GoSmart RestPad Soft Sheepskin Mouse Pad – ‘Book Mystique Review
I don’t need a whole lot of convincing about the benefits and advantages of sheep fleece. I’ve used a sheep fleece mattress cover on my bed for years as a layer of comfort enhancement, and I’m sold.
The GoSmart RestPad is an ergonomic mousepad with a sheepskin fleece wrist rest designed to provide a similar effect for your wrist when mousing or using a graphic tablet. The intent is that the sheepskin will provide soothing comfort and ultimate pressure relief. GoSmart claims that the RestPad’s superior performance providing wrist pressure relief has been measured during extensive testing using advanced tactile array sensors that measured the contact pressures underneath the wrist and found to to relieve over twice as much pressure as other wrist rests.
I can’t speak to the scientific accuracy of that claim, but I have no reason to disbelieve it, and the RestPad’s fleece certainly provides comfortable wrist support.
The RestPad’s actual mousepad’s mousing surface is covered with microfiber, a synthetic material that I like but have never seen used on a mousepad before. It’s available in your choice of tan, pink, or dark brown. Our test unit was camel (light tan), which looks sharp, but I would have some concern about both the camel and particularly the pink colors getting grubby-looking pretty quickly, and my recommendation would be to go with the dark brown.
The sheepskin wrist pad is natural off-white, but it’s removable for laundering, being secured to the mousepad with Velcro. I suppose the microfiber mousing surface is scrubbable too, but I wouldn’t suggest running it through the washer. Routine cleaning instructions are to wipe down the sheepskin with a damp, soapy cloth, then when fully dry to brush the wool — ideally with a dog brush, which can also be used periodically to freshen and fluff the fleece.
The RestPad’s mousepad is medium-sized in mousing area – larger than a standard pad but considerably smaller than the big hard plastic SteelSeries gaming mousepads I normally use. The microfiber mousing surface is proportioned to match the widescreen aspect ratio of modern computer displays, which I had some misgivings about, but it proved easy to get used to. I also wondered how I would like the softer surface microfiber after the ultra-low friction hard plastic SteelPad mousepad I’m used to, but it seems fine, and the contact surface feet of your mouse will get a good cleaning tracking around on the microfiber.
The sheepskin wrist rest area is also larger than typical, and rounded to maximize user comfort, and the mousepad, while surfaced with the soft-feeling microfiber, actually is of rigid construction with a high friction rubbery plastic base that should prevent any sliding or skidding around on any support surface.
GoSmart says the RestPad has been recently updated using higher quality sheep skin and adding the detach for cleaning feature. It certainly seemed to be of excellent quality on our test unit. Currently, the new revised model is available exclusively from the GoSmart website while the older design is still available from Amazon.com. The RestPad is also now assembled in the USA.
“The GoSmart RestPad is like a relaxing vacation for your wrists. Once you use it, it will be very difficult to go back to using a hard mouse pad again,” says Jae Son, President and Inventor, GoSmart, Inc.
I’m not entirely sure I agree on the latter point. I still like my hard, speedy low-friction mousepads. But they don’t have wrist rests, and the sheepskin one on the RestPad sure is inviting. I have no hesitation giving the GoSmart RestPad a 4 out of 5 ‘Book Mystique rating.
The GoSmart Rest Pad is available immediately, priced at $24.95 at the GoSmart site at:
http://justgosmart.com/store/
or through Amazon.com. For more information, see the GoSmart website:
http://www.justgosmart.com
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