CM Storm Spawn initial impressions

[Ritorix]

Havent seen much chatter on the H about this mouse so I will start a thread. I received the Cooler Master Storm Spawn today. Initial impressions so far are good.

edit: after 5 hours of QL and blackops, yeah it looks like a keeper. It did have negative accel issues with a smooth, hard black pad (rocketfish speed side), but not with the 'control' textured side or a black cloth pad. Using the cloth pad anyway, but you may want to make sure your pad works with the mouse first.

Pros and Features:
+Optical, uses the new avago adns-3090. Being this new is also a con, see note about firmware.
+Very nice shape for a claw grip. Has an area for your ring finger, something I wish the G9x had released a custom grip for. The pinky gets a rubber side grip all to itself. If the g9x precision grip was too small for you, as it was for me due to scrunching your hand up, the Spawn will fit a lot better. Its like putting on a wide shoe size.
+Light weight. The g9x feels like a complete brick compared to this. It feels closer to the MSIE 3.0 in weight.
+Rubber side grips. Between this and the low weight, ideal for lift-off play.
+No acceleration or angle snapping turned on by default. There are options in the drivers to enable them if you really want. You dont. *See note about mousepads and firmware tweaking though in Cons.
+125/250/500/1000hz USB polling.
+Buttons are remappable, including the DPI buttons if you just want to keep the same DPI. A nice macroing function is included in the driver. As a test I remapped a DPI key to alt+f4; every window you mouseover and press that button was closed. Lol.

Cons and Quirks:
-First off, this is not a palm grip mouse. Dont even try. Your fingers will be hanging over the edge like a tall guy's feet in a twin bed. What it is, is probably the most comfy claw mouse ever made.
-After using the g9x's scroll wheel I am spoiled. This one isnt as nice. However, the Spawn's wheel is actually clickable with a reasonable amount of force, unlike the g9.
-While in theory this has the best optical sensor on the market, it is a new sensor and CM has had issues getting the firmware right. They currently offer 3 different firmwares for different mousepad types, with varying levels of LOD (lift-off distance) and some have negative accel issues at high speed movements (speeds vary based on the pad you use). It ships with the most universal firmware loaded, but you can flash a low-LOD firmware suited specifically for black mousepads, which is what I have loaded. It seems alright so far, but I will have to check back here after using it for a while.
-800/1800/3500 DPI, with a DPI switch right under the mousewheel. The optical sensor natively does only 1800 and 3500; CM figured out a way to get 800 too. That's it. This is a con if you require a ~450dpi mouse like the MSIE 3.0 or you like having a lot of DPI options. Not really a big deal I think, you can easily do the math and adjust your game sens to compensate. I set the mouse to be 1800DPI always and remapped the two DPI buttons to other functions.
-Nothing else obvious at first. Doesn't have a braided cord, but I think those are overrated.


AFAIK, the only place to obtain it in the States is directly via CM's store. Amazon/newegg/tiger are supposed to already have them from CM, but they arent for sale yet. Not sure what is going on there, whatever, it will probably change by the time you read this.


Have some crappy cell phone pics.

Deathadder Black - MSIE3.0 - G9x Precision Grip - Spawn

Feels like a G9x with a place to put your ring finger.

Could do without the side logo.

Side. Yes the Black Edition coating wears away, and its only a few months old.

Giant hand or tiny mouse.

Bottom

Seems like pretty robust drivers.

 

[Bees]

That Spawn is TINY, dude! WOW. And fat. I guess you could call it a tree trunk of sorts.

Seems nice, for those who use claw grips. These big hands can't do so, but looks like a solid peripheral. Nice review and SHOTS!

 

[samduhman]

Thanks for the review and pictures!

Looks like a perfect mouse for small handed claw gamers. I've been complaining about the lack of small mice options for hardcore gamers for a couple years. I've been through recently...

Logitech G9x: Nice but the middle scroll wheel take to much force to click and hold repeatedly.
NZXT Avatar: Liked it alot but wasn't wowed by the tracking.
RAT 7: Using it now. Very nice but a tad wide for me. Even when adjusted all the way in.
etc: I've been through a gambit of popular mice without finding the perfect mouse for my needs. Maybe this is it.

 

[Vittra]

Appreciate the pics and review. I'm definitely going to have to check this out, especially considering how cheap it is. The Dell Tactx is almost the perfect mouse for me, but not quite. This could be the one based on how similar it is to the G9x!

 

[gman]

Mines going back. Not a bad shape, but I think the quality is lacking on it. Seems flimsy to me and buttons are not attached well.

 

[Ritorix]

Weird, I didnt get that feel from it at all. The only mouse of that group that I get a 'cheap' feel from is the 3.0, it makes all those plastic clicky sounds like a toy. The best-built of the bunch is the g9, with the BE and the spawn about on par with each other. I have been beating on the spawn pretty good now since my review and so far it looks like a keeper.

 

[Netic]

I've had mine for about a week now and I like it, still debating if it will replace my abyssus. I will say that the build quality is very good, very solid.

 

[Zero82z]

I got mine today, and after a few minutes of using it, here are my thoughts:

Pros:
-The shape is nice. Very comfortable. The buttons and body are also covered in a soft-touch coating, and the rubber grips on both sides feel nice.
-Tracking is very good. The middle setting (1800DPI) is pretty much perfect for me. For reference, I use 1600DPI with my TactX and ~1400DPI with my G500.
-Build quality is good for the most part. It feels solid, and the left and right buttons have a good feel.

Cons:
-The side buttons suck. They're tiny, they barely stick out, they wobble, and they just don't feel good at all. Probably among the worst side buttons I've ever used.
-The scroll wheel isn't anything special. It also tilts a bit to the left when I push it down. The one on my G500 is much better.
-It's a bit small for my liking, although I do prefer palm-grip mice.
-The cord is pretty thick. It's decently flexible, but definitely noticeable.

Overall, I'm not sure if I'll stick with it. I think my G500/TactX combo suits me better. Some aspects are really nice, but the design could definitely use some work in certain areas.

 

[Zero82z]

One other thing I just noticed: the lift-off distance sucks as well.

 

[Ritorix]

Update your firmware if you haven't already, FW32 reduces the LOD to ~1CD on a black pad.

 

[QES]

Does anyone know if this will work well with a Ratpadz XT? I bought the CM Storm Sentinel advance over a year ago... really regret it, it's a huge POS. I'm thinking of getting this mouse to replace the sentinel, I would like to use my Ratpad though thats just been sitting collecting dust for a year. (sentinel advance doesnt work with it)

 

[Zero82z]

Does anyone know if this will work well with a Ratpadz XT?

It will work well other than the high lift-off distance, but apparently that might be corrected by a firmware update.

 

[QES]

I am going to order this mouse sometime this week/weekend. My sentinel advance is crapping out on me and have to send it in for RMA, just gonna sell it when its replaced. I'll post some thoughts after I receive it.