Compad Mouse Surface

Manufacturer: Compad
Supplied by:  Compad
Price: ~ $16.50 (black) / $19.75 (translucent colors)

By Dean Barker (9/3/2002)

Introduction

It seems that every time you turn around another mouse pad is released.  We have looked at a few over the years but I have always returned to my Ratpad.  For the first time since we have been around, another pad has come out to rival the famous standard.  A small company out of Germany, Compad has produced what it calls the Speed-Pad that may have what it takes to topple the big dog.  Another notable is that the pad comes in a choice of black or any of several translucent colors or clear.  Pretty hip stuff.  Let's get to it!

The Speed-Pad measures roughly 240mm x 300mm x 3mm and is composed of a hard composite material.  It has a relaxed curved appearance.  With the lower side beveled in, to give you a little more room for your wrist. 

  

In regards to size, the Compad Speed-Pad and the Ratpad are effectively the same.  The only exception is the top edge.  The Speed-Pad's edge has a gentle arch while the Ratpad is pretty much a square edge.  This tiny bit of extra room helped to keep me from running off the pad.  In all fairness, in a frenzied frag-match, all of us run off the pad.  Just with my playing style, it happened less with the Compad.  I want to point out that this difference is so small, I am splitting hairs.

You can also see in the pic above, the nine thin feet that keep the Compad Speed-Pad in place.  Never did we feel the pad slip or give.  A firm planted feel greeted us whenever we sat down.

The Speed-Pad also took a Que from the Ratpad's beveled down edge.  The smooth edge will keep you from making the underside of your wrist raw from the normal back and forth action of using a mouse.  (Ratpad ~ left / Speed-Pad ~ Right)  See how they taper down with a smooth edge?

  

You can see the height differences below.  Six millimeters to the Speed-Pad's three.  The lower surface height did not seem noticeable in an of itself.

The Speed-Pad is offered in black, translucent colors of blue, green, yellow, or clear.  Having a choice of colors to choose from is always a hit around here.  The flip side of the other Speed-Pads is see through colors don't work with all mice.  Compad is very forth coming about this and has a compatibility list on their site here.

I use a Microsoft Wireless Explorer Mouse while Brian uses a Logitech Optical number.  It was amazing to us both that the two mice would act so radically different with the colored pads.  The Microsoft Optical mouse never skipped a beat or trick.  We could even hold the clear pad in the air and it still worked.  Swapping for the Logitech proved to be a frustrating experience.  The only Compad that the Logitech was 100% on was the black.  The mouse's performance of the colors was horrible.  This opposed to the black pad, which showed to have no problems at all.  I had always assumed that the optical eye in mice were all the same.  Wow!  Could I have been further off base?

Conclusion

For final comparison we chose not to throw the colored pads into the mix as that the coloring is an extra not offered by the competitors.  This made it down and dirty, black pad versus black pad.

After playing both pads we came away very impressed with the Speed Pad.  Several hours of frag time (frag Brian to be exact) and normal productivity usage made us an instant Compad fan.  We compared this pad heavily to the Ratpad because the two are very similar.  The short height of the Compad coupled with the arcing top edge gave us a tiny bit better feeling and put the Speed-Pad out on top by a slim margin. 

Which pad should you choose then?  If money is no object, the Compad comes out on top.  I mention money because the pads are so close, if you buy which is priced lower you won't be sorry.  The Compad Speed-Pad is made in Germany and is priced at about 16.5 Euros (one Euro is roughly equivalent to one US dollar.)  Add overseas shipping to the US to that $16.50 and all of a sudden you have one expensive pad.  The Ratpad has distributors in Germany, Sweden, and the UK.  On the Ratpadz.de site, the Ratpad is priced at 23 Euros (about 23 USD).  Add shipping on to that and you have one expensive pad.  As you can see the shipping always is going to hit someone. 

Anyway you cut it, the Compad Speed-Pad gets two thumbs way way up from us and is our new pad of choice.

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