Looking for the best gaming mouse? Here is my review on what are the top gaming mice on the marketing right now. For just over a year my top mouse, used at home and work, was the Razer Copperhead – which I still love and until last week was without doubt number 1 on my list. It is capable of not only smooth effortless gaming but also precision with the likes of Photoshop and general Windows applications. I have been through a host of other mice from Saitek, Microsoft and Logitech over the year but none had come close to the Copperhead from Razer. The mice below, in order of preference, lists the top three mice per manufacturers. I haven’t included the Razer Copperhead which would of been second as the Razer Lachesis has become it’s replacement for me now.
Razer Lachesis
As mentioned previously my mouse of choice was the Razer Copperhead and this is kind of the next model up to that. It manages some how to improve on both styling and performance. This Razers are the only mice of the ones here that features a symmetrical ambidextrous design. Razer has also really pulled out all the stops with the Lachesis, making use of a huge 4,000 DPI 3G laser sensor and 1000Hz ultrapolling – which really performs.
The Lachesis has a a gold-plated USB connector and a seven foot long non-tangle cord for plenty of flexibility. The upper body of the mouse is constructed with a sleek rubber surface and a silky feel. The left and right click buttons are one solid piece with the top of the mouse which makes for an awesome design and also a bonus of less bits getting stuck in it too.
Between these two buttons is the scroll wheel which gives off a dim blue or white glow along with the glowing Razer logo at the palm of the mouse. The clickable wheel has 24 individual click positions and uses neat grippy ridges that provide a nice non-slip surface. Behind the scroll wheel are two on-the-fly DPI adjustment buttons.
Each side of the Lachesis has two programmable thumb buttons as with the Copperhead. On the bottom, we find three slick Teflon feet, the 3G tracking laser and a profile selector button. The Lachesis comes with 32kb of on-board memory that allows for up to five different profiles to be stored at any given time.
For gaming or Photoshop I found this mouse to be the smoothest and most effortless to control. It doesn’t come with any weight adjustments but then I didn’t feel I wouldn’t want to play around with an already perfectly balanced design. Razer supply some nifty software that allows full customization on each button of the mouse from presets to macros. More info (UK) / (US)
The Habu Gaming Mouse
Razer have recently teamed up with Microsoft for one of their gaming mice – The Habu. This mouse is great and even after hours of gaming you won’t be complaining due to some nice soft rubber on the upper surface. The weighting is great too (albeit doesn’t come with any weight adjustments either) and is very smooth on the Everglide ricochet mat that I use. You can adjust the DPI on the fly in a range of 400, 800, 1,600 and 2,000 DPI. It has a nice LED light but it can be a little bit too bright in my opinion for late night dark gaming sessions. Bare in mind also that the mouse needs a firmware update to use the profile memory function. The Habu is now a much more affordable mouse and offers great value for money. More info (UK) / (US)
Microsoft Sidewinder
Microsoft’s Sidewinder has always been a favourite with gamers alike. It has some interesting styling which isn’t really as sleek as some of the other mice on the market but it depends what floats your boat. The layout of the button isn’t standard here – directly behind the scroll wheel is a group of three buttons used to change DPI settings on-the-fly. This is different from other mice that typically use two buttons in a plus and minus configuration to increase or decrease the DPI scale. Each button lights up via an LED, but on top of that, Microsoft also includes a small LCD screen located between your thumb and index finger – this displays the current DPI setting. A macro record button lies directly in front of the two thumb buttons and can be used to record macros in games etc, but you most likely won’t be able to reach it with a standard grip of the mouse. Another useful button behind the DPI buttons is the Quick Launch button, which opens up Games Explorer in Vista and the IntelliPoint software in Windows XP.
The bottom of the SideWinder is a standard, no frills surface, with a glossy red finish, five mice feet and an eject button for the weight cartridge that slides out from the right hand side (Microsoft includes four weights with the SideWinder; 1 x 5g and 3 x 10g, but only three can be used at any given time). Microsoft includes three sets of interchangeable mice feet also, each offering a varying degree of friction.
The IntelliPoint software is adequate allowing you to fully customize each button as you see fit and adjust the DPI presets from 200 to 2,000. Accuracy during FPS gaming was amazing and felt the mouse wasn’t ever mistracking or otherwise obstructing the gaming experience. The build quality I didn’t think was quite matched by it’s price and it is quite a large mouse. This is either a love or hate mouse and lots of people like me do love it as it’s a great performer. More info (UK) / (US)
nice review simon
Have you seen some of the gaming mice that have been released this year? One which is tailored around (perhaps even branded) World of Warcraft – It’s like something out of this world. Insane!