Developer: Everglide
Publisher: Everglide
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Reviewed by: Kevin L. Kitchens
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Review Date: October 4, 1999
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Summary and Rating
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What's Good
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What's Bad
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4.5 out of 5.0
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- Excellent friction level perfect for gaming
- Sturdy construction and design
- Mouse pointer can traverse entire screen without hitting edge of mousing surface
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- Slick surface less forgiving for precision mousing
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When I first heard about the Everglide Mousing Surface, I have to admit I was a bit skeptical. In my many years of computing and programming, I've used many different mouse "pads". I've used the traditional foam pads. I've used to slick-topped pads that retain their rubber odor for many months -- and just touching the thing marks you with its scent. My daughter made me one that has a hand drawn picture on it. I've even had a heat-sensitive one that changed colors when you touched. Woo! So call me a little jaded when it comes to mouse pads.
Despite all the so-called innovations that have come along, I've always preferred the basic foam pad with a cloth cover. Even more than using the telephone yellow pages while on a business trip. Nevertheless, I thought I'd see what the hoopla was surrounding the Everglide.
When I first held the Everglide, I was shocked that it was a firm "surface" and not a "pad" at all. Made of durable plastic, the Everglide won't lose its shape or absorb the spilled beverage the way a pad will. But still, it's plastic...so it's going to be like those rubber pads with a plastic top, right? Wrong!
The Everglide is best described as a plastic-hybrid of the foam pad and the slick surface. The "surface" is textured to give a proper amount of friction to the mouse's trackball -- but not so much as to actually hinder the range of motion. The shape of the Everglide is an elongated oval (right to left) with a semi-circular notch where your wrist will be -- a built in wrist-rest, of sorts. This shape coupled with the proper friction of the surface allows you to move the mouse pointer from side to side on even a 1280x1024 screen while only moving the mouse itself about two inches. Two. Two inches side to side to traverse the entire screen. With my old pad, many times I'd get to the edge and then have to pick up the mouse and recenter it on the pad to give myself more running room.
The gaming benefits of the Everglide's design are many. I used the surface playing several games, including the recent Unreal Tournament demo, and found my performance greatly enhanced by the speed and ease of motion of the mouse on the Everglide. The perfect blend of resistance was indeed designed with the gamer in mind. The Everglide has seven rubber pads on the bottom to keep it from slipping across your desk. In addition it can be cleaned with soap and water to remove any lint and dust that collects on the surface. This will also protect the inner workings of your mouse from gathering all those strings around its rollers.
Unfortunately, for regular computing, the surface is a bit less forgiving. While for most actions, you'd hardly notice a difference using the Everglide, when it comes to precision, the reduced friction can be a bit of a nuisance. When you are using the mouse (on the Everglide) to do fine-detail work -- such as graphic-design or programming -- it is very easy to let the physical action of clicking or releasing the mouse button to cause the mouse itself to move. Often this results in a selection or grouping you didn't expect. Again, however, this is for fine-detail work and certainly most games are more tolerant of such minor margins of error.
Is the Everglide Mousing Surface for everyone? Only those gamers who want every advantage they can while gaming. And you can bet as word of this gets around your opponent is going to have one. Shouldn't you?
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