Introduction
Until recently mousepads weren’t exactly a glorious subject. Most of us used a standard issue foam
pad, with a few of us sporting one of the few ’specialty’ surfaces, and plenty of us settling for our
desktop or the nearest magazine. Well folks, times are changing.
But, if we’ve been getting by with the latest copy of Newsweek for as many years, then
why change now? Are these “precision mousing surfaces” all gimmick or is there some game worth checking
out?
We’ll try to answer that question today as we take a look at the fUnc Industries sUrface 1030 Precision
Mousing Surface. *whew*. Now take a breath and read on…
Overview
You can only get so complicated when it comes to a mousepad. Here’s a rundown of the basic specs on
this surface:
| Product: | fUnc sUrface 1030 Competition Mousing Surface |
| Manufacturer: | fUnc Industries |
| Dimensions: | 10″x8.5″x1/8″ |
| Surface: | Two-sided hard textured plastic |
| Base: | Textured rubber |
| Packaging: | Custom fUnc tin |
The sUrface 1030 comes in a killer tin that just slams home the focus on completeness and quality. Who
needs a damn tin for their mousepad you might ask? Well if you spend this much on a surface the last
thing you want is a bunch of nicks and scratches ruining it at that next LAN. Wherever you need to take
it you can throw it in the (padded) tin and rest assured that your mousepad is in good shape.
The tin is fairly sturdy, with a nice fUnc logo on the front. This will, of course, keep you from
A mistake we’ve all made. *ahem*, anyway as you can see the packaging is lively and keeps in tune
with the fUnc orange/black/blue color scheme. The reverse features basic instructions for using the
cord clip and looks at the double-sided surface:
Here is a look at the tin “in the nude”. Yum, shiny. 
When we open it up we see everything fUnc decided to include with their competition mousing surface. In
addition to the nicely padded and protected inner tin (tinside? 
) we have the following:
- 1 rubber base
- 1 hard plastic double-sided mousing surface
- 1 cord clip
- 1 instruction manual
- 1 advertisement
That’s a lot of hullabaloo for a little mousepad, but then again this is a competition mousing
surface, not February’s Sports Illustrated. Here’s a closer look at the pad itself:
While the actual surface is inflexible, the base is made of highly flexible texturized rubber. There
are no feet, just a flat textured surface with major gription (no, that’s not a real word, but I’ll be
damned if I stop using it). Here’s a look at the base in all it’s flexible glory:
If we look very closely at the bottom we can see it’s comprised of many angled scores that look
like a diamond-shaped pattern covering the entire base. I like the design better than a few big feet,
becuse when it comes to friction (or gription , surface area is very important. fUnc does a great
job of maximizing surface area with this design.
If you’re still using a corded mouse you’re in luck, as the fUnc 1030 comes with a small metal retainer
clip for the cord. Using the ‘loop’ method you can attach the retainer to the mousepad, and loop the
cord through the retainer and around to the mouse. Pretty simple and fairly useful:
Now that we have taken a good look at what we’ve got on our hands, let’s dig in a little and see how
this mousepad stands out from the rest.
Comparison & Analysis
The first question that comes to mind when testing a mousepad is, how the hell do you test a mousepad?!
There certainly aren’t any benchmarks or timedemo’s when it comes to a mousing surface. But, this doesn’t
mean we can’t gauge just how well this pad performs with a little time and some head-to-head testing
against the most popular counterparts.
First let’s ask who needs a mousepad like this. If you’re a casual user who uses the PC for a little
email, browsing, and the occasional game of solitaire you probably don’t need precision performance
from your mousepad. On the other hand, if you’re a gamer, you know how important it is to have
a good surface. Nothing sucks more than getting your butt fragged because your cruddy mousepad makes
your mouse skip, lurch, or crawl. You need both high response to quick movements and very precise response
to small movements. Finally, aside from your average joe and your hardcore gamer, another group who
should demand a quality surface is the graphic designer. If you are using a mouse for your design
work you know how important precision response is.
On top of actual performance we also want to consider comfort level. Even if the pad rocks for gaming
you don’t want sore wrists after just a few frags. To simplify things let’s break this down some. The
major factors affecting overall quality are:
- Micro response (response to small movements)
- Macro response (response to large movements)
- Smoothness
- Comfort / ease of use
- Price
You can see I threw price in there too, as with anything even the best product can be worthless if the
pricetag is too high. Aside from price, we want to know how the pad handles small, precise movements,
and large usually faster movements. Another important thing to consider is smoothness: does it skip
when you reel the mouse from one end of the pad to the other or is it one smooth movement?
In order to guage how well the fUnc 1030 does up against the alternatives, I’ll be using a small variety
of mousing surfaces and mice for my testing. For surfaces we have:
- fUnc 1030
- Ratpadz GS
- Allsop foam rubber mousepad
- Tabletop
These four pretty much cover the most common options right now. Of course, there are lots of other
specialty surfaces out there, but we’ll save that for a future review. The Allsop is your standard
issue foam rubber mousepad. You’ve probably seen ‘em at Wal-Mart or Best Buy a million times. The
tabletop is a clean, smooth oak surface, entirely not intended for mousing. The Ratpadz GS is another
very popular performance mousepad that had a hand on the market until surfaces like the fUnc started
appearing.
The Ratpadz is a very different design and should help us compare the effect of texture, height,
gripping methods, and surface material very well. Here’s a look at the RatPadz GS:
It’s definitely thicker than the fUnc, with a much rougher surface and a curved design. A good contrast
to fUnc’s methods. The base is also very different, using rubber feet instead of a flat rubber mat:
The surface of each mousepad is critical. fUnc recognizes that you may have differing needs and has
a reversable surface. One side is very smooth while the other is a bit rougher. Let’s take a side-by-side
look of each texture in extreme close-up:
 |
 |
| fUnc – Smooth | fUnc – Rough |
 |
 |
RatPadz GS | Generic foam rubber |
It becomes pretty obvious looking at these pics that the RatPadz has a very rough surface. The fUnc’s
smooth surface side is extremely smooth, with the other side being slightly rougher but still nowhere
near what the RatPadz is going for. The generic foam rubber mousepad has a cloth top like most of them,
and it’s probably about the same surface roughness as the rough fUnc. Different material though, which
can affect how it performs.
Now the mousepad is of course only a portion of what defines your mousing experience. The mouse itself
is primary to the cause. I’ll be using three mice to test with so we can get an idea of how each mouse-type
works with each pad:
- Logitech cordless optical mouse
- Logitech corded optical mouse
- Microsoft corded ball mouse
For testing I’m simply using each mouse in turn with each surface. I poked around my desktop, ran a few
Office apps, then fired up Photoshop to see how it felt working with some precision images. After that,
it’s a few rounds of the popular Battlefield 1942 mod Desert Combat. This is the perfect game for
testing, as it relies heavily on mouse movement and precision for flying, shooting and of course just
running around trying not to get your self killed.
After using each combination of the above I got a very good feel of how each combination performed.
There were some clear winning combinations, as you will see on the next page as we conclude this review
of the fUnc 1030…
Conclusion
Before I jump to my conclusion I noticed something else that piqued my interest. The surface of the fUnc
is semi-translucent, and when lit up from behind glows with a really cool blue light. This could be
the start of a neat mod! A few LEDs and you could probably light this sucker right up. Have a look:
Anyway, after experimenting with the many combinations of mice and pads, I’d say there is a distinct difference
between using a ball mouse and an optical mouse when it comes to choosing your mousepad. Since a ball
mouse is mechanical and requires friction to move the ball, a rougher surface is somewhat beneficial.
I suspected this from the beginning, and thought the RatPadz would shine due to the extremely rough
surface. But my testing proved a little differently.
I can say from the bottom of my heart that the fUnc 1030 blew the competition out of the water. As much
as I love my RatPadz, it was simply no contest. The smooth side of the fUnc was the best surface I have
ever used, hands down. Cordless or corded, it was a superb exprience. Ball or optical, it delivered.
The winning combo for me was my Logitech Cordless Optical and the smooth side of the fUnc. Plus, they
even look good together
With the corded ball mouse, the rough side worked very well, and the mouse itself was the limiting factor
for me. If you are still using a ball mouse you probably don’t need the fUnc, as the generic foam
rubber pad worked just fine. Even the desktop worked okay, but for all of the mice the desktop was
too slick and did not offer good reflection for the optical mice.
The smooth side of the fUnc 1030 pad was ideal for my wireless and corded optical mice. In fact, I’ve
never had so much fun mousing than with my wireless Logitech and fUnc 1030. Precision movements in
Photoshop used to be a bit touchy with the RatPadz GS, which I attribute to the extremely rough surface.
But in games or in development the fUnc is really a superb pad. The height is a major plus, it is fairly
close to the desktop at under 1/8″. The RatPadz is quite high and is a little uncomfortable at times.
I still recommend the RatPadz for a cheaper competition surface, but if you can shell out the ~$20 USD
for the fUnc it is well worth your money.
But as much as I love this pad, I’m not keeping it. Why you ask? because I’m giving it to you!
Well, maybe not you specifically, but I am giving it away in our first
Fury-Tech.com Hardware Giveaway.
So if you want a chance to score this very mousepad,
check out the contest, it’s easy to enter.
You can also discuss this and other topics on Fury-Tech Forums.
Thanks for reading, and until next time, may the Hz be with you!
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Related posts:
- fUnc Industries sUrface 1030 Competition Mousing Surface
- Fury-Tech.com Hardware Giveaway
- SteelPad S&S Review
- Razer eXact Mat MousePad Review
- Contest #1 is over! And the winner is…
