Help with Mouse Selection

D

Drakenfeng

Gawd
Joined
Apr 15, 2010
Messages
671
After many years I'm still looking for a suitable gaming mouse. Here's some data:

  • Largish hands. I can't palm a Deathadder because my fingertips hang off the end. I can palm a G500.
  • Prefer Claw/ Finger grip.
  • I have severe sweating issues with shiny finishes - see Razer mice. Even with constant hand washing every 15 minutes their mice always feel dirty and it feels like the mouse is slipping out of my hand. The G500 finish is superb in this respect, no issues.
  • Typically use 1200-2000 dpi
  • Current surface is a steelseries qck mass. Considering switching back to a hard surface if it will improve accuracy.
  • Need to have side buttons for forward / back. I use these constantly as extra actions in games. Unfortunately most ambidextrous mice meant for finger gripping don't have these.
  • Don't care about: macros, memory, lights, scroll wheel tilt.

Mice I've tried so far:
  • Copperhead - Used for 1.5 years. Loved the shape and rubber side grips on that thing, unfortunately they aren't made any more. 3x died to doubleclick issue / poor manf. quality.
  • G5 - Used for a little over a year. Coming from the copperhead the mouse always felt odd to me. Wasn't aware there was a difference between gripping styles at the time and I was constantly trying to force a claw grip on it. Died to doubleclick issue. Also the MMB was always hard to press (would always tilt instead of clicking).
  • G9 - Used for 2 years. Good for gaming but I never really got used to the shape, middle button is way too hard to press. Causes physical pain if I try pressing the MMB with any frequency. Finish on the wide load grip sweats slightly. G9x has acceleration issues. Had to stop using because it does not track on my mousepad. Died at work to doubleclick issue / wire fray.
  • G500 - Used for a year. Not really finger / claw grippable. Can't grip the right side properly (always end up getting my fingers caught under the mouse when moving to the right and the ridge there is very annoying / uncomfortable) Great for office work. Still working. Not sure why I bought it knowing how dissatisfied I was with the G5 shape.
  • Deathadder 3500 - Only been using this one for a few days, initial impressions of the shape are good but the finish is murder. I can force a finger or claw grip on it (have to due to length). Oddly 1800 DPI on the DA is WAY slower than 1800 DPI on the G500.

Considering the black version of the Deathadder but I've read reviews of the rubber coating coming off within weeks which would make the mouse unusable for me. (Wouldn't surprise me, Razer mice are shoddy as hell)

Also considering the Steelseries Sensei. For those that have used it is the new coating slick or does it just look that way from the photos? I would just buy the Xai to be sure since I don't care about the new features on the Sensei but Steelseries removed it from their store and I can't find anyone selling it, plus I've heard of having to get the Xai RMA'd multiple times before getting a good one.

Open to any other suggestions as well.

Side question: Are the edges of your thumb / pinky ever supposed to touch the mousepad, or should the only contact surface be your wrist and the bottom of the mouse itself? I find myself 'grabbing' the pad with the edges of my fingers when trying to make precise movements but the control seems inconsistent.
 
Take a look at the Alienware TactX (G9x with a different shape) and Coolermaster Storm Spawn.

To answer your side question, there's no hard rule for how to use a mouse. Just grip it in a way that is comfortable to you and that gives you good control. I personally have my ring finger and pinky dragging on the pad. I find that the extra friction helps me control the mouse better.
 
I don't think I've ever put as much thought as you when it comes to shopping for a mouse
 
Drakenfeng said:
After many years I'm still looking for a suitable gaming mouse. Here's some data:


  • [*]Largish hands. I can't palm a Deathadder because my fingertips hang off the end. I can palm a G500.

    [*]Prefer Claw/ Finger grip.

    Open to any other suggestions as well.
Click to expand...


  • Ok, first thing's first. The bold part describes my hands too. The G500 is the only mouse I can palm comfortably. That said, I prefer Claw/Finger grip as well. I've basically just been using a Deathadder Black Edition with that grip for a while now because it's the best, smoothest tracking mouse I'd used to date. It got a little fatiguing because the mouse was a little largeish to use that way, but otherwise I've been happy with it.

    That said, a couple weeks ago I discovered the CM Storm Spawn mouse uses the same updated sensor that you get in the Deathadder 3.5G or the Black Edition, and is generally considered to track close to or just as well. It's also designed specifically for Claw/Fingertip grips. It's smaller lengthwise (as in doesn't reach as far back toward your palm) but wider, and has a resting spot designed specifically to fit your ring finger. It's also very lightweight and the sides are rubber like the Copperhead.

    I've been using it for a couple of days now and am absolutely falling in love with the thing.

    Best part: It should be about $35.

    If you want a direct size comparison I can probably take a crappyish cellphone pic or two with both mice. I still have both hooked up for the time being.

    *Oh, and it has the same nifty feature as the G500 where once you set up your mouse in the configuration software it actually stores your settings on the memory in the mouse itself. On the otherhand, it doesn't offer the granularity in DPI settings. You get 800, 1800, and 3500. Nothing in between. Basically all the same options as the Deathadder.

    *Oh! The other small mouse you can look into is the Abyssus. It's another smaller Claw//Fingertip grip mouse. The nice thing about the Abyssus is it has hard switches on the bottom that flip the mouse between DPI settings and polling rates. No software required. The sensor is again the same one from the Deathadder.

    *And the sensor in the Steelseries Sensei is terrible. Built in acceleration, prediction, etc. The guy that runs Steelseries openly admitted that the mouse is lots of form and no function. It's a glitzy mouse designed by a marketing team to catch people's attention without any attention paid to it actually being a good gaming mouse.
 
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Take the G700 into consideration. I normally claw it, but you can palm it as well.

Everything about it is great except for the weight. I only use it in wired mode. The wire is a bit thick, but long enough that the stiffness is hardly an issue.
 
Thanks for the input guys, I was afraid that was the case with the Sensei. I'll take a look at the G700 and CM Storm Spawn. The spawn definitely seems promising, love rubber grips.

The abyssus has that terrible mirror finish on it that feels greasy to my hands and the mx518 / g400 seems to have the same general shape as the g500 / g5 which I'm not a fan of.
 
My CM Storm Spawn arrived today, it's rather awesome! Took me about an hour to adjust to it but suddenly it 'clicked'. It's the most comfortable and accurate mouse I've used - it doesn't feel like the shape is constantly fighting me. I definitely would have overlooked it due to it being an 'offbrand' (i.e. not logitech or razer). The finger rest on the right side of the is perfect to me and the finish/rubber is very nice. They didn't waste money implementing fancy lights, LCD screens or gloss finishes on this thing either. One feature they failed to mention on the box is that the (teflon?) feet are HUGE - they cover ~20% of the bottom surface area and provides a noticeably more consistent glide. They also designed the scroll wheel such that it requires more of a "down and to the left" action to click instead of a straight down action - which prevents accidental clicks when scrolling. Can highly suggest it to any other claw grippers out there. Thanks again for the suggestion ThinJ.
 
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I'm glad it worked out for ya.

I overlooked the thing myself for a while for that exact reason. I thought "CoolerMaster? Eh, they should stick to cases" and just moved on and looked for another Logitech or Razer.

It wasn't until I started digging into which sensors were in which mice and what the pros and cons of each were that I found out the Spawn actually has a small but fairly dedicated following.

There are some people that hate the high lift off distance (the height you can lift the mouse before it stops tracking) with the stock firmware, but I pick up my mouse fairly regularly and haven't really noticed it being that much different than my Deathadder.

And the scroll wheel really is awesome. It's actually significantly easier to press than the Deathadder, but I still don't ever have to worry about accidentally clicking it.
 
Zowie EC1/EC2 White/Black/Blue depends on what you like.

EC1 is a bit bigger than EC2

White has a glossy cover
Black has a rubber coating on the top and the sides are glossy
Blue is 100% rubber coating.

Best mouse I've ever used.

G400, G5, MX518, Deathadder, G9, IE 1.1, Copperhead.

Zowie wins all of them. :)
 
tukkez said:
Zowie EC1/EC2 White/Black/Blue depends on what you like.

EC1 is a bit bigger than EC2

White has a glossy cover
Black has a rubber coating on the top and the sides are glossy
Blue is 100% rubber coating.

Best mouse I've ever used.

G400, G5, MX518, Deathadder, G9, IE 1.1, Copperhead.

Zowie wins all of them. :)
Click to expand...

tons of jitter on rough textured cloth pads, glossy sides on the EC2 annoyed the shit out of me, same for angle snapping, couldn't make it skip tho and the cord was just PERFECT, not drag at all !

hope they get it right this time with the AM, using a WMO 1.1 meanwhile :p
 
I would suggest the G700 since I like mine. Tons of buttons, rough textured shell similar to the smaller G9 grip if you are familiar with that, ZERO lag in wireless mode, and best of all it uses Eneloops for batteries (I keep some spares in a charger). My G9 was a little more comfortable to me though. I'm pretty biased towards Logitech mice, they are hands down the best in the business as far as I'm concerned.
 
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