MaximumPC 2007 04

reviews TESTED. REVIEWED. VERDICTIZED

76 MAXIMUMPC APRIL 2007

C

hoosing the right mouse is an

intensely personal endeavor. Not

only do you demand high perfor-

mance, plenty of buttons, and adjustable

sensitivity, you also need a mouse that’s

comfortable enough not to cramp your style

during a 20-hour Burning Crusade session.

That’s hard to fi nd.

—WILL SMITH

IDEAZON REAPER

We were quite surprised when an optical

mouse turned up in the Maximum PC Lab—

we’re deep into the laser generation—and

even more surprised when it turned out to

be good. Is the latest, greatest tech not

always best?

The Reaper’s 1,600dpi optical sensor is,

technically, less sensitive than the laser sen-

sor in the Logitech G5 or the Fatal1ty mouse

(also reviewed here),

but you’d not know

it when you’re play-

ing games. Tracking

is supersmooth,

even in high-speed,

twitch games, and

the Reaper delivers

a smoother-feel-

ing action than we

remember other

optical mice having.

While it didn’t help

us get more frags

in Counter-Strike:

Source, we could

defi nitely AK snipe

n00bs from across

the level with it.

Our main com-

plaint about the

Reaper is with its

shape. While it

sports a whopping seven buttons—including

three conveniently placed for thumb use—

the Reaper isn’t very comfortable to use.

Unlike more ergonomic mice we’ve tested,

the Reaper has a low profi le and somewhat

odd button placement, which makes it dif-

fi cult to use during long sessions. It also

lacks the hand support we really need in a

mouse—if you’re at your PC for 10 hours a

day, comfort is crucial.

Ideazon is one of the few companies

to nail driverless resolution switching on a

mouse. Even without the company’s soft-

ware installed, pressing a button will cycle

your rodent through three settings: sensitive,

supersensitive, and stupid-crazy sensitive.

By using the different sensitivities effec-

tively, you can easily switch your movement

speed on the fl y. This is great for games like

Battlefi eld, in which you need low sensitiv-

ity for infantry ops but high sensitivity when

you’re driving vehicles.

If it were a few bucks cheaper, the Reaper

would be a strong contender in the budget-

gaming-mouse category, but as it stands,

for $6 more, you can get the vastly superior

Logitech G5, which includes many of the

same features and is more comfortable to

use over long sessions.

CREATIVE FATAL1TY

PROFESSIONAL LASER

When an unnamed editor was eight, all he

wanted for his birthday was an authentic

William “The Fridge” Perry jersey. A cheap

knockoff wouldn’t do, nor would the con-

descending sized-down jerseys. Needless

to say, he was left disappointed, but not as

disappointed as he would have been once

he tried on the authentic jersey, which con-

tained as much fabric as a circus tent.

What’s the moral of this story?

Sometimes, what’s good for a pro isn’t good

for an amateur. That’s defi nitely the case

with the Fatal1ty mouse. Despite what the

Creative marketing apparatus might want

you to believe, it takes more than a fancy

laser mouse to play like Fatal1ty.

At fi rst glance, the mouse has all the right

parts to excel in gaming: It tracks extremely

well, it features adjustable sensitivity (sans

drivers), and it sports enough buttons. Heck,

it even features an adjustable weight sys-

tem, like the Logitech G5. However, for most

users, the physical shape of the mouse will

leave much to be desired.

Unlike other mice, which are designed

for you to rest your hand on, you’re sup-

posed to mimic Fatal1ty’s claw-like grip

when using his mouse. Unfortunately,

Fatal1ty’s grip is crippling if you use it for

an extended period of time—you have to

contort your hand into a claw to use all the

buttons on the mouse. In our unscientifi c

Counter-Strike test, we increased our frag

count by using the claw technique; however,

we eventually suffered terrible hand cramps

from holding the position too long.

The problems continue when you use

the mouse for common mousing tasks,

web browsing, and desktop work. While

the precision is great, the device is just not

comfortable for extended periods of time.

After only two hours at work, our hand was

already cramping from the utter lack of sup-

port this rodent delivers.

Like the Fridge’s jersey, this item is

designed for pros who are willing to suffer in

order to attain maximum performance. We

just can’t recommend it to folks who use the

same mouse for games and desktop work.

A Mouse for Your House

Which rodent makes for the best fragging?

The stumpy Fatal1ty mouse—aka the

Cr1ppler—performs great but leaves

much to be desired in the ergonomics

department.

The Reaper per-

forms well, but it’s

just not comfort-

able for long gam-

ing sessions.

$40, http://www.ideazon.com

IDEAZON REAPER

COTSWOLD

Loads of buttons, sensitiv-

ity adjustments, and really

good motion.

CHEEZ WHIZ^8

Uncomfortable for long

gaming sessions.

$70, http://www.creative.com

CREATIVE FATAL1TY LASER

DUBLINER

Great performance, adjust-

able weight system, and a

five-button design.

AMERICAN SLICES^6

Not suitable for extended use;

this mouse will cripple you.