After my review of the HardOCP Ratpad I received an email from Everglide announcing their new GIGANTA product. The GIGANTA measures in at 29.5cm x 24cm at its widest points, while the Ratpad measures 29.2cm x 23.5cm. Everglide was probably fairly angry when the RatPad was announced and have created the GIGANTA to counter the size difference between the RatPad and previous Everglide mousing surfaces. One question does come to mind, why didn’t Everglide make their pad a few centimeters larger?
Size & Shape:
Both pads are incredibly large. When you use a mouse on either pad it feels like it is just gliding instead of rolling across the surface. And both pads are made out of similar hard plastics. The GIGANTA does seem to be a bit smoother when you move your hand across the surfaces than the RatPad, but I haven’t been able to notice any difference in the way the mouse’s ball rolls. And as I said before the two pads are barely different in overall size, they are shaped slightly different though, so I have included some images to help you determine the actual difference.
The RatPad is on the right while the GIGANTA is on the left.
The Bottom
The RatPad possess 8 super-holding rubber stubbies on the bottom while the GIGANTA has only 5 super-holding rubber stubbies. But neither one will slides at all, no matter how crazy my Unreal Tournament playing can get.
Price:
The Ratpad has an advantage here at $18.95 – the Giganta costs $3 more at $21.95 (plus S&H charges for each).
Extras:
There never have been many extras in the past when you deal with a mousing surface, but Everglide does offer nice little wrist-rests deigned specifically for the GIGANTA, at an extra charge of course. Everglide also sells shirts so that if you really like the mousing surfaces you can buy a shirt with the Everglide logo on it. Both companies also offer custom printed pads.
Conclusion:
Let’s see; I really don’t like to have a bias when I do anything but I love Kyle Bennett. I would have loved to come out and say the RatPad is totally better blah blah blah. But I can’t. In this case there is no true winner. I like how the flames on the HardOCP edition RatPad look, but I also prefer the groove at the southern end of the GIGANTA, as it is smaller than the RatPad’s groove. Buy the GIGANTA if you don’t like the look of the RatPad. Buy the RatPad if you don’t like the shape or size of the GIGANTA. If price is a concern, the Ratpad is $3 cheaper.
A second Opinion:
Joe Citarella here – Everglide was kind enough to send me a sample of their Giganta pad so I thought I would add my comments to Aaron’s fine review.
Having used a variety of generic pads picked here and there, using the Giganta was like tasting caviar for the first time – this is nice! My first reaction was the mouse was going to fly off the pad! Very slippery! The material must be some form of nylon that you see used in bearings – it’s a type of plastic that feels slippery.
After getting used to almost effortless mousing, it would be very difficult to go back. In addition, no crud gets into the mechanism so cleaning becomes a rare rather than weekly event. All-in-all, a worthwhile purchase.
PS: You can also turn it over and use it for a cutting board if needed – a hidden bonus!
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