Keith Devens .com

I just got an XTrac Hammer (17"x11" thin plastic pad with tiled hexagons) last week and am not totally satisfied. I own a Logitech MX500, which was having severe problems tracking on the grain of my table (stained oak, semi-glossy surface), so I decided on buying one of these to help. The pad is huge, very thin, and smell-free, but I still get some tracking problems. The most common is a small amount of vertical jitter that I believe is caused as the sensor is going along the 3mm or so wide empty channel between neighboring hexagons. I may get a Sharpie and add some noise to these areas of the pad to see if that helps.
I have not tried my first generation Optical Mouseman on it yet, which generally tracks better but has a noticeable latency when first moving it. (LED dims and sensor slows after no movement for ~1 sec to conserve power.) I've heard good things about the Logitech MX510 sensors being better, however. I have no MS or other company optical mouse, so I can't comment there.

Thanks for the review. Because I have the Logitech Mouseman Dual Optical, I may not have the same problem with skippage between hexagon lines since the mouse has two sensors. I'm glad to know it's smell-free.

Dude, why don't you just wash your current pad to get rid of the smell? If it doesn't work (still smells, gets screwed up), then buy the new one.

I left my current pad in the sun and the rain for days and it still smells.

Does it smell ...like Fresh Mex? I like Fresh Mex.

Wash it!