MaximumPC 2007 11

Y

ou don’t need to be a graphics professional to care about the color of your

prints—even casual digital photographers take pride in their work. But

what’s a user to do when the image he sees on the screen bears little resem-

blance to the printer’s output? Many screens provide manual control over

individual color channels, but tweaking them to match your printer’s color can

be a tedious and time-consuming affair. An alternative is to color calibrate your

monitor with a hardware/software package made for the task.

Pantone’s Huey line of consumer calibrators promises professional-grade

results with a price and user-friendliness that will appeal to even hobbyists. Both

the standard Huey and the HueyPro function similarly: You load the calibration

software, connect the cigarillo-size calibrator to your USB port, and then follow

the software’s simple steps, which take little more than a minute to complete.

For this review, we focused on the HueyPro because unlike the standard

version, the Pro will calibrate more than one monitor on a single workstation.

Per the software’s instructions, we stuck the suction-cupped calibrator to our

screen and watched as the device measured the screen’s color temps with a

show of LEDs. In the end, our screen took on a dramatically different appear-

ance that was warmer and redder than its previous state—it’s fun to toggle

between the before and after results. The newly calibrated screen looked very

unnatural to our unaccustomed eyes, so we compared it with a multicolored

print that we ran off on our company’s production-grade printer, which gets

regularly serviced and calibrated. And sure enough, the calibrated screen was

a much closer match to the print—nearly identical, in fact.

The HueyPro lets you select from a few different white-point and gamma

settings to suit your personal preference without disrupting the color balance. And

you can opt for the device to measure the room’s ambient light at all times (from

its wee cradle) and make appropriate adjustments to your screen on the fly.

For folks who do a lot of color printing, this product is a real boon; the trade-

offs are a screen that likely looks very different from what you’re used to

and a lag time whenever you boot

and the color profile is reloaded.

—Katherine StevenSon

Pantone HueyPro

Wouldn’t you like your prints to match the image you see on

the screen?

I

t’s difficult to improve on something that’s already damn near perfect. That’s

the problem Logitech faced when designing the follow-up to the kick-ass

G5 gaming mouse. The new G9 features an innovative, but not necessarily

improved, design.

Sporting changeable shells, the mouse accommodates all hand sizes.

The petite “ladyhands” shell is perfect for people with finer fingers, while the

“meathooks” shell is big enough to accommodate everyone but the largest of

giants. We continue to dig Logitech’s weighting system, which lets you adjust

the heft of your mouse. With room for four weights, you can add as much as

28g of mass to your rodent—not as much as the G5 allows but still more than

enough to elicit a gliding action.

Logitech also added the MicroGear scroll wheel, which uses haptic

technology to switch back and forth between super-speedy smooth scrolling

and traditional detent-style scrolling. Unlike the Logitech MX Revolution, the

G9 allows you to swap scroll modes by pressing a button on the bottom of the

mouse, so switching modes won’t cause problems in games that use mouse3

(the Revolution’s toggle button).

That’s what we like. We don’t, however, like this mouse’s physical design.

The G9 is designed for gamers who hold the mouse with the tips of their fin-

gers—Fatal1ty-style. The problem is that mice designed specifically for such

claw-style players aren’t particularly comfortable for day-to-day mousing, and

they’re not good for gamers who use a standard grip; the thumb buttons and

sensitivity-adjustment buttons are located inconveniently for people who use a

conventional grip.

The G9’s sensor, like the G5’s, is precise and perfect. The only real flaw

that this mouse exhibits is its claw-friendly design. We just don’t think that

this grip-style is very popular. In a decidedly unscientific poll of 15 gaming

editors of all ages, not one used the Fatal1ty-style grip. Maybe

the G9 should be labeled “For

Professional Use Only.”

—Will Smith

Logitech G9

The latest Logitech G-series gaming mouse just doesn’t stack up

88 MAXIMUMPC november 2007

reviews Tes Ted. Reviewed. veRdic Tized

an included

cradle gives the

hueyPro a place

to perch while it

continually moni-

tors your room’s

lighting.

the new G9 laser mouse includes some saucy features, including

multiple adjustable shells, but it’s not a worthy successor to the G5.

6

logitech g9

$100, http://www.logitech.com

9

pantone hueypro

$130 ($90 for baby Huey),

http://www.pantone.com