I used a PVC cutting mat as a mousepad for years.

Back in the day (ca 1996) when my dad bought a PC he forgot to buy a mousepad. One of these cutting mats was lying around then and it was just the perfect fit. Just a basic sturdy mat with a grid pattern on it. Can't get more 90s than that.

Mine was grey, but this green one looks cool, too:

I had some custom ones printed up for my PB machines. 🤣

I bought a handful of the thick plain blue mousepads I used all through the 90s, for my eventual retro computer lab (once I get the space for it!) Seems like every computer I saw in the early 90s had that blue mousepad.

@King_Corduroy: That custom printed one looks great! Whereabouts did you get it done?

EDIT: Found a local place that will do it (Vistaprint Australia) so I just ordered me an Amstrad branded mousepad for my XT 😀

Heh, found this in my office & thought of this thread. Never forget the old standby "trade conference swag" mouse pad. Although this one might be very early 2000s rather than '90s.

...and wouldn't you know it, an example of the exact model of non-wheel Logitech mouse I was talking about earlier. I forgot I even had that, it was in the bottom of a box marked "serial & data cables." I've got a few of the wedge Mousemans too.

Malvineous wrote:

I bought a handful of the thick plain blue mousepads I used all through the 90s, for my eventual retro computer lab (once I get the space for it!) Seems like every computer I saw in the early 90s had that blue mousepad.

@King_Corduroy: That custom printed one looks great! Whereabouts did you get it done?

EDIT: Found a local place that will do it (Vistaprint Australia) so I just ordered me an Amstrad branded mousepad for my XT 😀

I got them done by a guy on ebay, it was kinda expensive though like 5 bucks a mat I'm looking for cheaper solutions to have a bunch printed at once. Also yeah I got a stack of plain blue ones as well that I use on the rest of my machines. 🤣

That's not bad, mine was AU$10 + $10 shipping (US$7 + $7 shipping) so not something I would buy a lot of, but not too bad either just for the fun of it! Thinking whether I should get one done with the Apogee logo on it now...what have you started!! 😀

oeuvre wrote:

just a basic blue one

i have one exactly like this, but it is way worn off

This is what I've used for my retro PC for the last little while

My custom one arrived! I never thought I would be so excited about a mousepad before. Nostalgia sure is funny.

Wow nice! That turned out really well. 😁

Thanks! I owe you one for putting the idea in my head 😀

One from a former employer:

Here's a very cool 90's style mouse pad.. 😉

Another one. Very 90s. :)

This one may be more vintage than retro, but I bought this mouse and pad a few years ago. I can't even remember if I tested it. It is a Q500 digital mouse made by a company called Chakers INC.

tannerstevo wrote:

This one may be more vintage than retro, but I bought this mouse and pad a few years ago. I can't even remember if I tested it. It is a Q500 digital mouse made by a company called Chakers INC.

Reminds me a lot of the pads we had to use with some of the optical rodents we had at my old workplace which consisted of a very fine grid on a metal pad. The mice in question wouldn't work on any other surface (we tried but no luck).

back in the 90's I went for heavy duty and repairable, well we had scrap laying around and i was 10 in 97 so i used what i had.

I used 1/4 in plywood scrap my dad had, and then covered it in an old The Magic School bus tshirt with a staple gun to the backside, wish i still had it 🤣, I will say it had some heft to it, though it did slide around easily and left gouge marks on my desk from the staples but oh well lmao.

One advantage over a real mouse pad, i once hit my brother with it when he was getting on my nerves, sure he had a concision but he left me alone again.