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SteelPad 5L vs fUnc Archetype Showdown November 27, 2006 Jakub Wojnarowicz |
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Summary: Like Genjuro vs Haohmaru in Samurai Showdown II, SteelPad and fUnc face off for the hearts and minds of gamers. The new big dog against the old street champion go at it. Only Jakub has the answers.
 Introduction | Page:: ( 1 / 4 ) |
And yet, is there room on the market for fancy mouse pads nowadays? Surely, with optical mice there isn’t the need for fancy surfaces? That may be true, but the mouse pad business continues to roll. We try to answer the reasons why with our head-to-head comparison between the SteelPad 5L and fUnc Industries Archetype.
The SteelPad 5L has a somewhat more traditional mouse pad design than the Archetype. While you may be tempted to assume that the 5L stands for “5 large” due to its incredible dimensions of 15x11” (280x380mm), the fact if the matter is that 5L refers to the 5-layer design of the pad. At the top is a plastic coating designed to maintain the integrity of the second layer, the cloth surface. Below that is a layer of foam for comfort, and it lies on top of a hard plastic board that gives the pad rigidity and strength. At the very bottom is a wild spattering of hard rubber that, despite its random pattern and relatively thing contact surface, actually grips better than the Archetype (though the Archetype is a smaller pad too).
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What does the 5L have going for it? For starters, comfort. The Archetype isn’t uncomfortable at the least, but it is somewhat cold and the hardness is noticeable. Having used each pad for roughly a week, arguing that either performs better is an exercise in futility but for sheer feel, the 5L is more friendly. Perhaps not as clean and sterile as an Archetype, but definitely softer to the touch.
Secondly, the 5L is huge. This is both a boon and bane to the design, since not everyone has the desk space to park a jumbo jet, but those that do, and use lower sensitivities, may enjoy the considerable room the pad gives you. Perhaps gamers with high-sensitivity mice and settings won’t quite find a use for all that room, but when fiddling around with image editing in my spare time, with my Razer Copperhead set to the lowest DPI settings possible, it made pixel hunting in Photoshop less of a strain than usual. The 5L comes in a standard design with a single image, not unlike the neuron firing sequence in the X-Men movie opening credits sequence.
| fUnc Archetype | Page:: ( 2 / 4 ) |
Another good note is the abandonment of the sad rubber base. The old Surface 1030 rubber based I had ended up wearing thin and beginning to wrinkle. Worse, where my hand usually touched the rubber base, the hard part of the rubber wore through and exposed the soft, gooey inside rubber that kept wearing off and leaving residue on my desk or the base of my palm. Worst of all, the rubber base got noticeably dirtier and less attractive over the years. The Archetype, by contrast, comes either with a billet aluminum base or a soft-feel hard plastic. We had the plastic for test, and while we’re not quite sold on the “soft-feel” of it, it isn’t as hard as the actual mousing surface, and it should both last and stay more attractive than the old-style rubber base.
As with the Surface 1030, the Archetype has a flippable mousing surface with smooth and rough sides. This is much less of a feature with optical mice around, but the ability to flip over to determine at least feel is nice. Despite our best attempts, we could not notice a difference in mouse response no matter what DPI settings and surface combinations were used. As far as the trusty Copperhead is concerned, the rough and smooth fUnc surfaces were just as good as the SteelPad. An old-school ball mouse which has seen better days worked equally well on the rough fUnc surface and the SteelPad, and it may have arguably lost some grip in FPS action on the smooth side of the fUnc pad.
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Perhaps the best feature of the Archetype is the proven durability of the design. No foam, no cloth to protect, and without rubber to wear out, it should last much longer than any mouse or even computer. The Archetype is of course easy to clean and washes off easily, and this is not a task we had to engage in too often with the Surface 1030 so we don’t expect the Archetype to be any more maintenance-intensive.
Complaints
The large size of the SteelPad is nice and even handy, but would make more of a pain to handle if you plan on going to LAN parties. We’re also somewhat concerned about the durability of the SteelPad. Note that this concern is only relative – the 5L shows little signs of use other than some fading where the wrist touches of the edge of the pad. However, the Archetype will undoubtedly last longer. In fact, it’d be a safe bet that barring introductions to a fire or sharp or very heavy objects, the Archetype could serve your children’s children, if we’re still using mice 60 years from now. The 5L, by comparison, looks like it might last several years.
The Archetype’s mouse cord clip is, as with previous designs, of questionable utility and durability. Mice also tend to be somewhat louder during movement on the Archetype, especially the rough side. This isn’t really a big deal for games, but we have noticed it late at night while listening to music quietly. The noise isn’t intrusive but every now and then it does catch the user’s attention. How loud it is depends on the side of the fUnc being used and how fast the mouse is going. No doubt the state of the mouse feet matters somewhat. I’d rather not make any promises of silence on behalf of my Copperhead the day the feet wear right through and the mouse plastic is in touch with the pad surface. The 5L is a quieter surface, which should be no surprise given the foam layer.
| Ballistics Report | Page:: ( 3 / 4 ) |
fUnc Archetype Pros
Price
Ranging in price from $24.99 for the all-plastic non-custom model to $45.99 for the custom design aluminum billet, the Archetype is generally cheaper than the 5L.
Durability
Short of a fire, nuclear incident or considerable physical abuse, the Archetype just simply will not wear out. The hippies are crying, mother nature is dying, but on this Archetype your grandchildren’s mice will still be flyin’.
Styling
The basic black is attractive enough, and with aluminum base and custom surface options, only you can blame yourself if you find your Archetype to be ugly.
fUnc Archetype Cons
Umm.. it’s bad for the environment?
OK, seriously, if the worst complaint I can come up with is that the mouse pad is somewhat louder than the 5L, it’s a pretty good mouse. Just a warning though: once your mouse’s teflon feet wear away, expect considerably more noise.
SteelPad 5L Pros
Size
They may say it’s the motion of the ocean that matters, but the extra space feels good when you’re pixel hunting in Photoshop and using a low-DPI setting on your mouse.
Comfort
Not only is it bigger, it’s softer. The SteelPad 5L hopes to harness foam’s advantages without its weaknesses. The advantages it certainly has down pat.
SteelPad 5L Cons
Price
This is relative. $40 isn’t that much for something that will arguably last you 2-5 years or more, but it is more expensive than the Archetype. You can buy the Age of Empires III theme pads for 33% off, however.
Durability questions
Again, relative. The 5L’s surface is more likely to wear through than the Archetype. Both will take several generations to wear through – the 5L several computer generations, and the Archetype several human generations.
| Final Verdict | Page:: ( 4 / 4 ) |
fUnc Archetype
