QPAD CT KODE5 DOTA Limited Edition Review

We take a look at QPAD’s limited edition CT gaming mouse pad.

QPAD remain a respected brand in the world of gaming, providing some of the finest gaming surfaces available to gamers. We have had the pleasure in the past of reviewing some of these gaming pads and have been impressed with the quality and standard QPAD set. Today we have the delight of reviewing the QPAD CT KODE5 DOTA Limited Edition.

Below is an extract from the QPAD website regarding their vision.

QPAD built its success on a grassroots committment to the gaming community. Like you, we thrive in the madness of competition and embrace the free spirit of gaming. Our sponsorship of the Q Tour, communities, cups, tournaments, teams and LAN parties reflects this commitment. The knowledge we’ve gained has fed into our development of high quality products that have a great performance and given many a winning edge.

So without further ado let us commence our review on this limited edition pad.

Features

The QPAD CT has been on the market for a while now and is a popular choice for those opting for the cloth mat style pad. QPAD have revamped this pad by giving it a fresh design, some information below helps us ascertain why they chose to do this.

Taken from www.qpad.kode5.com.

To celebrate the success of the KODE5 DotA Challenge and to thank the DotA community for their support, KODE5 and QPAD have teamed up with renowned DotA artist kunkka to bring forth the Collector Edition QPAD CT – the first performance mouse pad specifically designed for the DotA gamer. The collector edition features the ubiquitous DotA load screen illustrated by kunkka. This powerful image depicts some of the many DotA heroes in the midst of an epic battle, and is a wonderful addition to any desktop. The KODE5 DotA Edition QPAD CT is engineered with QPAD’s proprietary HybratekTM coating that ensures that the mouse registers even the smallest movement, while offering a smooth and controlled glide with an optimal level of friction. Beautifully illustrated with a proven design, the KODE5 DotA Edition QPAD CT is the mouse pad DotA fans have been waiting for.

“DotA is about the epic battles of over 90 awesome and unique characters. Therefore I chose to portray the essence of a DotA game in this illustration, featuring a dramatic 5v5 battle between these heroes. I’m very happy that KODE5 and QPAD gave me this opportunity to have my art featured on the mouse pad and be part of the DotA community. It’s great to be part of this collaboration!”
– Kendrick “kunkka” Lim.

Specfications

QPAD®|CT™ Large, KODE5 kunkka Limited edition. 4mm. Pro gaming surface with Hybratek™ coating. QPAD Glidz included for ultimate control.

Size: Large [40.5×28.5cm 15.95×11.23 inch]
Thickness: 4 mm
Colour: kunkka design
Surface: Hybratek™ Coated soft top
Other: Including Glidz
Price: 35EURO

Closer look

The QPAD CT LE KODE5 comes curled up n a circular tube. The tube is clear, so that you can see the design work on the pad. There are various details to be seen inside the tube along with previous awards that were achieved with the original CT pad.

Taking the pad out of the tube you are immediately met with a dazzling, exuberant design. The pictures really do not do the graphical effort that has been exerted on this wonderful piece of artwork. The colours and shading are immense, and its quite obvious that there has been a lot of time and effort gone in to designing this (credit to ‘kunkka’ there).

The 4mm thickness is sufficient enough to allow a super smooth surface and the Hybratek coating on the surface feels silky smooth and I’m looking forward to testing this out in the next section, to see how it reacts in the gaming environment. As mentioned above the size of this pad is classed as large and it really is just that, there is plenty of surface area more than sufficient for any gamer.

Performance

So that we can gauge whether the QPAD CT LE KODE5 is a decent pad, I will be putting it through its paces and seeing how it performs in its intended surroundings – gaming. As with all reviews in the mouse pad genre, the testing phase can be quite opinionated. I will be commenting on its performance solely – how well it works. The design, styling and visuals are down to personal preference. So to test the CT LE KODE5 I will be using it whilst playing 30 minutes 3 different genre of game. First-person shooter, 3rd person action adventure and real-time strategy. The games of choice are:

Crysis
Prince of Persia
War Hammer 40,000: Dawn of War II

After playing each title for the allotted time, I was left with a very high opinion of the CT LE KODE5. My Logitech MX-518 had no problem tracking whatsoever and the glide actions felt extremely smooth. I decided to test in 3 different genres as the movements in each are completely different. I must say that there were no problems experienced in any of the above games, no pad movement at all. Compared to playing with a pad, the CT LE KODE5 improves gameplay significant; I really like the Hybratek surface and it’s obvious that this material enhances accuracy.

Conclusion

The QPAD CT KODE5 DOTA Limited Edition is an outstanding pad. On every level it really is one of the best gaming pads on the market.

It might be down to personal preference with the appearance of the design but even so, you will agree that the effort and skills used in this aspect are second to none. I personally really like the design and visually this pad is impressive.

The surface as I’ve mentioned is supreme, team it up with a decent gaming mouse and you may well be on track for gaming stardom.

The only downside that I can identify with this product is the cost. 35EURO for a pad could be a problem for some. But, if money isn’t a problem then I would urge you to invest in this pad as it’s simply remarkable.