Staff Writer Jeremy Star is at it again as he gives us his review of Razer's DeathAdder Mouse. A preview of the review is below:

Another month, another mouse! Perhaps we should start a "Mouse a Month" club or something. This month Razer was nice enough to send us their new gaming mouse to review. Will it stand up to the competition? Will I like it as much as their Krait mouse? Will Harry Potter die this summer? Read on to find out!

The Razer DeathAdder is an optical mouse with a USB connection. (Honestly, does anyone use a PS2 mouse anymore?) It features Zero-acoustic Teflon feet, an 1800 DPI 3G Infrared sensor, and a 1ms response time.

The DeathAdder uses a new kind of optical sensor to track movement, something Razer calls the 3G Infrared Sensor. In a nutshell, it's an optical engine that uses infrared light instead of the old visible red LED light we're all used to. This allows it to exceed the previous DPI limit for optical mice, and offer us a nice 1800 DPI score.

You can view the full review by clicking here.

mices? I don't need no stinkin' mices!

All the input device companies can piss off for all I care...especially Logitech. They release a new mouse every other week and yet...their trackball line has remained the same for like 2-3 years. Wish us Trackball users would get some attention. I've bought like 3 or 4 Cordless Trackman Wheels (thumb operated)...just wish they would update with a few of the newer technologies (Bluetooth, rechargeable base station, more advanced control schemes).

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Originally posted by Windrider30
I so agree with thor why use a mouse when a trackball works so much better no need for a pad, running out of room or annoying cords getting tangled, its SO hard to find track balls these days and the prices are a little exspensive for equipment that havent hanged for the last 2 or 3 years. bring on the new track balls..my desk is to small for a friggin mouse!

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I really love trackballs for anything except gaming. For games, especially ones that require a lot of precision, I find mice easier to use, but I'm sure that if you really love trackballs, you could get used to them in gaming.

Currently I'm using a Red Plasma Diamondback and I love it. After having on the fly sensitivity adjustment, I consider the lack of it a deal-breaker on the Death Adder. Not only does the mouse cost close to twice as much, but in performance, there's virtually no difference. I do find that the mouse buttons press a tad too easily at times, but that's something you can get used to once you've used the mouse awhile. Having to go through menus to adjust the sensitivity, however, really bites. There are times when you want to slow things down a bit, or speed them up, and you NEED to be able to do that on the fly. Not including a button for that was a HUGE mistake, in my opinion, and in the opinion of many other consumers who have bought the DeathAdder. I'm glad our reviewer here at MMORPG.com doesn't find it to be a deal-breaker, but I'd be willing to bet he's in the minority. Most people who game a lot know just how important on the fly sensitivity truly is.

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Originally posted by delateur

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Originally posted by Windrider30
I so agree with thor why use a mouse when a trackball works so much better no need for a pad, running out of room or annoying cords getting tangled, its SO hard to find track balls these days and the prices are a little exspensive for equipment that havent hanged for the last 2 or 3 years. bring on the new track balls..my desk is to small for a friggin mouse!

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I really love trackballs for anything except gaming. For games, especially ones that require a lot of precision, I find mice easier to use, but I'm sure that if you really love trackballs, you could get used to them in gaming.

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I've been using a thumb operated (versus a finger operated) trackball for the past 10 years. I play mostly MMO's now but in the past I've played FPS's and RTS's and was able to compete in the local lan scene. I switched to trackballs when my deskspace in college wasn't great...and I haven't looked back since. Using a trackball and a non-standard keyboard setup (asdf instead of wasd) for gaming means no one messes with my pc while at lan parties. :)

and I totally agree with Windrider's comment about Trackball prices...I've replaced my trackballs several times (mostly for aesthetic reasons...the paint wears off on the top of the trackball housing) and the price was always high...despite the fact that an equivalent mouse is priced in the sub $20 range and both are several years old in design.

Yes, that's the kind I liked, also, the thumb operated kind. It was pretty awesome to be able to rest your hand in one position, and know that you're perfectly positioned for clicking when you need to. I've tried the other designs, but the thumb-operated always worked best for me. If I didn't have enough space for an eXact pad from Razer for my mouse, I think I'd be teaching myself how to play games with a trackball, too. :)

Originally posted by delateur

 

Currently I'm using a Red Plasma Diamondback and I love it. After having on the fly sensitivity adjustment, I consider the lack of it a deal-breaker on the Death Adder. Not only does the mouse cost close to twice as much, but in performance, there's virtually no difference. I do find that the mouse buttons press a tad too easily at times, but that's something you can get used to once you've used the mouse awhile. Having to go through menus to adjust the sensitivity, however, really bites. There are times when you want to slow things down a bit, or speed them up, and you NEED to be able to do that on the fly. Not including a button for that was a HUGE mistake, in my opinion, and in the opinion of many other consumers who have bought the DeathAdder. I'm glad our reviewer here at MMORPG.com doesn't find it to be a deal-breaker, but I'd be willing to bet he's in the minority. Most people who game a lot know just how important on the fly sensitivity truly is.

Originally posted by Droniac
My current Logitech G5 has buttons for changing your DPI setting whenever you want, but do you ever really use it? Hell No.

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Originally posted by Droniac

Not true - performance of the DeathAdder is noticeably better than that of a Diamondback mouse. For proof, read this. Additionally the diamondback doesn't have easily usable side-buttons and appears to be a tad smaller. It's also not nearly as comfortable for right-handed users, because the DeathAdder is designed for right-handed gamers, whereas the Diamondback can be used by anyone. Not being able to adjust your sensitivity on-the-fly with the DeathAdder is again FALSE. You can change your sensitivity on the fly, you cannot change DPI setting on the fly (unless you bind it to a button with the drivers, in which case you can).

Also I'm willing to bet that the reviewer is not in the minority by saying he doesn't care much for changing DPI settings on the fly, especially when changing sensitivity on-the-fly is still included. My current Logitech G5 has buttons for changing your DPI setting whenever you want, but do you ever really use it? Hell No. I just set it to 2000 DPI the entire time, when gaming there is never a need to change it down. Only perhaps if you go off to do some photo-editing work and the like, in which case the DeathAdder simply allows you to change sensitivity on the fly.. so you don't need to bother with accuracy-decreasing DPI changes. Additionally, most people who game a lot know just how useless changing sensitivity on the fly really is: almost no one ever does it, simply because it's far better to get used to a single sensitivity - otherwise you screw up your aim. Furthermore if you resort to changing DPI rather than sensitivity your accuracy will suffer tremendously (because high-DPI mice perform worse at low DPI settings).

A bit more on-topic: finally a mouse review I can agree with. The DeathAdder definitely is the best mouse on the market right now.

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Whoops, I guess I misunderstood OTF Sensitivity versus DPI, I thought they were one and the same, but apparently not! Everyone's hands are a bit different in shape, but I would have to agree that if I could change the sensitivity on the fly, then I would completely love the DeathAdder, because of everything the reviewer has mentioned. While I doubt I would be able to notice the DPI differences myself, I'm sure they are better on the DeathAdder. I don't find the Diamondback to be at all awkward to use, even though it's designed for either hand, but again, contouring for one specific hand has to be nice, just like I appreciated my right handed trackball back in the day. (I think that's the last specific hand input device I used...) Anyway, sorry for my confusion. If you can adjust sensitivity on the fly, then I would be willing to bet that the DeathAdder is the single best mouse in creation for all right-handed people, just based on how much I love my Diamondback.

Edit: When I mention the OTF Sensitivity adjustment, this assumes that I don't have to lose one of the default features for the buttons (I like the forward and back buttons on the side for web browsing, for instance, and wouldn't want to give up either of them just so I could have OTF Sensitivity adjustments). I suppose I could have been more explicit in my original message. I knew that I could change any button and give it the OTF Sensitivity adjustment feature, but my point was I would not want to change any of the default settings to do so, which to me, is the same as not including it at all. That's why I like having the extra two buttons on the Diamondback. One allows for the OTF adjustment, and the other, umm... I don't think I even use it right now, but it's there if I ever want to.