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CM Storm CS-S Battle Pad H2


Date
: 10/23/09 – 05:12:34 AM

Author
:

Category
: Misc

Page 1 : Index

Manufacturer
: Cooler Master

Cooler Master is back in the Overclockers Online confines quickly following our review of their very impressive gaming mouse, the CM Storm Sentinel Advance. While we have grown accustomed to their cases, power supplies and cooling products the Sentinel Advance showed that they are putting a serious effort into other products as well.

When Cooler Master launched the CM Storm brand I'll be the first to admit I figured it would be another way for them to leverage their various cases and power supplies, but they clearly have much different goals than just that.

While I was taking the Sentinel Advance for a spin I also got to try out another new product coming out of the CM Storm labs, the CS-S Battle Pad H2. The Battle Pad product makes sense, if you are going to release a gamer's mouse why not also create a quality gaming surface. The CS-S Battle Pad is one of a large group of new gaming surfaces from CM Storm.

Page 2 : Mouse Pad and Specifications

I've gotten so used to larger sized mouse pads that the small box of the Battle Pad kind of surprised me. On the front of the packaging it's quite clear this product comes from the CM Storm team as it definitely shows a military theme with a tank on the front.

The sides list out features and specs and also give a small paragraph as an introduction. The '-S' denotes that this is the smaller version of the Battle Pad series ('-X' denotes the larger version).

The top of the CS-S Battle Pad is all black with just the CM Storm logo on the bottom right hand corner. The bottom is covered in a rubber material to prevent the mouse pad from slipping.

Here is a closer look at the surface, what Cooler master calls H2Glide cloth.

Here is a quick look at the features and specs straight from the CM Storm site here

Features:

*H2Glide cloth
*Specially weaved fabric for ultimate mouse glide
*Grade ‘A’ durable cloth material, providing micro-precision accuracy and highly responsive tracking rates
*Aggressive non-slip bottom grip – stick it on the table and forget about it

Specifications:

*Model Number: SGS-2000-KSS-1-GP
*Surface Type: H2GlideTM Cloth
*Size: 260 x 210 x 2 mm (10.2 x 8.3 x 0.1 inch)

Page 3 : Testing

There is no hard data for testing that you can show for mouse pads, it is mostly a matter of how the surface feels. I've used both the CM Storm Sentinel Advance and MX Revolution on the CS-S Battle Pad. The CS-S Battle Pad surface offers smooth gliding with enough resistance for precision.

I have used the CS-S Battle Pad for both gaming and standard applications over the last few weeks and have been quite happy with the tracking. The rubber coating on the bottom has done an excellent job in keeping the Battle Pad from moving even an inch during even the most intensive gaming. The smaller size takes some getting used to after using the larger Zowie Pad, however the good news is that if you prefer a larger size there is always the CS-X Battle Pad.

Since the smaller size of the CS-S Battle Pad lends itself to LAN play, it is going to be more prone to picking up dirt. After two weeks of use, I noticed the lower edge started to pick up a bit of dirt, but with just a little bit of water it easily wiped clean and was looking like new.

Page 4 : Conclusion

Cooler Master is continuing to grow its stable of gaming products under the CM Storm franchise and continuing to impress me with those products. The CS-S Battle Pad is great for the gamer on the go as its smaller size allows for easy storage and transport.

There really aren't any disadvantages that I can think of other than it seems to pick up dirt rather easy. However the Battle Pad cleans up easily so this really isn't too large of a concern. I can't fault the small size since there is a larger size for those that want it.

I was impressed by the cases that first rolled out of the CM Storm labs and so far the rest of the gaming gear is top notch as well.

Advantages

• Smooth and accurate surface
  
  
• Good bottom grip
• Easy cleanup

Disadvantages

• Small size

Overclockers Online would like to thank Cooler Master for making this review possible.