[Blind Tree Frog]

Pardon if this isn't the right forum.... I figured either this or random musings and this forum might be slightly more on topic. Please bitch me out and move it if I am grossly wrong.......


Ok, so I haven't looked hard yet, so maybe i'll find the answer to my own question.....A quick search hasn't turned anything up yet

But I love my Razor Boomslang. Granted, it's only the 1000, but it's the best mouse I have ever had the pleasure to use. Opticals (MS and Sun) hold nothing too it's smoothness and precision.

But as I had to look to clean it today, I was reminded of my greatest fear.... it's eventual death... nono, I'll be fine, but I must prepare now. If for no other reason then to have a mouse at work attached to my machine. Granted, there are the rumors of Razor's return, albeit slowly. And I can buy a case of 12 Boomslang 2000's from them currently (invetigating now). But I am curious what other options there are. What say you people? What other High Precision mice are there on the market? or was it a market that existed for 3 months when gaming got big and then went away? (I don't want it for gaming, I just greatly enjoy the precision and quality of the device)

[B0b]

appart from Apple the only other mouses i've used/bought have been from Logitech, i've never had any trouble with them, as for cleaning, clean hands= clean mouse..

[lalPOOO]

hey, this probably doesn't really answer your question, but I'd like to know somthing.
Are Razor Boomslangs really that good? I game a lot and I'm thinking of buying one. but because I have to get a whole case, and I know I might not be able to sell some for full retail vaule, I want to know for sure if its worth the lose. Like is the difference huge, or is it "this is neat"

[Blind Tree Frog]

If you get a case let me know, I can't get them to reply to my email. At least they haven't yet.

This was where I posted the same thread at deskmod: http://deskmod.com/?show=forum&thread_id=1837

Just so you can see some other opinions.


The 2 mains complaints I have heard are:
1) A few complaining about quality. I'm not seeing it in mine. It's actually been very few I've seen bitch about quality so I assume they just got a bad run or something. Is a slight concern if you buy a case since most all of those should be from the same run, so if one sucks all probably will. BUT, I've heard much more good about the quality then the bad, so I believe this to be a non-issue

2) The issue however is the shape and hand position. If I remember correctly (I don't pay attention to how i use my mice), it's much more of a move with your finger tips then your wrist type motion. You hand sits further back (hence the large buttons) and has less on the mouse. Either you deal with the different grip or you hate it.

For the most part though, as Gorman says, once you use it (assuming you don't mind the grip) you won't ever want to go back to a low dpi mouse. The smoothness of motion is bar none. It's really just something yo need to try and see.

Search for some reviews on gaming sites. I believe many stated out "I didn't expect too much, I mean it's just a mouse. What can they possibly do?" and end with "This is the most amazing thing ever".


I may be biased though, I still prefer ball over optical mice too. If that helps your decision.

[Lionel]

I have a Razer Boomslang 2000 and It took quite a lot of getting used to I used it for about a year and I eventually gave up with it and went back to a logitech pilot which for gaming imoh is much better position for the hand. The problem with the boomslang is it it to big and unwieldy for the hand. The logitech is much lighter and better suited to the movements that you need for gaming. I used to play a LOT of quake for my sins and was a part of a good quake clan called ir who were one of the better clans in the UK. Around the time that I stopped playing they were all moving onto optical mice. Then new microsoft mice I think it is the ones with the version 3 optics but you need to check that have fixed all the problems ascoiated with skipping with quick movements whilst playing and have suparsed mice like the razor. People in my clan were finding that the new microsoft mice were increasing their accuracy. So if you want a new mouse I would really seriously suggest looking at mice like either the latest logitechs with with the duel optics or the new microsoft mice with the LATEST optics. The microsoft mouse is suposted to be better. I have been out of the gamming scenn for a few months but this was what everybody was saying before I left. The really important thing when chousing a mouse is to make sure you have a USB one. I would bet the reason that the razor felt so much better than and previous mice is that you were using a ps2 connector which are really really bad. Having a USB mouse makes sure a difference. The reasons that my friends disliked the razors is they are too big and unwieldy for gameing (beleve me we spent a long time trying them). They also started to fall apart due to constant use yea we played a LOT of quake 3 (There were build quality issues with them though they may have fixed them I never had problems with mine but I didn't play as much as everyone else). As far as the way you hold a razor compared to a normal mouse being better I hold a rzor and a normal mouse in exactally the same way the main difference is that the rzor forces you to hold you mouse that way wheras a normal mouse does not I bet if go back to a normal mouse you will find the way hold it will be much better and you will get better results. I know all the old reviews say how wonderfull the razors are (hell that is why I bought one on the strenght of them) in hard core gamer circles they haven't stood the test of time. From what people are say if you want a mouse for gaming use a Microsoft optical mouse with the version 3 optics and if you want a mouse for art buy a wacom . If you want really good advice on mice always look at the forums on gaming sites like http://www.esreality.com and check the forums gamers know their shit when it come to mice

[Blind Tree Frog]

[Lionel]

http://www6.tomshardware.com/consumer/01q4/011026/opticalmice-08.html
My main reply is to paeople like lalPOOO who want a razor for gaming. The microsoft one seems to be 400 cpi whrase the logitech is 800 cpi acording to that web page. By the time you razor expires I will be guessing that optical technology will be easily up to the standard of your boomslang. From what I have heard the Microsoft one is better from a gaming perspective as it is a lot more responsive that the logitech one and 2000 cpi is a bit excessive .

As to if a razor is better for everyday use than an optical mouse you must rember that dpi is a very small part of the story. Much more important is the tracking speed. This makes the mouse feel responsive. This has been really fixed with latest generation of opticals. I honistly not go away and buy a truckload of razors until you have tried a modern optical mouse as they feel better to used since you don't have problems with dirt buildup efecting performance and to quote my fellow games thay feel a lot more precise. If you have already decided that a razor is the way to go then there is no point testing an optical as you will want it to fail but if you go in with an open mind. I understand that a mouse is a very personal thing and easly atached to . I guess my very long winded reply is the high precision mouse gamers use atm seem to be the Microsoft optical mouse v3.

[faB]

I have a Logitech Dual Optical it supposedly has 2 optical sensors for twie dpi of a regular mouse.

It does feel somewhat more precise on a first try, but that's just because of increased resolution the cursor moves slower. After much playing in Quake 3 and trying to paint with the mouse in Photoshop I can tell you it barely makes ANY difference. I can t draw a proper circile with a regular mouse neither with a dual optical.

For some reason I could draw anything I want with a (possibly really bad) Amiga Mouse on my good ol' Amiga 500.

As far as PC goes, I'd say op[tical is nise cause I dont have to clean it up otherwise I find the red light it makes really annoying.

Other than mouse what I can say though is a mousepad DOES make a differnece and I bought one from, EverGlide and LOVE it. It's plastic, its solid it makes a little moise but the grip is perfect and I barely ever have to clean it up/

:/
_________________
"I'm not a shrimp, I'm a KING PRAWN !" -- Pepe.
selfportraits & stuff

[Blind Tree Frog]

USB samples at 125Hz. PS2 can sample at up to 200Hz. As long as the mouse can saturate the polling, then it doesn't matter how much faster then 200Hz the mouse samples the motion at.

What does matter is how well it samples at. The fineness of the movement and what not.

[Lunatique]

I have a Boomslang 2000, and it made no difference to my gaming ability. I don't use it anymore because ergonomically, it cramps my hand after a while.

Now I use a Logitech MousemanWheel, and it's the best mouse I've used yet. The unique shape is much better suited for the structure of a human hand(thumb, and 4 fingers). It's pretty damn smooth too. I can snipe your head off in UT2003 or CS easily from across the level.

[Lionel]

A PS2 can be overclocked but I doubt many people know know you can do it and in windows 95/98 setting is stupidly low so you can see the lag. If anyone has a ps2 mouse I used to use ps2rate from http://www.udpsoft.com/ but it only works with win 98 and 95. In windows 2000 you can set it up in the control panel (I just checked and my mouse here at work is a ps2 one and not overclocked mind you I don't use it for games and it is win 2000 which is clocked at a reasnoble 60). I have never actually managed to clock my ps2 mice stably any high than 150 ish polls a sec. The reason that USB is better is that one is eliminates all the screwing around with frequencies and also to quote the razor site

"The one disadvantage of increasing the PS/2 polling rate is that it takes power away from the computer CPU. Therefore, most gamers will prefer to use a USB port with the Razer that rocks along at 125 polls/sec."

Which says it better than I can .

Bazarly that link to the reviews of optical mice:
http://www6.tomshardware.com/consumer/01q4/011026/opticalmice-08.html
Say that the Microsoft mouse

"Microsoft has chosen to go even further, by offering a refresh rate of 6000 shots a second"

Which implies that the microsoft mouse has a refresh rate of 6000Hz which sounds a little improbable if USB is fixed to 125Hz possibly the mouse is oversampling to avoid skipping????

faB: If you mouse is too slow go to control panel and change the mouse speed settings toill you find something you like

Lastly as far as mouse mats go the best mouse pad I have is actually a piece of card of the back of a sketch pad. I makes an awsome purpose. I would seriously advise you all to give it a go.

[Blind Tree Frog]

Over sampling is good. Eliminates skips.l


One of the main problems I have with all modern mice is the ergonomics... mainly that they have them. For example, take your nice ergonomic mouse and put it in your left hand. Now use it.

Now understand I use both hands on my mouse depending on my mood. Symmetric mice are a good thing.... and getting harder to find.

[lalPOOO]

thanks for the replies, this pretty mch makes up my mind.

if I over clock the mouse, should I put a fan on it , better yet, the watercooled mouse!

I just use a nice dexxa I stole from the family, 2 years ago. It was great up uintil I started gaming again and realized my hand is hanging over the mouse. So I have to get a bigger one or somthing and thought the boomslang might be an option, but from what you guys are saying, it sounds like its not.

[faB]

If you want to DRAW with the mouse, you have to disable mouse acceleration or set it very low. That's when a higher dpi comes useful, so you don't have to move the mouse 3 times over the length of the mousepad to move accross the screen..
_________________
"I'm not a shrimp, I'm a KING PRAWN !" -- Pepe.
selfportraits & stuff

[B0b]

the amount of ppl i know who game and complain about their Micro$haft Mouse fucking up while they try and turn etc .. i personally prefer a ball mouse for the weight (after using 1 for over 14yrs its hard to use a lighter 1)

[Lionel]

B0b: That used to happen with the OLD microsoft mice. They skip horably when you move the mouse quickly (when turnning etc) The newest microsoft mice have aparently fixed the problem. You NEED to make sure you have the version 3 optics on a Microsoft mouse or you will be much better of with a ball mouse.

btw check out the new logitech MX�300 Optical Mouse

http://www.logitech.com/index.cfm?page=products/details&CRID=3&CONTENTID=4997&countryid=19&languageid=1

It had 800 dpi and Scans at 8000 times a second which should mean no skipping. It also has a nice symetric shap .

[Blind Tree Frog]

Someone mentioned that one to me I believe. I'd rather twice the DPI, but since I have a boomslang 1000 now, It should feel just about the same..... course I lose 2 of my buttons but oh well, i don't use them enough.