April 16th, 2008 by Wolfwood & Varg
Gaming mice abound
Casual gamers rarely pay much attention to the mice they use, but the more gaming you do the more you will also pay attention to the small piece of equipment that your hand keeps fondling for hours on end every day. The basic differences between a regular mouse and a gaming mouse is that the gaming mice are more expensive, have higher DPI and, with the new laser sensors, also higher polling rates.
Basically, the DPI has to do with the distance that the pointer on the screen travels when you move the mouse one inch. A couple of years ago, a high-def gaming mouse meant that it had about 2000 top DPI, which translates to mean that when you move the mouse one inch, the pointer on the screen will move 2000 pixels. Nowadays, a high-precision mouse may have as high as 4000 DPI count. The polling rates, on the other hand, refer to the communication between the mouse and the computer that it is attached to. A higher polling rate (such as 1000 Hz) will mean that there will be a lot of traffic on that USB cable and it may actually eat up resources from the computer as well, so high polling rates may not be good for every occasion.
We got our hands on six gaming mice that all have their fans and set them against each other in what we like to call 'The Great Mouse Showdown'.
|
Logitech G5 |
Logitech G9 |
Razer Lachesis |
Razer Diamondback 3G |
MS Habu |
MS Sidewinder |
| Max. DPI |
2000 (laser) |
3200 (laser) |
4000 (laser) |
1800 (IR) |
2000 (laser) |
2000 (laser) |
| Max. Polling |
1000Hz |
1000Hz |
1000Hz |
125 Hz |
1000Hz |
N/A |
| Buttons |
6 |
7 |
9 |
7 |
7 |
10 |
| Form factor |
right |
right |
ambi. |
ambi. |
right |
right
|
| Size in mm (lxwxh) |
130x72x42 |
110x80x39 110x72x39 |
129x71x40 |
129x63x38.5 |
129x72x43.3 |
129x78x42.1 |
| Approx. weigth without wire |
110g |
110g |
95g |
95g |
120g |
120g |
| Price |
$59.99 |
$99.99 |
$79.99 |
$49.99 |
$69.95 |
$79.95 |
| Inches per second |
45-65 |
45-65 |
60-100 |
60-120 |
45 |
45 |
Different gamers, different styles
There are two main things that separate mouse-users from each other. The first is the difference between low vs. high definition gamers. Those who prefer low definition mice, use extensive hand movements and need more room to use their mouse (or lift it up often to bring it back to a central position) whereas those who prefer medium or even high definition gaming use short or even minuscule mouse movements. All the mice we review in this article allow the user to set the precision of the mouse to fit both types of gamers and also offer on-the-fly methods of changing the precision for differing needs in the midst of a game.
The other difference between mouse users is the way they hold their mouse. Full palm-contact gamers prefer larger mice (depending on the size of their hand, naturally) and usually benefit the most from an ergonomic mouse design. Other gamers, however, prefer to use their mouse with fingertip control (using the thumb and the pinkie to control the mouse). Depending on the size of the gamer's hand, this style can be used with small and big mice alike, but the requirements for the thumb button locations are different from the other group. For the purposes of the following review, we give you our preferences in the following:
Wolfwood: Prefers medium heavy mice over light ones because of the better tactile feel / feedback that they provide. Uses the fingertip control method, but because of the large hand size (8-1/4" or 21cm long) prefers a wider grip over a narrow one.
Varg: Prefers relatively heavy mice since they provide a stronger feel on what you are doing. Uses full palm-contact and thus prefers ergonomically solid mice. Due to medium hand size (6-3/4" or 17cm) prefers medium mouse size.
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