I've had my plasic pad since January, and it still works fine. It glitches a little after a few songs, so you have to pick it up, plus that fast series of identical arrows (left-left-left-left or whatnot) is almost impossible to pull off due to lowered sensitivity.

Well worth the few coins I spent though. I guess the ripping part depends on your weight. My BMI is like 16, so clearly, the longevity should be increased.

"Stephen Wolfram is the creator of Mathematica and is widely regarded as the most important innovator in scientific and technical computing today." - Stephen Wolfram