The plastic mat helps to make my rolling desk chair glide more easily on the carpet. However a thin sheet of laminate or even thin plywood would be so much better. The mat is certainly better than having nothing.
When this mat arrived it was fairly warped probably from having been rolled up at the warehouse. Luckily the day after it arrived the sun was shining brightly. Placing the mat on the deck in the sun helped flatten it also putting some heavy books on the edges helped. If you're trying to decide between two mat weights definitely go for the thicker one. This medium pile mat seems to be barely sturdy enough even though the rug + pad are quite thin.
The rectangle chair mat is perfectly size sturdy chair rolls easily on this mat. Very satisfied. It did not come rolled up tightly so it immediately was usable. That's greatly appreciated!
it fits just right in the space I had in front of a small desk. Perfect protection for my engineered wood floor and the transparency does not take away from the looks of the floor. It stays put and does not slide around either.