"It's been a long time since we've taken a look at mousepads. After all, whether you have an office workstation or gaming setup, it's all about the CPU, RAM, motherboard, and graphics card, right? But what about the components you actually physically need to interact with daily -- the keyboard, and more importantly, the mouse? Sure, many users will tell you how optical or laser mice don't need mousepads. However, it should be understood that while mousepads are not a minimum requirement for these mice to work properly, its function can be greatly enhanced by improving the tracking surface (No, it won't suddenly give you 20 headshots in a row, but it does make a difference) as well as the gliding surface the mouse sits on as you push the mouse across. Last year, only two mousepads over a dozen we've examined excelled as APH-worthy for a quality, high performance, ultimate mousing surface. That's the Func sUrface 1030 Archetype and the XTracPads Hybrid. This year, however, SteelSeries vowed to challenge the best with the SteelSeries SX. They are extremely confident with the 'really, really smooth' surface as they claim it, with lots of industry buzz and extremely high remarks regarding the SteelSeries SX. We are really excited to find out if it is really as good as everyone says it is!"