The ULTIMATE Gamer’s Mouse

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Well, I’ve been doing a little bit of research lately, trying to figure out what would be the best mouse available today (at least, the best mouse for me).

Firstly, let me explain what my paradigm is towards computer gaming hardware.  As an avid gamer, I always strive to get the best hardware that money can buy. It might not always be possible to get the latest and greatest hardware, but I always go for the best that I can afford, without compromising on what it is that I need the spesific product to do. Thus I always do quite extensive research on whatever category of product I am looking to buy.

Now, when it comes to HID’s (Human Interface Devices, keyboard, mouse, etc), as a gamer, I need to have the fastest, most comfortable unit available, NO COMPROMISE! There is nothing more irritating than a mouse that doesn’t slide smoothly over my mousemat while I try to concentrate hard on getting the next frag. I’m sure you will all be familiar with a game called Quake III. Now you know that you need to have super fast reactions, and an ordinary mouse that doesn’t become one with your hand, would cause you to not perform as well as a top quality gaming mouse would. Your mouse needs to move as one with your hand, so that your aim will be spot on.

So, after doing a lot of reading and research, I had a decision to make between the following mice:

• Steelseries Ikari Laser

• Steelseries MMO WoW branded

• Razer Lachesis

• Razer Mamba

When I look at most of the best players in the world, most of them use either the Ikari or the Lachesis. These would be the top two professional gaming mice currently on the market. Both of these mice are very similarly spec’d. Both have been shaped to be very ergonomic and fit neatly into one’s hand, have one touch CPI control. They also fall into roughly the same pricerange at about R 950. So it basically comes down to personal preferance for which one of these two would take top spot.

The reason I had a look at the Steelseries MMO WoW branded mouse would be purely for the looks of this mouse. It really does look amazing. You can go through a whole spectrum of colors for the lights and thedecals also look great. It has an aluminium finish where all the other mice are some variation of plastic. This mouse’s hardware specs aren’t too bad either, almostat the level of the previous two mice that I mentioned before. The Steelseries MMO WoW mouse also has 15 programable buttons. The only problem I have with this mouse is that it isn’t too ergonomic and might become uncomfortable. It is also quite highly priced at an estimated R 1,400. World of Warcraft enthusiasts will love this mouse, as it fits in perfectly with what they would need.

Now we get to the Razer Mamba. Now this mouse has not been released yet, but from what I’ve read sofar, this mouse will blow all competition out of the water. It is essentially a wireless mouse. Now I can already hear everyone saying: Wireless is too slow for that split-second movement and reaction to keep up. I had the exact same feeling when I first stumbled upon this mouse. Razer claims they have been able to apply ‘gaming-grade’ wireless to acheive 1ms response (which is the same as their best wired mice). Now I’m interested, how many times have you gotten so irritated at the mouse cable hindering your movement or getting stuck? Seems the problem is solved. If you still don’t like the wireless idea, you can just plug the cable back in and use it as a normal wired mouse. Even then the specs of this mouse still out perform it’s competitors. the CPI setting goes up to a phenominal 5,600, where the Lachesis and Ikari have a top CPI of 4,000 and 3,200 respectively. I also love the look of this mouse, almost the same as the Lachesis, but more refined. As one would expect of the latest and greatest mouse is that the price borders on almost rediculous coming in at an estimted R 1,600. A little higher than most people’s budget would allow. It hurts, but it’s painfull to be beautiful as they say.

I still have some time to kill before the Razer Mamba is released so that I can test it out to come to my conclusion, but if all they say is true about this mouse, then there is no doubt in my mind that this would be the next addition to my ever growing Gaming System, ever striving for the ultimate gaming rig.

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AmB3r