Razer Copperhead Tempest Blue 2000 Dpi Mouse with built-in Memory

Razer Diamondback Salamander 1600 Dpi Gaming Mouse 7 Buttons

Description:

Razer has lately been garnering a lot of attention in the world of gaming. Their promotions have included encouraging their consumers to get tattooed with their logo, an impressive booth at QuakeCon 05, and they've collected a number of sparkling reviews from many of the foremost sources of gaming information. Do their products live up to the hype, though? We'll find out if the Razer Diamondback does, at least, in our review.

Product Details
Amazon Sales Rank: #2356 in Consumer Electronics
Brand: Razer
Model: RZ01-00020200-R2M1
Dimensions: .65 pounds

Features
Razer USA
Diamondback Gaming Mouse Red

First Impression:

My first experience with Razer mice was at QuakeCon 2005, where they had a booth set up with PCs running the latest games, all of them equipped with their mice. There was a lot to see, so I didn't spend much time at their booth, but most of us remarked about how smoothly they functioned. So, when a Diamondback model arrived, I was eager to give one a proper test run and see how it stacked up to the competition.

It arrived in pretty nice packaging: a bubble pack showing off the mouse from both the front and back. The pack also included a drivers CD and a neoprene LAN pack for safely transporting your Diamondback from one location to another.

A Closer Look:

The two most noticeable thing about the Razer Diamondback, once you've got it out of the box, are it's narrow shape, and the fact that it's entirely symmetrical. There are two identical sets of thumb buttons on either side and the two primary buttons are of the exact same size and shape, with the mouse wheel positioned between them. Indeed, this is because the Razer Diamondback is designed to be used by not only right-handed, but left-handed users as well. The software included with the Diamondback includes an option to flip the button assignments over, making it an equally useful peripheral for lefty gamers, as well as righties.

There are a couple of drawbacks to this narrow, symmetrical design, though: the more prominent of the two being that, for medium to large hands, it may be difficult to find a natural or comfortable grip. The position of the mousewheel being as high as it is, and also being in the dead center or the two primary buttons, means that you'll have to keep the ends of your fingers high up on the buttons in order to easily reach it without readjusting your grip, if you're using the two finger method. This brings us to the next problem: the mouse is quite narrow, making the three finger method (index and ring fingers on the button and middle finger on the wheel) fairly uncomfortable because there's not a lot of space for so many fingers.

I suppose it's also worth noting that the thumb buttons on the opposite side of whichever thumb you might be using, are virtually useless. They can be assigned functions like all the other buttons, but they're very tricky to click without taking your hand off the mouse and doing so with your index finger.

As long as you're willing to put forth a little bit of effort to discover for yourself the most comfortable and economic way to use the mouse, you should be okay.

how about check out this great gaming keyboard?

 
Ideazon Zboard Gaming Keyboard

Installation:

Installation is what you'd expect, and it's especially noteworthy that the software is compatible with every version of Windows from 98 to XP. That's pretty refreshing at least to me, being an owner and user of a Logitech MX518, for which the software is only compatible with XP.

Naturally, you start things off by first plugging the mouse into a USB port (Razer Diamondback supports both USB 1.1 and 2.0 Port); the USB connector is gold-plated for maximum contact. You pop in the CD, follow the directions to install the drivers, and reboot your computer. The Razer Diamondback's settings menus are surprisingly polished. They cover all the essentials, including sensitivity, button assignment, and scroll wheel speed, and the little bit of personality and style is welcome.

Observation:

The Razer Diamondback moves very smoothly, and it lives up to all the hype in that respect. It's precise and quick without being overwhelming, and requires very little effort on the part of the user to operate.

This is definitely a gaming mouse, by the way. No two ways about it: if you're looking for a mouse with a ton of buttons to make web browsing or using applications like Photoshop a breeze, or if you're looking for something for casual computer use with little to no gaming, the Razer Diamondback is probably not for you. It's very straightforward, and sparse in it's placement of buttons -- but with basically just four to speak of, plus the mousewheel, you're not likely to make any miss-clicks in the middle of a heated gaming match.

The level of control over the mouse through on-the-fly sensitivity toggling is also top-notch, offering twenty levels of sensitivity settings. You're given a choice as to whether or not you'd like a graphic overlay to pop up when you adjust the settings, which is fine when you're browsing the internet or working in any number of programs or applications but I'd recommend leaving it off when you're gaming. The popping up of the overlay caused a slight slowdown and a loss of framerate for a second or two - and one second can be the difference between winning or losing. It's a minor gripe, but given that the Diamondback is designed specifically with gaming in mind, it's a little bit of a bummer to have a cool feature be something of a detriment to it's purpose.

Conclusion:

If you're going to be spending most of your computer time gaming, I can safely recommend the Razer Diamondback, despite the minor issues with it's design. If your time is split between gaming and something like digital art or office work, you'd probably be okay with just the Razer Diamondback, but you might want to consider possibly investing in both a Razer for gaming, as well as a secondary mouse built for something other than just gaming, if that's your prerogative. Given that the Diamondback has itself a $60 price tag, though, one should really consider their situation before deciding if it's the right mouse for them. Either way, the Razer Diamondback's functionality does live up to the hype in most respects. It's a solid mouse.

Razer Diamondback Salamander

Razer Diamondback Salamander 1600 Dpi Gaming Mouse 7 Buttons