If reviewing scores upon endless scores of computer peripherals over the years has taught us anything, it is that the gaming input device market is far from saturated. While it would seem on the surface that everyone who would buy high-end gaming peripherals has already bought them, the market is actually being fed by an influx of gamers and general users looking to take advantage of certain features that are available only on gaming peripherals. One of the more frequent adoptions of gaming peripherals by the general market occurs with mousepads. Graphic artists, CAD designers, 3D animators, and various other professionals tend to benefit greatly from huge mousing surfaces, such as those afforded by the venerable Supermat or QcK+.

This is undoubtedly why we keep seeing new mousing surfaces pop up in the gaming space so frequently: manufacturers are trying to produce mousepads with features that make everyone, not just gamers, want to replace their current mousing surface. As with most markets, the gaming peripheral market is dominated by a few major players. Similarly, the entire market itself can be dramatically different depending on your geographic location. One of the biggest mousepad companies in Europe is Qpad. We have previously reviewed the QPAD|CT and QPAD|XTR at GotFrag Hardware, but their market penetration in United States has seemingly remained relatively small in comparison with competing companies like SteelSeries, X-ray and Razer.

With their second most recent release, the EC-R, Qpad may just have something that will give them a nice little boost. Read on for our comprehensive review of the new QPAD|EC-R.

QPAD|EC-R
Manufacturer: Qpad
Type of pad: Hard, single surface
Material: Carbytek2™
Size: 40cm x 28cm x 3.5mm thick
Gallery: Click Here!
Price: $29.95 @ GotGear

The QPAD|EC-R is a very simply mousepad in the sense that it is made up of only one piece. It’s design is very similar to that of the previously reviewed QPAD|XT-R, and it is in fact the same size. The actual usable surface of the EC-R is very slightly larger than that of the XT-R however, due to the fact that the XT-R surface is on a base which curves up and uses some of the quoted area. In terms of aesthetics, the EC-R is just as sharp in its simplicity as any other mousepad we have reviewed.