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The Wingman

I was a bit skeptical when Logitech inquired whether or not I would be interested in testing out their soon-to-be-released, Wingman Gaming Mouse Pads. All I knew about them is that they had a 3M surface. "Big deal", I thought, I've used a 3M before - this is just going to be that same old 3M with a Logitech Wingman logo on it. I was already pretty happy with my Gamers.com Everglide. Well it turns out that I was half right. The Wingman Gaming Mouse Pad is a 3M with a Logitech logo on it, but this wasn't just a remarked 3M. The biggest change is that Logitech has added a very thin, rubber backing to the 3M surface.

The Wingman is a bit larger than a 3M PMS

No slip grip

The nice thing about the new backing is that the pad stays flat, and doesn't move around on your desktop. The biggest problem I had with my 3M (aside from them wearing out on my every few months) is the fact that they would slip around on my desk underneath my hand and "bubbles" would form on the surface because the pad refused to stay flat. The slipping and bubbling problem gets worse with age, too. By the time I threw out my old 3M, I was able to play "ice skating" games with it, throwing it at a low angle across my desk so that it slid all the way from one end to the other. That isn't possible with the Logitech pad - the Wingman Gaming Mouse Pad gives you all the goodness of the 3M surface, without the nasty sliding action of the old one. No more problems with "bubbles" and keeping the pad flat, either. Thanks to the thicker rubber backing, the Wingman pad is just as stable in frantic gaming as my Everglide.

The Wingman is about 3x thicker than a 3M PMS

Longer Lasting?

The other thing that's different about the Wingman Pad is the surface itself, which has been changed, apparently. Kenn, who is borderline obsessive-compulsive when it comes to mouse surfaces (actually he's just obsessive-compulsive about everything), immediately noted that the surface texture of the Wingman Pad is different from a normal one. According the Kenn, the newer surface is sturdier and "less waxy" (that's a good thing) than the normal 3M pad. I had a harder time noticing - but there is a distinct, if subtle difference between the two. In a head to head comparison, the Wingman does seem to track a better than the garden variety 3M. We also noted that the Wingman feels a lot more durable, which is very important. While the original 3M PMS is very susceptible to scratches and creases, I've noticed that Kenn's Wingman Pad has remained relatively scratch free over heavy use in the last few weeks. Whether or not a Wingman Gaming Pad can last longer than a regular 3M PMS over the long haul is unclear. If we had to guess, we'd say that it probably would last you a lot longer, depending on how oily your hands are.

Which is better? It's up to you...