Here’s my story. When the cursor on my cheap Kingwin mouse (KW-02, 800 dpi) started shivering for no reason, I decided to take the old one back (Logitech LX3, 1000 dpi). Then I noticed it’s not so good on my hardwood desk, so having researched on good mouse pads, I bought OCZ Behemoth Regulator.
Exactly as promised, the look and feel of it was very nice, mouse movements smooth and everything was just fine until… I bought Razer Abyssus (3500 dpi) to get rid of that heavy clicking sound of LX3. Well, it went out that at this high resolution, the tracking sensor is constantly bumping on the very uneven surface, formed by microfiber cloth, which covers Behemoth - it’s just not so smooth as it appears. You can see that by drawing a straight line in Paint. Because you cannot. No, it is not the problem of the mouse sensor, which I originally supposed to be defective. And yes, it is actually possible if you have fine tracking.
To prove my concept, I replaced Behemoth with a plain white letter sheet, and the accuracy went back to normal. I’m still on Behemoth, just because the sheet does not look so good on the desk. Together with a guy from Razer, we found that Goliathus Control mouse pad should be good enough for my needs. I will add more information here once I get it (or find another solution).
UPD: with some practice, it is now possible for me to have straight sections on the line even on Behemoth:
But it still adds randomly to the tracking, so you never know if your next set of pixels will form a straight line. That’s just a personal experience.
UPD2: I bought a cheap mouse pad (1.25$) and it actually works better in terms of tracking, but it’s too small to be used on a regular basis. And it’s not gonna last for long. Still, an interesting side note.
UPD3: Bought a PureTrak Classic pad for 8$, which has perfect tracking and very smooth surface. Two issues - surface is plastic, not so soft as Behemoth, and the texture could be better. But hey, I just needed precise movements!
UPD4: Recently acquired another Abyssus for work, so I also needed another mouse pad. After some research on the internet, I got SteelSeries Qck. Comes in tube packaging, and keeps shape, not lying flat on the desk for the first couple of weeks, so their non-slip rubber does not work and the pad slides freely - just be patient. After 2 month of use it is almost flat now. Pricewise, it was 8.5$ after price match. With all that said, I still like it better than PureTrak so far.
UPD5 (2020): I have been using Steelseries mouse pads since, currently on Qck XXL and Cooler Master MM710 Gaming Mouse with 16000 DPI.
