The Great Mouse Showdown
Feature
The basic differences between a regular mouse and a gaming mouse is that the gaming mice are more expensive, have higher DPI and, with the new laser sensors, also higher polling rates.
We studied the mice according to a set of 5 criteria: ergonomy, buttons, wheel, customisability and drivers. In the following, we'll explain the criteria and provide some observations on how each mouse rated on our scale.
Ergonomy
On our criteria, ergonomy includes the comfortability of the mouse when used, including its weight. Since the two Razer mice were designed to be ambidextrous, their ergonomy for someone who likes full-palm contact is clearly below-average. As it is, they were also the lightest of the mice and especially Lachesis suffered from very inaccurate mouse pointer when used at full DPI – when double clicking the main button, the pointer was likely to bounce around on the screen, making the second click miss its intended target. Razer has provided some add-on software to fix this problem, but it is still in beta phase and managed to crash our test computer.
On the other hand, both Microsoft Habu and Logitech G5 are very classic in their ergonomic design, offering nice full-palm contact for those who like it, although some may find it a bit too high to fit comfortably into one's hand. Both Microsoft Sidewinder and Logitech G9 have pretty much abandoned full-palm contact players with their more radical design choices. From the point of view of finger-controllers, G9 wins the prize because Sidewinder's thumb buttons are pretty difficult to reach even for someone with large hands. However, the narrow body of the two Razer mice caused cramps for one of the testers using finger-control, especially, since the lightness of the mice require the user to hold them still.
Buttons
When we reviewed the buttons of all the mice, we paid attention mainly to their sensitivity and placement. In this regard, Razer Diamondback 3G was the worst of the lot, with its nearly impossible to find thumb and pinkie finger buttons. Microsoft's Sidewinder was nearly as bad with the innovatively positioned, but relatively badly shaped thumb buttons. They are also pretty hard to reach if you do not use full-palm contact. Logitech's G5 suffers from the fact that it has the least number of buttons available and only a single thumb button. Razer Lachesis is a step into the right direction, but the pinkie finger buttons (defaulted to change the current profile), are as difficult to use as usual. Both Logitech G9 and Microsoft Habu have some of the best buttons we've seen: Habu's thumb buttons can actually be moved to a more comfortable position with a simple switch of the side panel, while G9 has the sensitivity control buttons in one of the best locations: above the left main button.
Wheel
This criterion includes the precision and comfortability of the mouse wheels, as well as possible special functions. Razer's wheel buttons – present also in Microsoft Habu – are widely regarded as the best wheel buttons around and this holds true also in our review. The rubbery tactile feel when you scroll the wheel and click it really lets you feel what you are doing. However, these buttons lack the sideways scrolling feature that is present in both Logitech mice, which also comes handy in some situations. Unfortunately, it seems that it is pretty hard to combine all these features, as the tactile feel of the Logitech's mice is clearly worse than that of the Razer's mice. G9, however, gets some points back because of the optional free-scroll feature that lets the scroll wheel turn around freely, making it easier to scroll through long documents – although this function is not that important in gaming. The scroll wheel on the G5 is almost on level with the Razer mice, but protrudes a bit too high from the mouse body, making the side-scrolling easier, while making a successful middle-button use harder to accomplish. Microsoft Sidewinder's wheel falls somewhere below the Razer line of mice, but is still more comfortable than G9.