I hear Artisan pads despite their unquestionable quality catch dirt real quick. (It reflects in a recommendation in their site where they say you should replace it every 3 months) The claim is in the last sentence in this maintenance guide: http://www.artisan-jp.com/artisan_maint_eng.htmlUltimately, I bought the Roccat Hiro because of that very cleaning and maintenance problem. I can clean the Hiro whichever way I want, and it's not a problem since it's a hydrophobic material and will remove the superficial dirt rather quickly and a quick wipe and it's good to go, plus the tapered edges are still much better than non-tapered ones.
Genkishi569lawl months after they teased the Hiro i saw dat pricetag, 50$ thx but no thx.
gladly clicked puchase on PowerRX. I am pretty sure hiro was teased first, came out first, yet power rx became in stock earlier in the US. what a joke.
lyrilluuuhhhhmmm...it depends on your lifestyle. I gamed pretty heavily back then so I needed something that would last. Roccat Taito died in a few weeks (frayed, and peeled off). Artisan pads were too prone to sweat and dirt. So the logical choice for "me" was something that could be washed on the fly, and was tapered so it wouldn't fray. Honestly, not all people have the same priorities so if you're happy with the PowerRX, that's your cost-benefit analysis. Mine ended with the Roccat Hiro, and it was a steal. It's price was about $35 (brand new). If you want a bargain, don't look at the MSRP. Look for a deal. I looked hard. I got what I wanted for a price I didn't think was possible.