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After racing out and buying a Microsoft Intellipoint Explorer shortly after they were released I have happily used the mouse (or the original and its replacement) for a few years now. I have been very happy with the choice of this mouse and it is far better than the regular intellipoint it replaced. I do not miss balled mice at all. This is not to say I will never want another product as the current mice still, in my opinion, have bugs to be worked out. One of my few complaints is the feet on the MS optical mice. I don't know if it is that, since they are the only thing touching the surface, they seem to drag more than the previous feet on balled mice but I can definitely tell when they have a layer of gunk on them. At the suggestion of a couple of clan mates I tried taping over the feet with Scotch tape (cello tape for those across the pond). This worked well for about a week at which time the tape wore through, collected the same gunk that was clogging the feet before and needed to be replaced. After a few weeks of this routine I decided it just wasn't worth the hassle.

For the last few months I have also not bothered to use a mouse pad. The mouse glided along fairly smoothly on my wood-grain Formica desk. This worked well for me with the exception of when the mouse feet got dirty and needed to be cleaned. I also had plenty of room to move around as long as I could keep the post-it population under control.

A few weeks ago Hubert looked at the Ratpadz mouse pad and mentioned that he was very satisfied with it and I thought I would break down and return to the world of using a mouse pad again. I ordered the Giganta and another product they sell called Mouse Skatez. My order was shipped the day after it was ordered but took a week to arrive. It was shipped in a yellow bubble envelope and it arrived in excellent shape.

I received the mouse pad, an envelope and my receipt.

I immediately placed the mouse pad on my desk and started using it. There was a noticeable difference between just my desk and the Giganta. The mouse glided much more smoothly. I had somewhat expected my wrist to be uncomfortable while laying over a large piece of plastic but the cutout arc for your wrist is great and my expectations were wrong. I did end up setting up a neoprene wrist rest later that evening which made my arm position nearly perfect. No RSI's here thank you. My one complaint, and this has more to do with me than the size, is that I keep running off the pad. I was used to not being constrained to a size limit. Ah well, I will give it a few weeks. (Update: Although I still run off the pad occasionally it doesn't happen very often. Guess old dogs can learn to keep it in the yard. Or something like that&).

Contained in the envelope was the Mouse Skatez themselves and installation instructions. The instructions were very simple and straight forward. Just make sure you cut enough to cover the feet and you are all set. There are two strips of the material included, which should be enough to do at least two mice.

After sticking the Skatez to the mouse I immediately had to test out the setup and hopped into a quick game of Wolfenstein. The mouse glided across the Giganta absolutely smoothly. There was none of the sticking that had occurred before. I even tried just the Mouse Skatez on my desk and, while absolutely being smoother, it wasn't as good as the Giganta/Skatez combo.

Final Words

After two weeks of using these products I have yet to see the gunky buildup on the mouse feet that I was used to before and therefore the resulting loss of performance.

Everglide Giganta

Pros: Nice large surface to mouse on; mouse glides nicely

Cons: Eats up lots of real estate-could be bad for a small area (there are smaller versions available)

Mouse Skatez

Pros: Easy install; makes your mouse slide oh so easily

Cons: $5 for a couple pieces of plastic tape??