Review: RZER PRO mouse V 1.6

[XNine]

Okay, so I got the Razer Pro mouse along with the Propad today.

http://www.razerpro.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=12&Itemid=26

The Propad is made of aluminum with a smooth, yet ridged coating on the top for the mouse to sense every tiny movement. The Propad is double sided, and has small grey rubber feet at each corner designed to keep it stationary on the desk.

Onto the mouse
The box: The box is a box. A cube with very nice design and elegance, almost Apple-ish. From looking at it you know that this is a high quality product.

Opening it, the mouse sits horizontally on top of a cardboard slat, encased in a plastic bubble. Below the slat is the user manual.

The mouse is sleek and VERY comfortable with the hand. IT's ergonomic design gives the left and right hand the same feel, so there is no loss in quality over which hand you use. The right and left click buttons are long and contoured to fit your middle and index fingers perfectly. The scroll wheel is closer to the front of the mouse, and is a rubberized, non-slip surface which is clickable as well.

On either side of the mouse in the middle, are two buttons. Each button has a front click and a back click, making two buttons from one.

The mouse itself is white in color, the right/left buttons are grey, and the wheel and side buttons are clear with an ambient blue light radiating through them.

SET UP:
The mouse, like any mouse, works right out of the box like any mouse would on OS X. I don't know about windows, but I imagine not seeing as how nothing works on windows anyway.

The user manual indicates there are four steps to installing the drivers for OS X, and TWELVE for windows.

Upon restarting the machine, I went into SYSTEM PREFERENCES and clicked on the newly installed Preference Pane for the Razer.

There are three tabs:
Sensitivity: Adjust the speed of the mouse on surfaces, turn on/off "on-the-fly sensitivity (which allows the change of sensitivity from application to application, useful for web browsing versus photoshop, etc.), and DOUBLE CLICK speed test.
Scroll Wheel: where you can adjust the speed of scrolling.
Buttons: where you can customize the buttons on the mouse from various different thinks.

Using the mouse:
Upon plugging in the mouse, I could already feel the difference before the drivers were installed. Immediately I switched out my old mouse pad with the ProPad, and it was even smoother than before.

After installing the drivers, I was immediately satisfied by pushing the sensitivity to 7 out of 10. The mouse smoothly glides around the screen, not going to fast as to make it seem jumpy. Clicking and dragging a window is extremely smooth.

Testing in photoshop yielded the mouse a true success, with it's ability to glide seamlessly, not missing or jumping any pixels.

The cons:
The MACROS option when trying to configure a mouse button does not let you use the COMMAND key at the same time as another key (C or V for copy or paste). This may just be a bug. The driver's were updated on November 16th 2005 to version 1.6.2. I have already submitted a report to the drivers team.

Pros: EVERYTHING ELSE. A MUST have. I rate this mouse a 9.5 out of 10 for the simple reason of the MACROS bug. Once fixed, a 10 will be given easily.

 

[Meyvn]

You know, a mouse working perfectly with a pad that was DESIGNED for it isn't exactly a crowning achievement. If the mouse worked perfectly on a surface it was NOT designed for, one that does not cost 30 dollars, or say, a tabletop, et cetera, THAT would be amazing. ON a sidenote, do you know if there is any guarantee from Razer that the ProPad will work with all optical mice? If it doesn't, are returns permitted?

 

[eeyoredragon]

The mouse, like any mouse, works right out of the box like any mouse would on OS X. I don't know about windows, but I imagine not seeing as how nothing works on windows anyway.

I find myself torn between my desire to be somewhat polite and my desire to impress upon you how moronic that statement was. I don't know very many people at all that use the included drivers with peripherals such as say... mice.

Anyhow... I just got this mouse in. I basically agree with what the thread starter had to say about this mouse. Everything works. It's smooth. It's comfortable. It works (as opposed to say the Copperhead atm).

For those wanting to use the mouse with Expose' and use the Razer driver, you need to unbind any Expose' keys, bind the mouse buttons to those keys, then rebind the keys on the keyboard. Otherwise when you go to hit say F11 to assign the key to the mouse button, it performs the Expose' function instead of registering the key.

Perhaps there's an easier way to do that, but that's what worked for me.

 

[braindog]

Anyone else get this mouse yet? I've heard it's a carbon copy of the Diamondback, which can be had at Best Buy for $50. Then you just download the Pro drivers and off you go.

The Copperhead, I've heard, does NOT work with OS X.

 

[mfacey]

So what's the advantage of this mouse over, say for example a logitech MX1000? (which also happens to be wireless!). It just seems an awful lot of money for a regular mouse...

 

[eeyoredragon]

^ it's all about what you like. I had an mx1000. Didn't like it. Well, I generally tend to not like that typical Logitech shape. Too big to me. I've always preferred the Razer shapes.

Also, I use a Powerbook, so the wireless thing is pointless for me because I now need to cart along a giant receiver for the mouse.

However, if you like the shape of the Logitech, and you don't have a laptop (or for some reason don't mind that damn receiver) then there is no reason to get the Razer.


EDIT: as to the Copperhead, I have one. I wouldn't bother with it yet for mac. I returned mine and they sent me another one that does actually work. However, it's odd acting. Like, if I unplug my Pro and plug in the Copperhead, it works fine. However, if I reboot, the Copperhead tracks all weird. If I plug the Pro in to replace the Copperhead, the key bindings I had for it (the Pro) don't work till I reboot again. Funky funky.

 

[braindog]

I have confirmed that the Razer Pro is in fact a white Mac-ified Diamondback. I bought a Diamondback and it works perfectly with the Razer Pro drivers. This thing is light years beyond anything Logitech (IMO).

I love Razers... they are silky smooth, ergonomic, and work better for me, in both games and Photoshop work. Try one out, mcfacey. You can get a Diamondback for half the price of an MX1000.

 

[mfacey]

To be honest I'd never heard of them before reading this thread. I've always been a logitech user, but I am interested in giving one of these a shot. I'll be in the US next week and I'll keep an eye out for them.
The only thing that would bother me is that they're not wireless. I have a really basic wired optical mouse in my laptop bag for when I'm on the road. My Mx1000 is used only on my desk at home. I really love the quick response of the mx1000. Going back to and older optical mouse has become quite annoying actually. From what I understand from their website, Razer actually has very good response from the mice aswell. Sounds interesting.

 

[eeyoredragon]

^ The Pro (and Diamondback) actually has a higher dpi than the MX1000 (1600 vs 800) for what it's worth.

The wireless thing bugged me at first. However, I was wanting a wireless mouse without a dongle (so bluetooth). I wasn't able to find one that performed well though.

The performance jump from any wireless mouse I've tried (bluetooth or rf) to the Razer (Viper or Diamondback/Pro) is pretty substantial. I'll put up with my wire for the difference.

And, like I said, I love the shape. Only mouse I feel really comfortable gaming with.

 

[Meyvn]

...A resolution of 800 dpi for a laser mouse is borderline inexcusable. I got a Microsoft Laser Notebook 6000 for 40 bucks. Has an EXTREMELY long battery life, small and stowable receiver, and 1000 dpi. Except for the MX1000's better buttons, this thing's got it beat for sure.