Razer Zone - Destructor Precision Gaming Surface
Price: $39.99
www.RazerZone.com

Finding the right Video Card or Processor for your machine may seem like a gamer's number one concern, but many times instead of looking inside the system we should be spending more time looking at how we interact with it. Our two main devices have always been the Keyboard and Mouse, and finding the perfect ones for you can be a challenge, but what about what your Mouse sits on? That can be an even greater importance in how easily you use your computer and get those points in your favorite game.

Today we are taking a look at the Razer Destructor Precision Gaming Surface, or Mouse Pad as many of us know them by. Razer makes many high performance gaming devices including mice, keyboards, and mouse pads, so it should be interesting to see how the Destructor lives up to the Razer name.

Coming in a very nice looking case with an informational cardboard cover, the Destructor is a very inviting product if you were to see it on a shelf in your favorite store. On the back Razer has included many different specs and claims about how the Destructor provides "37% better tracking over other gaming-grade surfaces" and some reviews from fellow pro gamers.

Upon taking off the cardboard cover you will find a very nice nylon case that is quite rigid and around one inch thick. The zipper goes around three sides of the case and there is a small Razer logo on the front side.

Opening up the case we get our first look at the Destructor. The case has a soft interior with the bottom portion having a fitted area for the Destructor to rest.

The Destructor itself is a light grey metallic in color and has a small Razer logo in the upper right corner along with the Destructor logo in the lower left corner. The small logos are discrete and much better than those on past Razer pads that were very bold, this pad could easily fit in a professional office environment. The bottom has a nice arc to it that parallels the arced top.

The Destructor is made of two parts. To stay put, the bottom half is a non-slip material like you will find on most mouse pads. Mounted directly on top of that is the plastic like gaming surface. There is very little to no cushioning and the two parts come together to make a very thin pad. It is just a sliver thicker than a standard US mint quarter and comes out to 2.8mm thick.

The overall size of the Destructor is 350mm x 280mm (or about 14 inches x 11 inches for us USA folk). This is a bit larger than your normal pad, but quite a bit smaller than the huge Razer Mantis Speed and Control pads that we have reviewed in the past.

Testing

To get a feel for the Destructor, two different mice were used, the Logitech G7 and Razer Lachesis, both of which are laser based systems. We also compared the Destructor to the Razer Mantis Speed and Control pads which are of the more conventional cloth type construction. We rated the pads in three categories, Speed, Control, and Ergonomics out of a best score of 10.

In using the Logitech G7 and Razer Lachesis, both had very good feedback and worked great on the Destructor. The G7 tended to glide a bit more smoothly over the surface than the Lachesis, but the Lachesis felt like it had a bit more control because of this. No skipping or jumping problems occurred with either mouse on the destructor and all tracking was very good. In comparison to the Mantis pads, it was about the same in accuracy, a very good thing since the Mantis pads in our mind are pretty much 100% accurate with no jumping or loss of tracking.

Compared directly to the Mantis Speed and Control, the Destructor is an interesting mix. It has much greater speed (scoring a perfect 10) than either the Speed or Control thanks to its solid surface, which is a great thing for gaming. It does not do very well in the control category, scoring only a 6, because of its great amount of speed. It also is very hard to be extremely precise with the Destructor because there is not much resistance to keep you from moving too far. Dialing down the DPI on your mouse (if you can) is a great way to compensate for this, but it still is not the best of you need to do a lot of accurate work such as Photoshop touchup or drawing. In the Ergonomics category the Destructor does the best again with a score of 9. Because of its very thin profile and arced shape, the pad is a joy to use and you can barely tell that it is there (which is a good thing!). The Mantis pads have a larger surface area that makes them great for photo editing and such, but the Destructor is no slouch in the size department either, actually a much more manageable size than the Mantis pads, and thus scores higher than them.

Overall we were very impressed with the Destructor. It is one of the best solid surface mouse pads we have used and is a great pad to look into for gaming. The included case is a nice touch for gamers on the road and the fit and finish of the product is awesome. That being said, if you do a lot of precision work I would take a closer look at the Razer Mantis line of pads as they may be better suited to precision mousing.

Pros:

• Solid Feel and Construction
• Great Size
• Included Case
• Thin
• A joy to use for gaming

Cons:

• Price
• Lack of control for precision work

Thanks to Razer for the Review Sample!