Rubber Base and Clip

No slip grip

The base of the sUrface 1030 is a high quality rubber with a textured bottom side. The entire bottom surface is in contact with the desk, ensuring that your pad doesn't slip around the table, even in the most frantic situations. There are no rubber feet (like on the Everglide and Ratpadz) that might pop off or cause your pad to rock back and forth (from improper placement) when playing. The sUrface 1030 stays flat and stays put. However, there is one annoying thing about a mouse pad that has several parts - when you move the pad around, the plastic portion invariably falls out of the rubber base. If you're always taking your pad with you to LAN parties, or picking up and resetting your pad around the table, you'll need to "reassemble" the base and the pad. This "assembly" is but a two-second operation though, so we'll leave it up to you to decide how much of a bad thing it is.

The plastic part comes out of the base

Textured rubber

The cord clip

The most interesting part of the sUrface 1030 is the included mouse cord clip. The clip can attach to any of six places on the pad, to accommodate people who turn their mouse pad vertically, etc. Now, having a cord clip isn't a totally innovative idea - I remember seeing mouse pads in stores even five years ago that included cord clips. The idea is that the clip holds up your mouse cord, so that any excess length isn't hanging off the end of your desk and "tugging" at the top of your mouse with its weight. Sounds like a trivial matter, but hey, things like that can throw off your rail aim!

The clip in action

Closer look at the cord loop

The metal clip attaches snugly to the inside portion of the rubber base. You can move the pad around without worrying about the clip falling out, which is a big plus. However, if you're going to move the pad long distances (to LAN parties or competitions), you'll want to remove the clip and reassemble it at the destination to avoid bending, etc. Attaching the clip to the base is a slight pain in the rear, but it doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure out how to do it. fUnc industries isn't taking any chances, though - they included directions on assembly and tips for better mousing.

The clip hooks on to the base

It can go in any of six positions

Overall, we're still ambivalent about the cord clip. At first, we were skeptical about its usefulness, but after I gave it an honest chance I find it to be a pretty nice feature. I could still live without it though. The good news is that it's totally optional. If you don't want it, just don't use it.