The Register® — Biting the hand that feeds IT

Feeds

Razer Imperator 2012

RH Numbers

2012 seems to be the year of the mouse upgrade and the Razer Imperator boasts a notable makeover with more refined sensors and a chassis improvement for right-handers. The 4G is the Imperator's all-new dual sensor system – combining optical and laser tech – is definitely a talking point and is extremely impressive.

Razer should be lauded for listening to its users, learning from its mistakes and remedying the original Imperator's lacklustre laser accuracy. With this light and fast 6400 dpi mouse I kick ass in any FPS. Granted, not the top of the range but a good price for cutting edge Razer technology.

Razer Imperator 2012 Gaming Mouse

Reg Rating 80%
Price £65
More info Razer

Razer Naga Hex

RH Numbers
RH Recommended Medal

I really like the Naga Hex. It looks like something found on the bridge of the latest Romulan battle ship – all green lights and six hexagonal buttons which can be bonded to specific spells, skills and abilities. Yet unlike the truth bug put in Captain Pike's mouth, it feels fantastic.

The hexagon of enjoyably springy buttons circling a squidgy pad are easily accessible by my thumb. Five PTFE feet on the bottom propel it smoothly around my mouse mat and the 5600dpi laser sensor inside has precise, accurate tracking. Need a new mouse for DotA 2 or Diablo III but still want to be able to afford the actual game? Then the Naga Hex is definitely worth considering .

Razer Naga Hex Gaming Mouse

Reg Rating 85%
Price £70
More info Razer

Next page: Roccat Kone [+]

Think of the lefties!

So, any recommendations for a semi-decent FPS mouse for us deviant lefties? I physically can't use alot of the mice you feature here!

8
0

Re: Is it me......

If I got a girlfriend, my wife would divorce me, and then I wouldn't see my son as much and my business would suffer.

6
0

But why

Are most of them so fugly and un-ergonomic? Swear I have RSI just from looking at them.

Am I the only one who appreciates function over pointless styling?

Honestly it looks like decided that the rodents only function was to match an Alienware box or laptop.

7
1

Two things:

First, why doesn't anybody talk about latency? There's an obsessive focus on accuracy (which is #2) but no mention of click-to-fire time, where an extra millisecond or so can make a huge difference. In the world of PC game controllers, FFB steering wheels come in with horrid results, often having 300, 400ms of lag (my company having built our own, I'm not sure how they manage it really, but I'm still not entirely happy with the performance of ours).

Second, 6400dpi?! What the? If you've got your mouse set to do a slow 360 degree rotation in, say, 3" (it's been a while since I've played an FPS, but that seems about right from feel), you'd have, what, 50 counts per degree? With a horizontal FOV of 120 degrees you'd be looking at 6000 counts left-to-right onscreen.

Is there anybody who's positioning himself within 1/3rd of a pixel (on a 19x10 screen)? Is there any game that would understand that? I mean, maybe now games are doing subpixel rotations and there are supreme badasses out there who can discern that enough to be useful. But it seems like they'd be few and far between.

Even without all of that, I defy anybody to say they can position that fucker within 1/6400th of an inch, with their hand. The stickslip from the mouse to the pad will defy that, no matter what kind of space-age material your mouse pad is made of. And 1/6400th of an inch is a very, very, VERY small amount. I build motion platforms and the requisite servo systems, and am broadly familiar with CNC machining gear, and half a thousandth is getting pretty fine. Thinking your hand is going to reliably, and with any meaningful result, match that performance while holding onto a little brick sitting on a piece of fabric / plastic, when what you're seeing is delayed by several milliseconds *anyway*...

If you ask me, you'd be better off getting a CRT projector or a CRT monitor, which will lop at a minimum several ms off your visual latency. It's bad enough with even a fast LCD monitor (gray-to-gray is pointless; I'm talking *latency*), but with a TV you can usually go get a cup of coffee between the arrival of a bit at the HDMI port and its eventual display on the screen. The Sonys we use are, at 720p in 3D mode, with 'gaming' on, barely, barely acceptable for driving sims. For FPSes it'd be utterly hopeless.

So, on the assumption that (shudder) I'm wrong - what is there to justify that number, aside from marketing? Is effective resolution really 1/5th of that number due to noise or jitter, or due to inaccuracies in manufacturing the hardware?

Also, what the hell is up with that Mad Catz Cyborg monstrosity? Even if it was the best mouse in the world, I'd keep it in my drawer when I wasn't using it in case someone saw it. It's like they took a graphite shell shaped like a mouse, filled it orange jell-o, and hit it with a hammer until the marketing guys said to stop. Eruughh.

5
1
Anonymous Coward

fell asleep

Reading the second paragraph, zzzzzzzzzzzzz

4
1

More from The Register

The iWatch is coming! The iWatch is coming!
Reports: Apple's wrister to have 1.5-inch OLED, test units being built
MYSTERY Nokia Lumia with gazillion-pixel camera 'spotted'
With 20Mp sensor - NOW will you try Windows Phone 8?
US boffin builds 32-way Raspberry Pi cluster
Beowulf cluster built for the price of a single PC
 breaking news
Dell's PC-on-a-stick landing in July: report
Wyse up, suckers, could this be a new set-side-stick?
Review: HP Pavilion 14 Chromebook
All roads lead to Chrome?
Borked your iDevice? Pay EVEN MORE to have it fixed by Applecare
Or scream at their hapless techies on their forums
Review: Sony Xperia SP
The new mid-range marvel? Oh yes.
Euro PC shipments plummet into bottomless pit of DOOOOM
11th quarter of decline, 20pc drop on last year - Gartner