Dream Machines DM Pad XL
Recently Dream Machines released their own lineup of mouse pads to go together with their mice. They come in two sizes for now, the L version and the XL version. In this review I'm going to take a closer look at the DM Pad XL. The pad comes in plain black with a small DM logo in the lower right corner.
Size
The DM Pad XL is a desktop pad, meaning it's extra wide allowing you to place your keyboard (at least parts of it) on the pad next to your mouse. Its dimensions are 800 x 450 x 3 mm. For comparison a Qck Heavy is 450 x 400 x 6 mm. The pad has stitched edges for protection against fraying of the top material.
Here you can see the pad with the G Pro on it:
Material
The top material is very similar to that of the Qck. It's difficult to actually point out differences, namely because my Qck pads are all worn in while the DM Pad XL is still relatively new. The feeling of the fabric is rather rough like the Qck, not as smooth as the G-SR black or the Nixeus Type R. However this rough feeling is just in comparison and when I really concentrate on it, while using it the pad feels soft.
The rubber backing is also very good, grips my wooden desk adequately and does not seem to have any kind of air bubbles in it. It's not as soft as the G-SR backing, but at least on par with the regular Qck Heavy and far better than the Puretrack Talent backing.
Build quality
The quality is really good, I could not make out any material flaws, the backing is fine, the stitched borders are well made. The borders are not as fine as on the G-SR Black, but they are still soft and don't irritate my arm while using the pad at all.
Another close up of the material
Speed + Control
For this section I decided to try and find an objective measurement that allows me to rate the glide of a mouse pad. I set up an inclined table where I can set the angle of the inclination in fine steps and see at which point the mouse glides on its own on the pad. For this test I used the same mouse (G Pro with Hyperglides) on all the tested pads to ensure consistent results. With every new inclination I reset the mouse by hand to the same spot, made sure I didn't give it any initial movement and watched if it moved on its own. Obviously this only tests for static friction, but it should give you an idea where the surface lands.
Unfortunately all surfaces where really close together, so it's not like there is a clear winner. However some pads consistently required a lower angle than others for the mouse to move on its own.
So what you can see is that the DM Pad XL requires only a 6° inclination to allow the mouse to move on its own. This is the best result between the pads I tested, however bear in mind that most other pads were used a lot. I've used the DM Pad XL for roughly three weeks now in comparison, but I have to say the glide hasn't changed at all in that time. The Type-R by Nixeus is also rather new, an interesting pad which I might review also in the future. What really surprised me in this test was that the only hard pad I have, the QPad HeatoN, had the worst results.
Conclusion
The DM Pad XL is a really good pad, the quality is at least on par with the likes of Qck Heavy or Zowie G-SR. But here's the kicker: The DM Pad XL only costs around $16, the DM Pad L only $10.
Compare that to the Zowie pads at $30+. Or if you want to compare it to extended pads then the only contender in terms of price is the Ducky Flipper XXXL, which has the same width at 800 mm but only 300 mm depth (Prices from maxgaming.com).
If that's not a great deal then I don't know what is.
To me it's clear that in the future this will be the only pad I can really recommend, because no other pad offers as competitive pricing at the same quality.
And speaking of the width of 800 mm: That is the only small downside for me. Because 800 mm is too wide to place next to the keyboard and too small to put the keyboard fully on the mat. As you can see in my setup below I have the keyboard half on/half off the pad. It works just fine, but it would be nicer if the pad was a full 1000 mm wide.
Additional Pictures
For those of you interested in close ups of the fabric in comparison with other pads I've added some pictures below:
I've also added official pictures with better quality than my camera offers
Recently Dream Machines released their own lineup of mouse pads to go together with their mice. They come in two sizes for now, the L version and the XL version. In this review I'm going to take a closer look at the DM Pad XL. The pad comes in plain black with a small DM logo in the lower right corner.
Size
The DM Pad XL is a desktop pad, meaning it's extra wide allowing you to place your keyboard (at least parts of it) on the pad next to your mouse. Its dimensions are 800 x 450 x 3 mm. For comparison a Qck Heavy is 450 x 400 x 6 mm. The pad has stitched edges for protection against fraying of the top material.
Here you can see the pad with the G Pro on it:
Material
The top material is very similar to that of the Qck. It's difficult to actually point out differences, namely because my Qck pads are all worn in while the DM Pad XL is still relatively new. The feeling of the fabric is rather rough like the Qck, not as smooth as the G-SR black or the Nixeus Type R. However this rough feeling is just in comparison and when I really concentrate on it, while using it the pad feels soft.
The rubber backing is also very good, grips my wooden desk adequately and does not seem to have any kind of air bubbles in it. It's not as soft as the G-SR backing, but at least on par with the regular Qck Heavy and far better than the Puretrack Talent backing.
Build quality
The quality is really good, I could not make out any material flaws, the backing is fine, the stitched borders are well made. The borders are not as fine as on the G-SR Black, but they are still soft and don't irritate my arm while using the pad at all.
Another close up of the material
Speed + Control
For this section I decided to try and find an objective measurement that allows me to rate the glide of a mouse pad. I set up an inclined table where I can set the angle of the inclination in fine steps and see at which point the mouse glides on its own on the pad. For this test I used the same mouse (G Pro with Hyperglides) on all the tested pads to ensure consistent results. With every new inclination I reset the mouse by hand to the same spot, made sure I didn't give it any initial movement and watched if it moved on its own. Obviously this only tests for static friction, but it should give you an idea where the surface lands.
Unfortunately all surfaces where really close together, so it's not like there is a clear winner. However some pads consistently required a lower angle than others for the mouse to move on its own.
So what you can see is that the DM Pad XL requires only a 6° inclination to allow the mouse to move on its own. This is the best result between the pads I tested, however bear in mind that most other pads were used a lot. I've used the DM Pad XL for roughly three weeks now in comparison, but I have to say the glide hasn't changed at all in that time. The Type-R by Nixeus is also rather new, an interesting pad which I might review also in the future. What really surprised me in this test was that the only hard pad I have, the QPad HeatoN, had the worst results.
Conclusion
The DM Pad XL is a really good pad, the quality is at least on par with the likes of Qck Heavy or Zowie G-SR. But here's the kicker: The DM Pad XL only costs around $16, the DM Pad L only $10.
Compare that to the Zowie pads at $30+. Or if you want to compare it to extended pads then the only contender in terms of price is the Ducky Flipper XXXL, which has the same width at 800 mm but only 300 mm depth (Prices from maxgaming.com).
If that's not a great deal then I don't know what is.
To me it's clear that in the future this will be the only pad I can really recommend, because no other pad offers as competitive pricing at the same quality.
And speaking of the width of 800 mm: That is the only small downside for me. Because 800 mm is too wide to place next to the keyboard and too small to put the keyboard fully on the mat. As you can see in my setup below I have the keyboard half on/half off the pad. It works just fine, but it would be nicer if the pad was a full 1000 mm wide.
Additional Pictures
For those of you interested in close ups of the fabric in comparison with other pads I've added some pictures below:
I've also added official pictures with better quality than my camera offers