"Ahhhhssss huge!"

Christopher Kahl, who's the owner of Xtrac saw our little Logitech G5 review, enjoyed it and wondered if we'd like to review Xtrac's new Ripper XL mouse pad. Of course we would! And so a few weeks later I got a huge box from them containing a smaller box. And inside that box was the Ripper XL mousepad.

They're not lying when the box says "Monster Sized"

Did I say mousepad? I think that's actually a little deceptive. As it says on the side of the packaging it's more of a mousing mat than a pad. This thing is enormous. If Optimus Prime used a mouse, he'd use this. It's easily three times the size of the mouse pad I've been using, which is just a cheap, thin Staple hard plastic surface mousepad. I've tried some of the other high end mousing surfaces, but I've generally found them to be too thick to be comfortable, and they tend to be a little rough on the bottom of the mouse as well. I was concerned with the size on the Ripper XL. I mean, you've got to have a pretty big desk to put a 17" mousepad on it. The Ripper XL is only 1/8th of an inch thick however, so it can be easily tucked under your keyboard and doesn't make it sit at an angle or get tippy.

My poor old mouse pad. It's so inadequate.

I've been using the Ripper for a few weeks now. I find it to be quite comfortable and I never even come close to running out of mousing area. The top of the mat is a nice textured cloth that's bonded to a flexible rubber backing. Chips and other crumbs brush off the surface easily. The backing is quite good and when it's put on a surface it stays there. I put a little mark on my desk, and I've been moving my keyboard on and off it, stacking crap on it, etc and it hasn't moved at all. Many of the cheaper cloth mousepads will have problems with the surface separating from the backing with wear and time, but with the Ripper I can't see it being a problem. I spent a few minutes picking at the corners trying to get the backing to separate and I couldn't do anything to it. It's very well manufactured. If the pad is found to be a little too big you could easily cut it down with some sharp scissors, but considering how thin it is, I can't see it being a problem even at a LAN party where space is somewhat limited. It's thin enough that I can feel the finishing nail that's in my desk under the one corner.

The Ripper XL can be easily rolled up and tossed into your bag for your next LAN, and looks damned sharp sitting on your desk at home. Unlike plastic or metal mouse pads, your mousing is virtually silent as well.

And it even looks great!

Conclusion

The Xtrac Ripper XL is great value for the money and performs like a champ. It's one of the largest mouse pads I've ever seen in my life so you're not going to run out of space, even during the most heated of gaming sessions. It tracks flawlessly with my Logitech g5 mouse as well as my cheapie no name brand test mouse. It also doesn't move around. At all. Period. Protocal pointed out to me that there's tons of other gaming mousepads out there, and while this is true, I'd put the Ripper XL at the top of the heap out of the ones I've tried so far.

And hey, there's many other uses you can put it to. It's not just a mousing surface. It's also:

A landing pad for your model helicopters!

A complete place setting.