Review: Razer Vespula double-sided mousepad (and giveaway)

Short version: A very slick, but rather small mousepad well-suited to those of you who like hard, slidey surfaces to mouse on. If that sounds good, maybe you should try winning it! Woo!

Features:

• Two mousing surfaces in one!
• One side is low traction, the other is… lower traction
• Grippy corners keep mousepad in place
• Removable gel wrist rest
• MSRP: $34.99

Pros:

• Very slippery if you’re into that
• Compact, if you like that
• Gel wrist rest is useful, again, if you like that

Cons:

• The cons are pretty much the same as the pros

Full review:

This mousepad has a lot of “matters of taste” about it. I hesitate to pass judgment in any way on it, but rather I’ll just let you know how it performs. So this is probably the most complicated mouse pad out there. Generally when you think “mouse pad,” you think “a pad you put your mouse on.” Well, this pad has two sides with different textures and a removable wrist rest. That’s really only a couple extra features to think about, but it’s more than just a pad.

To get a sense of the frictionless nature of the pad and its flippability, check out this little video:

I know, vastly entertaining, wasn’t it, watching my hands move around like that? Hey. How else am I supposed to do it? Let’s move on.

Essentially you’re looking at a personal choice. My mousepad of choice is actually another Razer one, the Goliathus, which is a thick cloth pad. No wrist rest — though I suppose I could “install” the one that comes with the Vespula. So, this mousepad is pretty much the opposite of what I like. That doesn’t stop me from recognizing that it does its job well. The intention was low friction and a removable wrist rest, and I’d be lying if I said the Vespula didn’t have that. Having now returned to my trusty Goliathus, I can really tell the difference in how much force I have to exert on the mouse.

So, sorry to disappoint you guys with an exceedingly short review, but what can I say? It’s a slick little mouse pad, and if it sounds like it’s up your alley, it probably is. Just be aware that it is a bit small. And $35 is a lot of money for a mouse pad.

Product page: Razer Vespula

Giveaway! I don’t need this thing sitting around in a drawer here, and someone would probably love to have it, so I’m just going to give my review unit away to someone. In the comments, tell us briefly what mouse you use and why, and I’ll pick a winner semi-randomly at the end of the weekend.

We’ve got a winner! After much consideration (read: polling a random number generator) I have determined that Adeiko is the winner, wielder of a mighty Microsoft Intellimouse 3.0. Adeiko, you ought to get yourself a SteelSeries Xai or Kinzu. They’ve got a really similar shape. In fact, if I still have one around in my mouse pile, I’ll send it your way. Expect an email any moment.