back to article Ten... gaming mice

The three qualities I look for in a gaming mouse are: comfort, aesthetics and accuracy. And considering the imminent financial meltdown of the entire world, I'd like to think that I can get these three qualities for less than a week's shopping at Sainsbury's. Compared to last year prices, what's on offer seems to be slightly …

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  1. LarsG

    STILL GOT THE original

    G9 from when it first came out I think over five years ago. A little worn on the outside but still works great.

    Why bother changing?

  2. silent_count

    The best thing about the razer mice

    +1 for Razer. Their build quality is rock solid (which I expected given the price of the kit) and their attention to detail regarding the configuration software was a pleasant surprise (even companies that sell good hardware often neglect their software).

    The one option which I couldn't live without is the ability to switch off the mouse's LEDs so I can watch movies in peace.

    1. Aldous
      Stop

      Re: The best thing about the razer mice

      i would disagree. we have two deathadders in the house and they are both experiencing the double bounce (i.e single click registering as double) of bad micro switches. true they are 2+ years old but still i expect more given the price.

      stripping them down and filling the switches with a non conductive fluid (motorcycle engine oil) does the trick and lasts longer then wd40

      1. Anonymous Coward
        Anonymous Coward

        Re: The best thing about the razer mice

        Got exactly the same with my two Deathadders... both went double-bouncey very soon after their warranty expired. Terrible shame because it's otherwise the perfect mouse for me; weight, comfort, precision and features are all spot-on. Wish I'd known about the motorbike oil trick!

  3. Simbu
    Childcatcher

    Think of the lefties!

    So, any recommendations for a semi-decent FPS mouse for us deviant lefties? I physically can't use alot of the mice you feature here!

    1. Allicorn
      Thumb Up

      Re: Think of the lefties!

      SteelSeries Sensei. Symmetrical ambidextrous. Seven buttons, two right side, two left side. Crazy high max DPI. Customizable LEDs in various spots. Onboard profile menu and a small LCD screen on the bottom (I kid you not) for switching through the profile menu without needing to rely on software.

      1. Anonymous Coward
        Anonymous Coward

        Re: Think of the lefties!

        I'm surprised that Steelseries' higher-end mice - the Xai and Sensei - didn't make an appearance on the list, and not just because of their friendliness to lefties.

      2. Ravenger
        Thumb Up

        Re: Think of the lefties!

        Seconded! I had a Razer DeathAdder left handed which died, and I replaced it with the Steel Series Sensai, which is much, much better - button placement is excellent, its comfy to hold and use, and is extremely accurate and sensitive.

        The button macro programming is a welcome feature, especially when many games seem to get confused when you bind mouse buttons for some functions instead of keys.

    2. Anonymous Coward
      Linux

      Re: Think of the lefties!

      Think of Us too

      <----

      1. Fibbles

        Re: Thad: Think of the lefties!

        Why? You're not likely to be running any games on Linux that require such expensive mice. I guess you could be running Windows in a VM but then you'd be able to install the drivers in the VM as well. The only time I can think of where you'd need Linux drivers for a gaming mouse is if you're running your game in WINE, in which case you should seek psychiatric help immediately...

    3. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Re: Think of the lefties!

      Learn to use your rightie!

      1. Marty
        Facepalm

        Re: Think of the lefties!

        @ Anonymous Coward - Saturday 3rd March 2012 17:17 GMT

        "Learn to use your rightie!"

        as an all my life lefite, I can really understand why most lefites will be massively offended by your comment..

        But, Myself, instead of crying about the lack of left handed stuff around, I tend to learn to use my right hand for a lot of things.

        working as IT desktop support a few years back, when I arrived at someone's desk, the mouse was predominately on the right hand side. so without wanting to mess everyone's desk up dragging the mouse to the other side, I learned to use the mouse right handed. I cant even use it left handed now !!..

        I learned to play the guitar. As I had never picked one up before, I decided to learn right handed. It was better for my tutor and me to be able to copy what he was doing sooner than translate it to left hand...

        If I was to ever feel the need to learn to play golf, I would learn right handed.

        you get on in life by adapting and moving forwards... you get nowhere by crying about stuff and waiting for someone to fix things for you.

  4. dotslash

    mx510

    my mx510 is still serving me very well after what must be at least 7 years.

    That's value for money!

  5. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    I love my trackball...

    Your hand remains fixed, you get a good feeling for where stuff needs to go and well, sometimes it can be even quicker than a mouse. Esp. if you have the tendency to lift your mouse up and place it where you felt it should have been. I managed to ran into my keyboard in the heat of a fight that way (totally my own dumb fault, but still; never happened with my trackball) :-)

    1. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Re: I love my trackball...

      Am shocked to hear people still use track balls.

      1. Bakunin
        WTF?

        Re: I love my trackball...

        I'm more shocked to see someone marked down that post (and a later one) just because someone said they preferred trackballs.

        Not everyone's cup of point-and-click sure, but worth a down vote for just having a preference?

        (not aimed at you AC. I'm also a little surprised)

    2. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Re: I love my trackball...

      Still using my old Logitech trackballs at work and home, I love them! Normal mice used to give me serious pains in my wrist, even with various cushions and support aids. My HR dept flipped out when I mentioned the serious pains and the magic word "RSI" and they offered me a choice of any control device, I picked a trackball. That was 9 years ago and I've never looked back.

      Another good reason to own one is when people wander over to my desk and can't use my machine as it's not a normal mouse!

  6. Gordon 10

    But why

    Are most of them so fugly and un-ergonomic? Swear I have RSI just from looking at them.

    Am I the only one who appreciates function over pointless styling?

    Honestly it looks like decided that the rodents only function was to match an Alienware box or laptop.

    1. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Re: But why

      I agree. I game with an evoluent vertical mouse and love it. I think my next ergo gaming addition will be a lefty keyboard (of the type with the numberpad et al moved to the left side) so I can focus more on the mouse without needing to reach over for the most common keypresses.

  7. Darkwolf

    What about us Trackball users??

    How come noone seems to make a gaming trackball for us trackball users?

    Sometimes if you have limited deskspace, but want to game, your stuck with a trackball.

    Been using the same model for years, Logitech Trackman Marble, as its only thing that fits my desk space and feels comfortable, yet they make nothing simliar that works good with games, so its use that and a lot of keyboard macros.

    This particular one is getting harder and harder to find replacements :(

  8. Aoyagi Aichou
    Unhappy

    The mice today...

    I still have Logitech MX Revolution ... none of the ones here are comfy enough for me or have the functions a love on my mouse. Besides, things like Cyborg give me the creeps.

  9. Anonymous Coward
    Meh

    Two things:

    First, why doesn't anybody talk about latency? There's an obsessive focus on accuracy (which is #2) but no mention of click-to-fire time, where an extra millisecond or so can make a huge difference. In the world of PC game controllers, FFB steering wheels come in with horrid results, often having 300, 400ms of lag (my company having built our own, I'm not sure how they manage it really, but I'm still not entirely happy with the performance of ours).

    Second, 6400dpi?! What the? If you've got your mouse set to do a slow 360 degree rotation in, say, 3" (it's been a while since I've played an FPS, but that seems about right from feel), you'd have, what, 50 counts per degree? With a horizontal FOV of 120 degrees you'd be looking at 6000 counts left-to-right onscreen.

    Is there anybody who's positioning himself within 1/3rd of a pixel (on a 19x10 screen)? Is there any game that would understand that? I mean, maybe now games are doing subpixel rotations and there are supreme badasses out there who can discern that enough to be useful. But it seems like they'd be few and far between.

    Even without all of that, I defy anybody to say they can position that fucker within 1/6400th of an inch, with their hand. The stickslip from the mouse to the pad will defy that, no matter what kind of space-age material your mouse pad is made of. And 1/6400th of an inch is a very, very, VERY small amount. I build motion platforms and the requisite servo systems, and am broadly familiar with CNC machining gear, and half a thousandth is getting pretty fine. Thinking your hand is going to reliably, and with any meaningful result, match that performance while holding onto a little brick sitting on a piece of fabric / plastic, when what you're seeing is delayed by several milliseconds *anyway*...

    If you ask me, you'd be better off getting a CRT projector or a CRT monitor, which will lop at a minimum several ms off your visual latency. It's bad enough with even a fast LCD monitor (gray-to-gray is pointless; I'm talking *latency*), but with a TV you can usually go get a cup of coffee between the arrival of a bit at the HDMI port and its eventual display on the screen. The Sonys we use are, at 720p in 3D mode, with 'gaming' on, barely, barely acceptable for driving sims. For FPSes it'd be utterly hopeless.

    So, on the assumption that (shudder) I'm wrong - what is there to justify that number, aside from marketing? Is effective resolution really 1/5th of that number due to noise or jitter, or due to inaccuracies in manufacturing the hardware?

    Also, what the hell is up with that Mad Catz Cyborg monstrosity? Even if it was the best mouse in the world, I'd keep it in my drawer when I wasn't using it in case someone saw it. It's like they took a graphite shell shaped like a mouse, filled it orange jell-o, and hit it with a hammer until the marketing guys said to stop. Eruughh.

    1. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      fell asleep

      Reading the second paragraph, zzzzzzzzzzzzz

    2. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      "What the? If you've got your mouse set to do a slow 360 degree rotation in, say, 3" (it's been a while since I've played an FPS, but that seems about right from feel), you'd have, what, 50 counts per degree?"

      And 3"/360 is actually a high sensitivity for serious play. This guidance from http://communityfortress.com/tf2/blog/guide-to-getting-started-in-competitive-6v6-tf2-part-1.php is much in line with what you see elsewhere:

      "I have found that most [Team Fortress 2] scouts use 8-14 inches per 360. On the other side of the spectrum, many soldiers and medics find that they play better with a higher sensitivity, but there are plenty of players who can effectively use a low sensitivity. I have found that most soldiers use 4-10 inches per 360."

      At those kinds of settings maximum speed matters a lot; 6400 dpi resolution, not so much.

      Also, several of these mice have sensor issues http://ariekanarie.nl/archives/231/the-problem-with-gaming-mice http://www.esreality.com/index.php?a=post&id=2024663 like the G9X's impossible-to-disable mouse acceleration or the Razer Imperator's "Z-axis tracking" which causes the pointer to dart diagonally when you pick up the mouse.

  10. Clive Galway
    FAIL

    Logitech SetPoint sucks

    Anyone calling SetPoint "Superior" instantly loses all cred as a mouse reviewer in my book.

    With my MX620, here are a list of failings:

    For LBM, RMB, MMB and buttons 4 and 5 (The two thumb buttons), if you program them to some of the available actions, you cannot change these buttons in the per-application mode

    For example, the default mapping for buttons 4 and 5 is browser back/forwards. However, this does not trigger mouse4 or mouse5 in many games (eg BF3) so you have to use "Generic Button" for each. If you set a button to "Generic Button" in the normal options, then the option to set a binding for that button in per-application mode is greyed out.

    Similarly, if you pick one of the normal settings for one of these buttons, "Generic Button" is missing from the list in per-application mode.

    So basically it is not possible to have buttons 4+5 to act as generic mouse buttons in some applications but not others.

    Also, there is no way to program mouse wheel up/down (Unlike the razr software).

    I find this very annoying, as in many games I do not use the mouse wheel to scroll thru weapons, I use the mouse wheel to directly select them. For example, in BF3, wheel up is rifle, down is pistol, left (it is a tilt wheel) is gadget 1 and right is gadget 2.

    Luckily, BF3 lets you bind weapon changes to wheel up/down, and I use setpoint to program left/right to 3+4 - but many other games I wish to play like this I cannot because of SetPoint's suckyness.

    You can use the unofficial UberOptions, but that only allows you to use up/down arrow and some other similar equivalents to the mousewheel and introduces it's own issues.

    So come on Logitech, sort out this pile of crap! Love your tilting, free spinning wheels but hate your software!

    Does anyone else make tiltwheel mice?

    1. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Is it me......

      Am I the only one that gets bored reading the reams and reams and paragraphs and paragraphs of technical drivel on a computer mouse by over excited mousebois?

      Look, it either works or it doesn't, its comfy to hold or it isn't and it does what it says or it doesn't.

      It's a mouse, get a life, get a girlfriend do something that is more important.

      There are some really sad people about on here.

      1. Anonymous Coward
        Anonymous Coward

        Re: Is it me......

        If I got a girlfriend, my wife would divorce me, and then I wouldn't see my son as much and my business would suffer.

        1. Anonymous Coward
          Anonymous Coward

          Re: Is it me......

          Yeah but the way you go on about a computer mouse, it must really be boring for her listening to you going on.

    2. PassiveSmoking
      Stop

      Re: Logitech SetPoint sucks

      TL:DR

  11. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Too in love with the track pad on my mac to care. Bla bla ;)

  12. Greg 16

    No Microsoft SideWinder X8?

    OK it's Microsoft, but their mice have always served me well, and I'm pretty impressed with my X8.

  13. nigel 15
    Flame

    Warranty Difference Corsair and Logitech

    It's worth mentioning the differences in warranty procedures between logitech and corsair.

    if a logitech device develops a fault you take a photograph, upload it and they UPS you a replacement the next day.

    to RMA a corsair device you have to post it to holland recorded delivery (this will cost more than the purchase price obviously,) wait six weeks, and receive a new one.

    Be mad to buy corsair.

    1. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Re: Warranty Difference Corsair and Logitech

      Why do you send it to the manufacturer instead of the place you bought?

      1. nigel 15

        Re: Warranty Difference Corsair and Logitech

        well how long you can send it to the place you bought it depends on where it was bought from. Play.com for example wont be interested after 30 days.

  14. raaM
    Thumb Down

    Worst Steelseries mouse to review

    2 Corsairs, 2 Logitechs, 2 Madcats, 2 Razers yet only 1 Roccat and 1 Steelseries?

    Easy enough to make Steelseries the whipping boy when you under represent the manufacturer that along with Razer probably has the largest and most diverse range of mice in this category. If you were gonna only review one of their mice, it might have made sense to use one with a fuller feature set like the Xai or Ikari, or perhaps their flagship mouse with onboard ARM processor the Sensei, which in my opinion blows the competition out of the water.

    Ebuyer is currently selling the Sensei at a little over £52, so it's not as if it is leagues away from the Kana on price either.

    /2 cents from a gamer/system builder that's used more than his fair share of Logitech, Microsoft, Razer & Steelseries mice over the years in the pursuit of higher accuracy.

  15. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Was seriously tempted by the Roccat Kone[+] but it's getting a worryingly large number of complaints/forum chatter about a dodgy scroll wheel (which by all accounts they should have got right this time around, after identical issues with the original Kone...). Anyone own one got any comments on that? Or on the Mionix Naos 5000 which was the next one on my list (but wasn't included on this roundup)?

  16. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Bling obsession

    You know, its really hard to take a hardware review seriously when the top priority in each review seems to be how cool the thing looks. I don't want to pick a mouse by looks, I want to get one that works and lets me play the games well. Priorities are resolution, latency, ergonomics, functionality and price (not necessarily in that order). If it happens to look really cool, this is of course a bonus. But that is the absolute last consideration. A review that puts looks first is a review that is entirely useless to me or anyone who actually cares about quality products.

  17. Thomas 18
    Thumb Down

    Razer Naga Epic

    Love mine for mmo, there's nothing like 12 button keypad for accessing those ~40 spells you need to cast in a crunch.

    But it's too heavy for dota/FPS etc where I user a classic razer copperhead.

  18. TonyJ

    Have the R.A.T. 7

    Actually bought an "on offer" 5, but it turned out to be ex-demo with a load of bits missing.

    So I got the 9 which is basically the wireless version of the 7. Battery life sucked - and despite getting a spare that sat in the wireless transponder base, changing them needed fingers with a grip like pliers.

    Also it tended to suffer a lot of interference, so back it went and I settled on the 7.

    Because, despite the issues, it's a an amazingly adaptable mouse - you can change most angles, add and remove parts, slide the palm rest out and change the weight. I've finally found a mouse that I can make fit my hand properly.

    Yes it looks pretty cool, too, and is a conversation piece ("what is that?" being most common), but above and beyond all that, it suits me, my hand and how I use it.

  19. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Madcat RAT 7

    Got one.

    Looks ugly as hell, but its actually very comfortable to use. The accuracy of the centeral scrollwheel needs tweakng though. It sometimes "scrolls" without me even touching it.

    It wasn't all fun and games though. It went non-functional only 2 months after purchase. PCWorld refused to warranty it, citing their 28 day warranty (EU law garuntees me 1 year warranty).

    Eventually, I just cracked the damn thing open, and fixed it myself. Turned out the USB lead hadn't been set on the PCB headers properly, and two of the pins were only making intermittant contact. Pushed this home correctly, reassembled, and, its given me hours of trouble free use ever since.

    1. Random Coolzip
      Unhappy

      Re: Madcat RAT 7

      I had one go wonky too -- about one month in, it suddenly started shooting the cursor to the far left side of my desktop at random intervals, and would spuriously deny it knew anything about a Y axis. Sometimes unplugging and replugging it would help, but not always. After three days I unplugged it for good and took it back. I've have gotten another one, but they were out so I just went back to my old Logitech. I'm tempted to try another one, but the blush is off that particular rose, and I suspect the price will keep me away.

  20. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    And it's a shame that none of them are the Microsoft Intellimouse Explorer 3.0. For MS replace it at all was sacrilege. To replace it with a sub standard piece of crap like the Comfort Mouse 6000 was just aggravating. Not that I mind too much, I have a stock of IE 3.0 that should last until USB ports disappear.

    1. dogged

      Is that the enormous one?

      If so, I'm heading to Ebay to see if anyone's still flogging them. Farmer's hands. All these crappy little mice just make me ache.

  21. Nuno trancoso
    Mushroom

    Marketroid drivel....

    Same lameness as when Belkin replaced the definitely ugly and already shock full of useless "extras" n52 with the "new improved, powered by Razer" n52te. You got a better feeling keyb that was still stuck with the useless gimmicky bits but... oh, now you didn't have the godawesome macro software of the original. Out went something that could schedule several macros played together and "coded" from a decent UI in favor of a "one at a time" job with such a PITA "bling and flash" UI to "code" them in. Don't get me started on the drivers stability, it's so bad it's painful.

    Do love my DeathAdder, but the wheel is biting the dust as the sensor/firmware fails to figure that a fluid spin in one direction that shows odd "ticks" in the other direction is just NOT happening. Funny enough, the old Logi MX500 has started doing the same after years (on another PC case you think it's the box...). Even my old (and dirt cheap) MS IM Optical wheel works better.

    Might have to fish the Diamondback out of the junk pile, despite it being too small for my hands (and trust me, i have small hands...)and the side buttons being useless. At least the wheel/buttons work properly (for now).

    Dream mouse: MS IM Optical wheel, DeathAdder size/shape, MX500 side buttons, Diamondback main buttons.

    But to be bloody honest, next rodent will quite likely be a cheap MS/Logi one, at least i can throw it out the window and go get a new one moment he misbehaves. Up to my ears with "lot's of hype but didn't deliver" overpriced PoS "gamer mice".

  22. Pyros

    Is it me or...

    ...does the MadCatz Cyborgs look like something you'd find in EVE Online?

    I do know I'd spring for that Naga, as this mouse is experiencing bounce-back issues lately.

  23. doveman
    FAIL

    A4Tech

    I'm very happy with my A4Tech X7 which I bought a year or so back for around £25. I can't imagine spending more than that on a mouse, unless I was making money from competitive gaming ;) It's got a DPI switch which is handy for sniping and a couple of extra buttons I can use for prone, or Teamspeak, etc so it does all I need it to.

    I saw someone mentioned trackballs and I normally use a Logitech Trackman Wheel for non-gaming (although it's also better in my opinion for RTS as it avoids needlessly moving a mouse around and the extra space required for that, I only really think a mouse is necessary for FPS). Unfortunately after many years, the left-click has become rather unreliable and Logitech in their infinite wisdom have decided to stop making the wired version and only sell the wireless one, which is totally pointless as far as I'm concerned as the whole point of it is that it doesn't move, so why would I want to have to faff around with batteries for something that I can easily just plug in with a cable!

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