The Steelseries 9HD gaming surface is an excellent gaming surface that improves your overall computing experience for both gaming and general day-to-day mousing.
Physical characteristics
The Steelseries 9HD mousepad is very large (10.7" x 12.7") and made out of a thin, rigid plastic material. It gives you plenty of room to mouse around without ever leaving the mat, and its subtle, textured surface makes for nice, easy gliding.
The 9HD is also thin, measuring only .08" (2mm) thick, so it's nearly seamless with your desktop. Although you can't roll it up, it is thin enough to slide nicely between books or similar traveling companions, if you're inclined to travel with it.
The 9HD is designed to enhance the light reflected by mouse laser sensors and thereby improve tracking and accuracy. Paired with a standard optical mouse, the 9HD (if nothing else) certainly enhances the glide of a standard mouse nicely. It's also easy to clean.
Better mousing, better computing
It's difficult (if not impossible) to truly quantify the "improved tracking and precision" of a gaming surface. It is, after all, highly subjective.
However, at least based on my own experience with the considerable number of mouse mats I've used and tried (courtesy of SteelSeries and Razer), I can say that once you've used a good gaming surface like the 9HD, you'll never want to go back to a standard mousemat or grungy desktop. Ever.
And paired with a good gaming mouse like the SteelSeries Xai or Razer Imperator, you'll definitely notice a marked improvement in the glide, precision, and overall feel in your day-to-day computer mousing. Sliding the 9HD under your mouse may not directly translate to more frags or victories, but it certainly makes for a better, more comfortable, more pleasurable mousing experience.
Overall
You might balk at the idea of dropping $35 on a quality mousemat like the SteelSeries 9HD, but I doubt you'd regret it. The SteelSeries 9HD is sleek and a pleasure to mouse on. And if $35 still seems steep, consider the SteelSeries 4HD, which is the same as the 9HD but smaller (9.4" x 11") and less expensive ($20).
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