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Roccat Alumic review: Roccat Alumic

The Roccat Alumic is entirely worth the money, and is one of the better mouse mats available.

Craig Simms Special to CNET News
Craig was sucked into the endless vortex of tech at an early age, only to be spat back out babbling things like "phase-locked-loop crystal oscillators!". Mostly this receives a pat on the head from the listener, followed closely by a question about what laptop they should buy.
Craig Simms

Like Razer's Vespula, Roccat's Alumic mouse mat is double-sided and features a gel-filled wrist rest. One side is coarser (apparently for speed), the other smoother (for control). This bore out even in Windows, with our reference G5 making greater strides on the coarse side, while offering more precision on the smooth.

9.0

Roccat Alumic

The Good

Two different surfaces, one for speed, one for control. Wrist rest that you can place anywhere. Huge size. Aluminium core keeps things rigid.

The Bad

Some may find it hard to justify the cost.

The Bottom Line

The Roccat Alumic is entirely worth our money, and is one of the better mouse mats available.

While the coarser side is a serious grey with a large outline of the Roccat logo coming from the right, flip it over and you get a centred logo glowing in metallic blue and silver that's quite hypnotic when under a light source.

It's also large, something we're very much in favour of. At 331x272mm, there's little chance of your mouse hitting the borders. It's incredibly rigid, too, with an anodised aluminium core.

Unlike the Vespula, the wrist rest is free-moving, allowing you to put it at the base, on the side or even on the mat itself if you desire. The tacky bottom surface ensures it won't move anywhere, regardless of what you put it on.

Firing up Serious Sam HD and Left 4 Dead revealed a mouse mat that was faster than we're used to, but still provided fantastic accuracy.

As is usually the case with mouse mats, the price may sting for some — AU$59.95 obviously costing more than just putting up with your desk. For our money, though, the Alumic is entirely worth it, and one of the better mouse mats available.