[review] Logitech G700

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mrk

mrk

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As a long time Performance MX user (and MX Revolution before that and MX 1000 before that! AND briefly a Razer Mamba user) I've always wondered when Logitech would out a wireless gaming mouse like the Mamba but....better (as in, with more buttons and features) so I was glad to see the G700 being released.

I read a review on Bit Tech which slated it as a "useless" mouse when used via wireless but excellent when wired. I think the reviewer was a bit broken that day as I could not imagine such a mouse being useless in wireless so I had to have a go myself.

So I contacted the powers that be and today arrived the G700, this was a used/refurbished example and had no retail packaging but I wasn't bothered about that as all I wanted to do was review it to confirm or deny the Bit Tech findings and of course compare it to the Performance MX as going by today's OcUK pricing, it's only a £fiver more than it.

pc_g700_2_vsPMX_MG_2132.jpg


Look and Feel
The G700 looks odd at first, especially if you've only seen it in pictures and not in person. The way the extra buttons stick out look uncomfortable but really aren't. I would say if anything the only uncomfortable button is the top left button next to the left click if you have smaller hands as you may need to stretch a bit further to click it.

The buttons clickyness and feel are similar to the Performance MX, the wheel is exactly the same but that was to be expected anyway as is the ratchet activation button.

The material finish is very different to the Performance MX, it's more in line with other Logitech gaming mice. The top is similar to the PMX but the grips on each side are heavy in texture and have less rubbery feel than the PMX. I like this quite a lot as it's less slippery and offers good feel.

The G700 is slightly shorter than the PMX as well, it's similar to the MX Revolution in a lot of ways here and your palm arches around the top less than on the PMX:
pc_g700_5_height_MG_2122.jpg


Because of this, the G700 feels like a lighter mouse as your grip on it is different to the PMX.

Bundled Accessories & Software
I received a USB cable which had printed "gaming series cable", I smirked at this as I wondered how a USB cable could be "gaming" orientated, for one it is heavier in build than the USB cable that comes with the Performance MX so you would think a lighter cable would be more "gaming" but oh well.

You can use it as a wired mouse while it's plugged in and the battery charges while it is wired, just like the PMX. When the wire is plugged in the wireless on the mouse switches off.

It comes with one AA Eneloop battery, these are 750mAh and last 7 hours or so per bar (there are 3 bars on the LED indicator). I Use 2700mAh Pifco batteries instead as I could get a few days of use (gaming included) out of them per charge.

The mini receiver is a bit of a confusion. At first I thought it was a unifying receiver because it looked exactly the same as one but I noticed it had no unifying symbol on it and when I tried to pair the G700 with my existing unifying receiver I was told the mouse was not compatible.

Turns out the G700 uses its own receiver and due to it being a gaming mouse it needs a dedicated line. This isn't a huge problem but it would have been nice if it was unifying compatible as it would have saved me some extra faff behind my PC routing the spare USB extension wedge I had (pic below).

Because the receiver is unique to the G700 the software is as well. It has it's own Macro software where you can beam over keyboard commands and various recordings to the mouse and it's own Setpoint style utility to manage the extra buttons and settings.
It runs alongside the existing SetPoint without any issues and I didn't really have to download anything as Windows 7 put the shortcuts in the start menu when I plugged in the new receiver.

You can set various reports/sec on the G700 control panel, the default (and recommended) is 500 but I chose 1000 although the help info says this could use more CPU cycles. I don't think this will be an issue on a modern PC, I've certainly not noticed anything on my overclocked Q9550 yet.

In General
During normal use in Windows I noticed at 800DPI the mouse movement and responsiveness was just a small amount more finer than the PMX. This may be a placebo due to the lighter feeling movement of the mouse itself or it could also be that the laser position on the bottom of the mouse is centre top instead of below the thumb area like on the PMX.

I customised the buttons to my liking and set 5 custom DPI modes and the DPI loop option for one button so I could use the DPI up/down buttons as PAGE UP/PAGE DOWN for web surfing and used a bit of Photoshop, Lightroom and surfed the web without any issues. I note that Photoshop and Lightroom mouse movements for fine adjustments was a slightly better experience than the PMX, this is largely down to the sleeker feel of the G700, the PMX is a bit bulkier.


In Gaming
Did some FPS gaming and the same as general usage really, feels slightly smoother and more accurate when aiming than the PMX, not that the PMX was inaccurate though, this just feels more fine tuned. I tried the DPI modes and they work fine but I kept it at 800DPI throughout.


What I don't like
Obviously I'm not a fan of the non unifying receiver, it would have been nicer to have it unifying but if technical reasons prohibit this then *shakes fist at technicalities*.

I don't like the cable, I think it's a bit too thick to use as a gaming mouse when wired but that's just me. I also think they could bundle a higher mAh battery instead of a 750 one as over time the per charge usage time goes down. I found the same on my PMX which is why I got the 2700mAh ones.

The other thing I'm not too sure of is the placement of the top left extra button but I have talked about this earlier already.

Lastly, a nitpick but the battery compartment has no pull cord like on the PMX so to get the battery out you need long nails or something flat headed...unless you like to smash the mouse in your palm to force the battery out:
pc_g700_3_vsPMXrear_MG_2117.jpg


Photos

The control panel:
g700_gamingcontrol.png


There's an option to enable angle snapping where it detects if you're trying to use the mouse in a straight line (in Photoshop, for example or in a game) and it snaps to that angle, the top line is with the feature on, bottom with it off:
g700_anglesnapping.png


The spare extension I had:
pc_g700_4_extension_MG_2118.jpg


Both mice side by side:
pc_g700_6_vsPMXfront_MG_2124.jpg


Grip comparison:
PMX:
pc_g700_7_sidePMX_MG_2131.jpg


G700:
pc_g700_8_sideg700_MG_2130.jpg


I think if you're considering a Performance MX then the extra £5 on the G700 is well worth it. You gain extra buttons with various states of profile tune available, a better handling mouse in general and I have no doubt the same things will be said for gaming as well so check back for that update :p

Conclusion? I reckon the G700 suits gamers as well as non gamers. With the software profiles and customisation you can use it as an MCE remote very easily and map profiles to apps for various media controls - This is much better than lying down with a keyboard on your lap when watching Movies/TV on your PC and that's just one example.

I give it 8 Khans out of 10!
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I did look at the g700 after my g5 died but i preferred the shape of the g5 so went with its successor, the g500. Nice review :)
 
BUMP!

Great review mate. Im looking for a wireless mouse at the moment and I think it will be between the G700 and the PMX. Are you still using the G700. If so any more thoughts on it? And would you still choose the Performance MX over the G700?
 
Whoah....old thread is old!

I still use it yes, I use it at home on my PC while the PMX is now on my work PC. The PMX battery lasts longer by about 2 days but I suppose that is expected. The G700 draws more power as it's higher resolution. Still, you can get 3 days of use out of it on a decent quality NiMH battery. Strangely I found it works just fine with a normal AA as well and got several days from a ASDA special Alkaline 0.o

Performance is what you'd expect from a gaming mouse still and I like the fact that once you push settings over to it (wirelessly) you can use the mouse on another PC without having to install any software to get your custom key mappings back.

The only niggle is that it does not use a unifying receiver, instead it has its own one. It's due to the higher bandwidth needed.
 
Ahh man you put good pros for both of them. Im still undecided! I thought you were going say 'go for..' :P

Think Im edging towards the G700 though because of the extra buttons which means lots of different set ups. And its cheaper which is always a good thing :D
 
If I was buying fresh I'd pick the G700 either way, it's just better specced even if the battery doesn't last as long :p Keep 2x AAs on rotation, one in the charger and swap when needed!
 
Thread bumpage. Ordered a G700 today to replace my rather old MX1000 Laser which stopped charging!

Logitech rather kindly sent me a 50% off code. So I've ordered the G700 from their online store for £44.99 delivered :eek:
 
Got a G700 a few weeks ago, absolutely love it. Only reason I didn't put a review up is I don't have any other high end mice to compare it too.

Great review mrk. I noticed you said about using higher mah batterys, did this give you a lot more time between charges? As I tend to keep mine plugged in unless I'm gaming. Oh and will after market batteries charge in the mouse via the USB cable? TIA
 
Yeah any AA rechargeable will charge in the mouse. I use 2900mAh Vapex ones now as I run the mouse at 1000 reports/sec for fine detail tracking in Photoshop/Gaming etc. My battery can last about 3 days of normal usage. I have 2 on standby that I hotswap as and when needed and the rest of the time the others sit in the charge trickle charging.

My MX Rev is used at work now and you can really tell the difference when you compare the two tracking response wise now that I've been using the G700 for a long time.
 
had the razor mamba for 4months thought it was the best mouse u could buy till i was given a g700 for my birthday,now i cant go back to the mamba,£120 i paid for it and it jsts sits there,my ultimate mouse would be the the g700 but with the mamba scroll wheel and rubber finish
 
Cheers for the reply mrk. Sorry to be a pain but another question, how have you got the dpi/pointer speed setup? I just whacked the dpi to max (edit-well I thought it was max but its actually 3200 :o) and left the pointer speed at stock, but am now thinking this may not be the best way? Thanks
 
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There isn’t really a best way but I have 5 DPI settings set, default for normal use is 800dpi, lower I have 600 and 400 and higher I have 1000 and 1200. Anything above 800 feels too fast for normal use and I have pointer acceleration turned off in Windows and the slider in the middle (default).
 
Just ordered a g700, can you set any button to increase/decrease dpi and can you also set one button with a dpi value of x and another button with a value of y (switching dpi whilst sniping by pressing button x then when running press y to reset dpi). Sorry for questions.

Cheers
 
Just ordered a g700, can you set any button to increase/decrease dpi and can you also set one button with a dpi value of x and another button with a value of y (switching dpi whilst sniping by pressing button x then when running press y to reset dpi). Sorry for questions.

Cheers

ALmost yes, you can set a DPI up/down button setup or you can assign a button only to loop dpi modes. Each mode is denoted by the LED indicator on the side so the bottom LED is on for mine for 400dpi, bottom 2 on for 600 and all 3 on for 800 while the top 2 for 1000 and top LED for 1200. I only have one button set to cycle DPI and the default DPI buttons are set for pigup and pigdown.

All buttons can be customised extensively and anything you push to the mouse is saved to the mouse so you can use the mouse with your settings on another PC without having to install any software.
 
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