Mousepads?

[psic]

I feel a bit weird writing this, but what are your opinions on mousepads?

I always ignored them, just used any old pad I had lying around, but then my brother started using a playmat from the Yu-Gi-Oh card game and I'm just loving it. The thing is that it's the perfect size to accommodate both a keyboard and a mouse with quite a bit of room to spare.

I'm now surfing on Amazon and looking at 'deskmats', but they're just so boring and quite expensive. This playmat is quite cheap (my brother says he bought it on eBay), it probably won't take much abuse, but it is non-slipping, the material is quite nice to the touch, and it just looks really cool - I used to play a lot of Magic: The Gathering and I love the fantasy artwork of these games.

So, any preferences on mousepads or deskpads?

[techieMoe]

I have a similar set of "playmats" I use for Magic: The Gathering sometimes. I actually haven't used a mouse pad regularly in about five or six years. They're more decorative than anything, since modern optical mice have much more precise cameras in them then their first generation brethren and work on just about any surface (except a mirror).

For several years I used a hard plastic pad with texturing on it I got at a convention (it was a RatPadz GS for anyone who's counting). Now it's pretty much whatever hard surface I can find.

I do however still use a wrist rest, as that bone that sticks out on the bottom pinky-side of my hand (outermost carpal?) gets sore after a while on a hard desk.

[rokytnji]

I am gonna shock ya a bit. But I found that old newspaper works like the bomb with ball mouses and regular lazer mouses. Don't cost me a cent either. But I am a cheap skate at heart.

[oz]

I still use the old style mousepads, foam rubber pads covered with cloth, and like using them even though I don't really need them to have a properly working laser mouse. I figure they make the gliding pads last a little longer and my desk doesn't get any scratches or wear on it should I get overly rambunctious with the mouse. I've been considering trying one of the hard surface variety, but haven't been in any big hurry to do so.

[ZankerH]

I have a wooden table, I find laser, IR and ball mice all work perfectly fine without pads.

[darkrose0510]

I do however still use a wrist rest, as that bone that sticks out on the bottom pinky-side of my hand (outermost carpal?) gets sore after a while on a hard desk.

I still use the old style mousepads, foam rubber pads covered with cloth...

I use the same old mousepads, for the reasons moe mentions.