Gaming Mouse Review!

New year, more reviews for you guys. Today I have in my hands a few options for gaming mice from 3 big brands including Corsair, Logitech and Razer

First up, it’s the Corsair Vengeance M60
http://www.centrecom.com.au/catalog/9000001-corsair-vengeance-p-55446.html?sort=2a

Quick look over the main specs shows a 5700dpi sensor, 1ms response time, 8 programmable buttons and an aluminium unibody design.

The mouse looks strange to be honest. The so called unibody design is just the bottom of the mouse with two exhaust-like shapes protruding slightly at the front. The top of the mouse has a smooth finish while sides are textured and which cause the hair on the back of your neck to rise because it feels that awkward. The mouse packaging labels it as ‘designed for performance gaming’ but I am not so sure a performance gamer would be impressed by it.

Under the hand, it feels a bit strange. The rear of the mouse of somewhat suspended over air with the sides and base aluminium body not coming together at the rear, instead just cutting off short, and it leaves quite the gap. The buttons on top of the mouse which include your standard left, right, scroll and DPI adjustments work very well, feel good when pressing and look good. My only issue is the right click button is very sensitive and a slight push on it makes a clicky sound but doesn’t do anything. As easy as I can explain it, it basically feels like a half-click; pressing down half the normal distance and making half the sound. It does however get a bit distracting because when you actually click onto the right button, it clicks twice. On the side of the mouse you have two extra buttons which feel cheap and gives you the tingles when rubbing your thumb down them. It also has a massive red button with a sniper crosshair on it. It is labelled as the ‘Sniper Button’. First problem with this is the placement. Even with my large hands, my casual hand placement over the mouse doesn’t reach the button. Even with my claw grip, I need to really have my hand over the mouse to push the button, which I might add requires a bit of force to actually push.

On the base of the mouse there are three weights in a triangle shape which let you control the weight of each corner of the mouse. It only has 1 weight under each screw so your options are either light or heavy. You will need a 10 or 20c piece to unscrew the locks on the bottom to adjust the weights so keep that in mind. Would’ve been nice of Corsair to include some sort of branded coin.

 

Gaming with the M60 was surprisingly pleasant. The high DPI availability on the mouse would allow gamers to play with high sensitivity. The ‘Sniper Button’ didn’t even work in game by default. I had go into the software settings and configure the button to work. The software with the mouse (you need to download separately) is easy to use and understand. However I did pick up on the fact that the settings you apply on the software, doesn’t change the DPI settings on the actual mouse and vice versa. They seem to be independent of one another, which completely baffles me.

Overall it seems to be an acceptable gaming mouse. It has a unique look to it which will stand out in a crowd and offers good gaming performance. Though it’s not the best mouse going around, it definitely offers something different for the casual and hardcore gamer.

Next up I have the Razer DeathAdder – Dragon Age II Collectors Edition
http://www.centrecom.com.au/catalog/rz01-00152500-r3m1-razer-dragon-deathadder-p-52975.html?sort=2a

A quick look over the specs shows us a 3500dpi sensor, 1ms response rate and large non-slip buttons. First I must admit, this is a pretty mouse. It is house in a nice shiny black plastic with a red dragon coming over the back, reaching over to the right hand side of the mouse with an illuminated Roman numeral placed in the center. But beware, it is an absolute magnet for fingerprints and smudges. The illuminated Roman numeral doesn’t have options to change colour or lighting effects. It’s either on or off.

Aside from its prettiness, it actually feels fantastic in the hand. It is really ergonomically designed and is easy to reach all buttons in a very comfortable manner. After downloading the software for it, you’ll find a fair few configuration options for the mouse like button assignment, polling rate, dpi switcher and profile select (up to 5 profiles). The mouse is suited for those who use their mouse with a palm grip, though even regular claw users like me find the palm grip on this mouse very acceptable to play with.

Gaming with the mouse was fantastic and probably one of the best I’ve used. The smoothness of the mouse coupled with easy to press and reach buttons make this mouse very pleasing. It doesn’t have buttons all over the button so there is no clutter for you to accidently click on other buttons. The scroll and scroll click works flawlessly and is very responsive.

Overall this is a fantastic mouse. It feels great, looks like a simple mouse and performs more than expected.  I’ve always believed in simplicity in a mouse, and this is exactly what the DeathAdder seems to provide.

Last up we have the Logitech MX518
http://www.centrecom.com.au/catalog/000631-logitech-mx518-p-44255.html?sort=2a

Last but not least is the Logitech MX518. Logitech have been in the industry for quite some time now so I am expecting big things from this mouse. Featuring a 1800dpi sensor, eight programmable buttons and a sculpted build.

Let me start off by pointing out that this is the first mouse I’ve used that came with a software installation CD, so +1 for that, however it ended up being an out dated version so back to square one.  The good thing about Logitech software for its devices (Known as SetPoint) is that it is unified software that supports its full range of products and is as easy to use as typing on Microsoft Word. This allows you to have a complete range of Logitech peripherals with the single bit of background software to run it all with and customize it with.

Back on to the mouse, the top of the mouse has a silver lining from the front to the back with what appears to look like dents but in fact is smooth as can be. The mouse is somewhat comfortable in the hand, not quite as good as the DeathAdder. It definitely favours claw users as it feels a bit small for the palm user, however this could come down to the size of your hand (mine are a bit large I must admit). The buttons are all placed ergonomically and function well. It also has on board sensitivity controls for instant changes during gameplay. My only flaw with this mouse is the scroll. It feels very cheap and the click is a bit awkward and doesn’t feel like it is built well.

Gaming went down a treat on the MX518. I can’t find a fault with this mouse in terms of performance. Logitech have been in the mice business too long to make something that isn’t up to scratch and this is no different. Like the DeathAdder, simplicity is key and Logitech pull it off like no other by keeping good design with their products, backed up with proper research & development into the guts and heart of their products.

By Sahin Selvi
sahin.s@centrecom.com.au

The benchmark results may differ from user to user depending on what background software you are running and versions of benchmark software. These results aren’t portrayed to be seen as exact performance figures but merely as a rough estimate on the performance of the machine. These results are in no way bias to any company or person and are here to provide the end user in depth details and to provide extra assistance of potential purchases. All information on this page is subject to copyright. Please do not copy any parts of this article.