Slashdot Mirror
Razer Develops 1000 DPI Optical Gaming Mouse
gameaxx writes "Back in 2002, Slashdot ran a piece on what the best mouse for precision PC gaming was, and there was a debate over whether the optomechanical Razer Boomslang running at 2000 dpi was the uber gaming mouse, or the optical mice from Logitech or Microsoft Intellimouse Explorer 3.0 running at 800 dpi were the best precision gaming mice to have. Now, Razer has just announced (PDF link) the upcoming February 2004 release of a ultra-precise 1000 dpi gaming mouse called the Razer Viper. At 1000 dpi, this breaks all the boundaries set by bigwigs like Logitech and Microsoft, whose mice max out at 800 dpi. Whether this settles the optical 800 dpi vs Boomslang optomechanical 2000 dpi debate once and for all with the release of a 1000 dpi gaming mouse remains to be seen until we actually get our hands on it."
If you have seen the Razor, you know what Im talking about. Imagine trying to use the xbox controller as a mouse. Ugh.
I've got an old, three-button Logitech serial mouse I found in a cupboard somewhere. It's definitely old technology, but it can still report movement even when I give it teeny-tiny nudges. How much accuracy is really required?
300dpi is a lot - try printing something at 300dpi on a laser printer and then move your fingernail over each individual pixel. Finding it difficult? 1000dpi is a pixel every 25.4 microns, and I'm pretty sure my muscles aren't that accurate.
Plus, there's quantisation effects to take into effect in games. The player yaw/pitch/roll angles in Half-Life, for instance, are quantised into comparatively large steps - thus making this hyper-accurate aiming thing a bit complicated.
There must be a good reason for it, though - but what is it?
With optical mice, the rate at which they scan is also quite important.
Uttering logically derived and empirically supported truths to the disciples of the orthodox establishment.
I have had zero problems playing games with the MX700 mouse. I initially was a little concerned before I got it how it would work, but it is absolutely awesome. Paired it with the cordless elite keyboard and I am completely happy.
Regarding using such mice for gaming, I can see how this would be of benefit in something like Unreal Tournament for sniping etc.
However does the higher DPI mean that one needs more mouse mat "real estate" to use it effectively?
Could a similar effect be achieved by simply turning down the mouse sensitivity in the game for a "regular" mouse?
I myself use the MX700 on a daily basis, and I'm looking to get the MX900 mouse. Its the exact same 'optical bits' but it uses Bluetooth instead of the 900MHz radio frequency that the MX mouse uses now. The batteries supposedly last 2 weeks now, and with my 2500mAh batteries (instead of the 1700mAh ones that come standard) mine should last about 32% longer than that, which would be about 2 and-a-half weeks. Or thereabouts. I'm not too worried with it, as the recharging time only takes about 45 minutes... and I can use the keyboard shortcuts for that amount of time--easy.
The best part is that the base station (which still includes the recharging bits) is a Bluetooth hub. So you can use to sync your phone or anything else that uses Bluetooth. Headsets, cameras, keyboards, PDA's, etcetera, etcetera.
But back to those mice... There simply too big and flat. Its like trying to mouse with a portable CD player. The ball is also too far back, so that the move that I've seen everyone do at one point or another (flicking the front of the mouse while lifting it off the table) just plain doesn't work at all.
Not to mention that the tiniest piece of dust in the inside of those opto-mechanical bits makes your mouse behave as if it were designed by rhesus monkeys on crack.
And this is not a 5-minute review. I used it for a week, and the hype of "more frags!" was pure bunk. It was a pain in the ass to use in Windows as well. The settings--while you could change them on the fly with a wacky 4-button hotkey--were always too fast for me in windows. I have it fast, but this thing was like my mouse was dipped in Teflon... I sometimes use IceWM, so it was like Teflon on Ice. *rimshot*
So, myself personally (when my rebate check comes from Uncle Sam), I'm going to be buying the following combo for myself. Its time for me to update my desktop keyboard as well, and I hear good things about it so far... not to mention that it looks tons better than the Microsoft USB keyboard I have now... And I like the detached keypad/calculator/media pad. that's a nice touch, I think.
Dinovo media desktop
The Razor Boomslang Mice (I have a 2000 DPI one) were a big deal for first person shooters with a very noticable difference for intermediate to advanced skilled players. Additionally, the shape of the mouse was very unique in that it allowed greater precision control. True, it wasn't for everyone, but speaking for myself, it was a big improvement once you got over the week it took to become accustomed to it. It was also manufactured with very high quality parts, was shipped in a very cool 'cookie tin,' and introduced a brand new mouse technology that I am surprised has not been copied.
This was the 'sensitivity on the fly' adjustment, where you could hold down the side button and use the mouse wheel to adjust sensitivity, and a green meter would super impose on the screen to show you how high you had set it. Very useful for going from apps to games, and for going from standard to sniper-style weapons within games.
It was endoresed by the top ranked FPS player of the time (Thresh). Unfortunatly it went bankrupt, then was again able to sell some mice, and is apparently re-constituted.
I used both this mouse and the MS Intellimouse Explorer Optical Wireless. I would say the wireless was better because it was wireless, but the Boomslang was great because it was more precise (in my hands).
Anyway, if you are not an intense FPS player, yes, this looks like advertisements for garbage. If you are an intense FPS player, this will be a must-have.
Just a reminder: Even if you get the uber mouse, you'll still suck at playing the game ;)
Actually higher dpi can help - you set the mouse sensitivity lower, then you have finer level of control.
;).
I don't know about 2000dpi but 300dpi is pretty coarse.
If you are going to quickly put a crosshair on a particular pixel on a 1024x768 (or higher) screen (there are people who can physically do that), 300dpi doesn't seem to be as good as you make it out to be. You want some extra precision so that a little shake/sensor noise won't bump you off to the wrong pixel when you are sniping someone far away.
e.g. if you have a 300dpi mouse, then 1000 mickeys would be 3.33 inches, and with a 1:1 mapping - 1 mickey to 1 pixel. Which doesn't leave you much room if there is a 1 mickey error in sampling.
With a 2000dpi mouse, 1000 mickeys would be half an inch but you can now reduce the sensitivity to say 5:1 - 5 mickeys per pixel or even lower, so that you have extra precision per pixel at a comfortable enough mouse-travel - e.g. 2.5 inches for 1000 pixels.
The game could also have more res than screen res. Or your screen res could be 1600x1200. If you have a 300dpi mouse to maintain precision you may have to move the mouse nearly half a foot in order to move from one screen edge to another - which seems uncomfortable to me. And then when you do the 170-180 degree turns in first person games (e.g. spin around to shoot at something you know is there but is currently out of sight), you really start running out of mousepad. If you don't maintain precision e.g. 1 mickey = 4 pixels then you could end up frustrated at not being able to hit someone far away- crosshair refuses to end on the relevant pixel.
Of course if you play games at 320x240 then the extra dpi is unlikely to help as much
That said there's one more thing that can affect mice more than dpi when it comes to game play - samples per second. If the optical sensors don't take enough sensor samples per second, optical mice could get lost with very quick movements - the mouse doesn't know which direction you have moved because the first and second positions are too different. Also if your fps is 100 and your mouse only gives you 40 output samples a sec, it really sucks. output samples != sensor samples. output samples = sent to computer, sensor samples = for the mouse to figure things out.
I think not.