Associate
This is the first time Ive ever written a review.
I'm throwing it out here for 2 reasons, 1- I said I would let you know what I thought here
http://forums.overclockers.co.uk/showthread.php?p=17442704#post17442704
2- The DeathAdder gets raved about and not much gets said about it's big brother.
As I bought the Razer Sphex today also, I thought I'd give you all a look as it's pretty novel as far as mouse mats can be called such.
The Imperator
Well, straight from the look of the box, Im pleased with my purchase.
Ive just handed over £50 (for a ****ing mouse), good packaging means the money has deffinately gone somewhereat Razer
Nice clear image of the mouse and lots of nicely photoshoped graphics including the obligatory splashes of 'Razer Green' and loads of ******** from some douchey 'RazerGuy'. As you can clearly see, the box is boasting 5600dpi, quite high really, but how does that work in the real world?
Out of the box, good first impressions. Solid feel, tactile surface ajustable thumb button reach, sleeved cord, gold plated USB connector and buttons for ajusting the dpi as you work (no need to go into the Razer config tool).
So lets plug it in...
And here was my ONLY disapointment with the mouse...
... I must add, Im being VERY picky here, but the Razer logo on the top of the mouse isn't illuminated constantly... It sort of pulses, dims in and out.
Some addition to the config tool where you can select illumination pattern, and not just on or off, would have forced a perfect overall score for me... But we'll get there in a lil bit.
As you can see, the mouse isnt for southpaws. Right hands only folks.
The twin texture of gloss black and satin black make for a very attractive bit of hardware. It even resists grease reasonably well as I found out after defeating an inner ear itch with my right index finger
(honestly)
Like with many of its competitors, teflon toes are fitted to this costly rodent, and they have even gone the extra step of sleeving the cord. Im a big fan of sleeving on PSU's and this is a fantastic nod in that direction.
Scroll and clickers feel soft but positive and the forward/backward thumb buttons are one of my fave features.
My old mouse had them, a lot of mice do.
But I never used them on my old mouse becuase they werent where my thumb rested naturally. On this baby, you tell the mouse where the buttons should be, not the other way round. There are 5 positions on the slider found on the underside of the mouse. Im in the middle setting, with middle(ish) sized hands, so comfort shouldnt be too much of an issue whether youre a claw style or palm style user.
My fingers rest very nicely in the sculpted top of the Imperator
The imperator slides smoothly across the Sphex (more on that later) and the sensitivity ajustment is brilliant.
In the config tool there is the option to select increment level for every click of the dpi buttons on the top, very usefull for on-the-fly adjustment in a fast fire fight needing high dpi or some extra detailed graphics work requireing a low dpi.
The 5600 setting is a bit of a joke in honesty, the pointer moves if you sneeze too hard, and boy does it move.
You also have ZERO excuse for mouse lag -1000hz ultra polling anyone?
If you arent playing CS better with this mouse, you just shouldnt be playing.
There are even acceleration features for you old skool ball mouse users, so you'll feel right at home if you still use a semi-castrated rodent as your POC.
I honestly cant fault this mouse other than my personal quibble over the pulsing logo. Dont get me wrong... It looks cool, but the option to have constant on would have leveled a perfect score.
The 50-60 quid range is pricey for a mouse, especially one that still has a tail.
But look at it this way, youre getting
-Great asthetics
-Great ergonomics
-Great all round performance, with sensitivity rarely equaled elsewhere.
All this, and you dont even have to recharge it, or put up wit it going to sleep. Its always ready for fraggin.
Looks & Design - 10
Build quality - 10
Function - 9.5 (0.5 taken away for my beef with the light)
VFM - 9
38.5 out of 40
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
The Sphex
Mouse mats are mousemats right? Just those things that companies print callendars on right?
I hate mousemats.
Eventually the surface peels and makes it useless.
They slide around your desk.
Theyre raised off the desk, and your mouse can jump onscreen if you fail to stay within it's perimeter.
Who the **** would buy a mouse mat???
Just use your desk!!
Well, I wanted that bloody imperator didnt I?
Aparently, my smooth white desk would be destined to confuse my highly sensitive rodent and it's performance would suffer.
But I hate mousemats....
Not this one. Best idea Ive ever seen.
For those of you who love the sturdy reassurance of a desk under your mouse, but would like to gain extra control when upgraging your mouse...
Look no further, this is not so much a mat, or a pad....
It's more of a skin. A thin, plastic skin.
I havent measured, but it looks less than 1mm thick.
The upshot of this thing is, your wrist and your mouse stay at the same level, so if this is what youre used to, there is ZERO adaptation needed.
Being so thin, theres no depth available for fancy, super grippy silicone, so why isn't this falling into the same traps as other mats, and trying to do a 3 point turn off your desk?
It has a re-usable adhesive on its underside. Peelable, re-stickable and removable- leaves no residue on surfaces.... I even tried it on a mirror to make sure.
To say its thinking outside the box is a slight understatement.
The semi hard textured surface of the Sphex compliments both the tracking power and the teflon feet of the imperator beautifully, movement is smooth, quick but controlled, which Im sure would be of benefit to other mice on similar performance level. There may be better performance out there but at this price? Who cares as long as it does perform?
Being so thin, and re-positionable, I can only assume that the Sphex has a limited lifespan, but for a few pence over a tenner, Im not gonna grumble too much. If you like cloth mats, keep walkin, nothing to see here.
If you like hard pads but arent keen on the depth, then this could be the answer for you.
Looks and design - 8.5
Build quality - 6.5
Function - 7.5
VFM - 10
Overall 32.5/40
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
Hope that was of some use.
Ask questions if you want.
I'm throwing it out here for 2 reasons, 1- I said I would let you know what I thought here
http://forums.overclockers.co.uk/showthread.php?p=17442704#post17442704
2- The DeathAdder gets raved about and not much gets said about it's big brother.
As I bought the Razer Sphex today also, I thought I'd give you all a look as it's pretty novel as far as mouse mats can be called such.
The Imperator
Well, straight from the look of the box, Im pleased with my purchase.
Ive just handed over £50 (for a ****ing mouse), good packaging means the money has deffinately gone somewhereat Razer
Nice clear image of the mouse and lots of nicely photoshoped graphics including the obligatory splashes of 'Razer Green' and loads of ******** from some douchey 'RazerGuy'. As you can clearly see, the box is boasting 5600dpi, quite high really, but how does that work in the real world?
Out of the box, good first impressions. Solid feel, tactile surface ajustable thumb button reach, sleeved cord, gold plated USB connector and buttons for ajusting the dpi as you work (no need to go into the Razer config tool).
So lets plug it in...
And here was my ONLY disapointment with the mouse...
... I must add, Im being VERY picky here, but the Razer logo on the top of the mouse isn't illuminated constantly... It sort of pulses, dims in and out.
Some addition to the config tool where you can select illumination pattern, and not just on or off, would have forced a perfect overall score for me... But we'll get there in a lil bit.
As you can see, the mouse isnt for southpaws. Right hands only folks.
The twin texture of gloss black and satin black make for a very attractive bit of hardware. It even resists grease reasonably well as I found out after defeating an inner ear itch with my right index finger
(honestly)Like with many of its competitors, teflon toes are fitted to this costly rodent, and they have even gone the extra step of sleeving the cord. Im a big fan of sleeving on PSU's and this is a fantastic nod in that direction.
Scroll and clickers feel soft but positive and the forward/backward thumb buttons are one of my fave features.
My old mouse had them, a lot of mice do.
But I never used them on my old mouse becuase they werent where my thumb rested naturally. On this baby, you tell the mouse where the buttons should be, not the other way round. There are 5 positions on the slider found on the underside of the mouse. Im in the middle setting, with middle(ish) sized hands, so comfort shouldnt be too much of an issue whether youre a claw style or palm style user.
My fingers rest very nicely in the sculpted top of the Imperator
The imperator slides smoothly across the Sphex (more on that later) and the sensitivity ajustment is brilliant.
In the config tool there is the option to select increment level for every click of the dpi buttons on the top, very usefull for on-the-fly adjustment in a fast fire fight needing high dpi or some extra detailed graphics work requireing a low dpi.
The 5600 setting is a bit of a joke in honesty, the pointer moves if you sneeze too hard, and boy does it move.
You also have ZERO excuse for mouse lag -1000hz ultra polling anyone?
If you arent playing CS better with this mouse, you just shouldnt be playing.
There are even acceleration features for you old skool ball mouse users, so you'll feel right at home if you still use a semi-castrated rodent as your POC.
I honestly cant fault this mouse other than my personal quibble over the pulsing logo. Dont get me wrong... It looks cool, but the option to have constant on would have leveled a perfect score.
The 50-60 quid range is pricey for a mouse, especially one that still has a tail.
But look at it this way, youre getting
-Great asthetics
-Great ergonomics
-Great all round performance, with sensitivity rarely equaled elsewhere.
All this, and you dont even have to recharge it, or put up wit it going to sleep. Its always ready for fraggin.
Looks & Design - 10
Build quality - 10
Function - 9.5 (0.5 taken away for my beef with the light)
VFM - 9
38.5 out of 40
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
The Sphex
Mouse mats are mousemats right? Just those things that companies print callendars on right?
I hate mousemats.
Eventually the surface peels and makes it useless.
They slide around your desk.
Theyre raised off the desk, and your mouse can jump onscreen if you fail to stay within it's perimeter.
Who the **** would buy a mouse mat???
Just use your desk!!
Well, I wanted that bloody imperator didnt I?
Aparently, my smooth white desk would be destined to confuse my highly sensitive rodent and it's performance would suffer.
But I hate mousemats....
Not this one. Best idea Ive ever seen.
For those of you who love the sturdy reassurance of a desk under your mouse, but would like to gain extra control when upgraging your mouse...
Look no further, this is not so much a mat, or a pad....
It's more of a skin. A thin, plastic skin.
I havent measured, but it looks less than 1mm thick.
The upshot of this thing is, your wrist and your mouse stay at the same level, so if this is what youre used to, there is ZERO adaptation needed.
Being so thin, theres no depth available for fancy, super grippy silicone, so why isn't this falling into the same traps as other mats, and trying to do a 3 point turn off your desk?
It has a re-usable adhesive on its underside. Peelable, re-stickable and removable- leaves no residue on surfaces.... I even tried it on a mirror to make sure.
To say its thinking outside the box is a slight understatement.
The semi hard textured surface of the Sphex compliments both the tracking power and the teflon feet of the imperator beautifully, movement is smooth, quick but controlled, which Im sure would be of benefit to other mice on similar performance level. There may be better performance out there but at this price? Who cares as long as it does perform?
Being so thin, and re-positionable, I can only assume that the Sphex has a limited lifespan, but for a few pence over a tenner, Im not gonna grumble too much. If you like cloth mats, keep walkin, nothing to see here.
If you like hard pads but arent keen on the depth, then this could be the answer for you.
Looks and design - 8.5
Build quality - 6.5
Function - 7.5
VFM - 10
Overall 32.5/40
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
Hope that was of some use.
Ask questions if you want.
