavy as it is the absolute best I have ever tested and/or owned. I can highly recommended it to anyone looking for a high quality cloth pad. The one small problem I had with the flatness might not effect all of the QcK heavy pads, the one I received may have been in storage longer, but keep in mind there is a break in period for the QcK heavy though.
DragonSteelMods gives the SteelPad QcK heavy a 4.5 out of 5 and our Recommended Award as well.
Pros:
-Smooth surface
-Excellent tracking
-Large mousing area
-Comfortable to to use
Cons:
-Takes a long time to get flat
I would like to thank SteelPad / SteelSeries for the chance to review the QcK heavy and for their support of DSM.