Review : Zotac GeForce GTX 550 Ti AMP! Edition

Building a new computer isn’t the easiest of tasks. You’ve got to choose the right processor, RAM, motherboard and most importantly, the graphics card. This is where the Zotac GeForce GTX 500 Ti AMP! Edition comes in to play. It retails for around the £100 mark and offers 1GB of GDDR5 memory.

Also, thanks to the GTX 550 Ti being carefully tweaked and tuned for the best performance possible, it should prove to be a relatively cheap and great performing card. Let’s take a closer look…

Design

The overall look of the card is fairly sharp and attractive with a black and dark yellow colour scheme. Obviously, we’ve got the fan in the centre of the card, a single 75mm fan to be exact. The fan is situated just above the heat sink, which is attached to the GPU.

As you can tell from the image below, the GTX 550 Ti does not feature any fancy heat pipes or advanced cooling solutions, but in terms of power to heat ratio, it shouldn’t need as much cooling as some of the more expensive, and even more powerful, graphics cards.

The rear of the card carries on the black and yellow theme with a completely black board. If you look in the top corner, you can also see the 2-way SLI connection.

Now, ZOTAC have slightly modified the design of the NVIDIA GTX550 Ti, on which the AMP! Edition is based, here so that the AMP! Edition also features a port to make Display Port connectivity possible. As you can see, there are two DVI ports, a HDMI port and the Display Port.

Above these, the hot air from the card will be blown out whilst in use. However, due to the size limitation, some hot air could be blown back in to the PC. If you’ve got decent case airflow, this shouldn’t cause too much of a problem though.

Test System
Processor	AMD Athlon II X4 620    (2.60 GHZ)
Memory	Kingston HyperX   DDR3-2133 ( 2X2GB )
Motherboard	ASUS-M4A785TD-M EVO
Graphics card	Zotac GeForce GTX 550Ti DDR5 – 1GB
Power Supply	Thermaltake Toughpower 650w
Operating System	Windows 7 Ultimate 64 bit

Overall, we’ve had a fairly good time with the ZOTAC GeForce GTX 550 Ti AMP! Edition. Obviously, this isn’t a high-end gaming card, but we’ve seen some fairly impressive results for a card that only costs around £100.

There were a few aspects, such as the temperature, which have let the card down slightly with it reaching almost 90 degrees (celcius) whilst under load.

The 550 Ti AMP! has certainly out-performed the previous NVIDIA card, the GeForce GTS 450, but the card does struggle slightly with the most recent DX11 games.

Despite the few aspects that weren’t up to standard, we’d definitely recommend this card for people on a tight budget, but need decent graphics for their gaming needs.

Pros

• Price


• Overclocked


• Can fit in all PCs due to small size

Cons

• Cooling system isn’t brilliant
  

News : Apple iPad 3

Now, with one hell of a lot of rumours going around at the moment, the release date of the Apple iPad 3 is still unknown, but there’s certainly been quite a few guesses as to when the new device will be released.

Reports, at the moment, have suggested that the Apple iPad 3 will be unveiled during the first week of March (so that’s just under a month away!), followed by the release soon after.

There have been many rumours regarding the design and hardware that might feature in the Apple iPad 3, the most popular being a HD screen, which will feature a very high resolution and will be similar to the Retina Display we’ve come to know and love in the iPhone 4 and iPhone 4S.

An unnamed insider recently said this: “The new display is capable of greater resolution than the current iPad, with more pixels on its screen than some high- definition televisions. The pixels are small enough to make the images look like printed material. Videos begin playing almost instantly because of the additional graphics processing.”

Reports have also suggested that whilst the Apple iPad 3 might just be receiving a hardware upgrade, the overall thickness might even become thicker by 1mm, to accommodate a new display, A6 quad-core CPU and improved optics for the rear camera.

Review : Logitech G5 V2 Gaming Mouse

Introduction

One of the leading dominators of the gaming mouse market is Logitech. Since their MX518 gaming mouse release, their mice have gone from strength to strength. Today we’ve got one of the newer gaming mice, in favour of the G5 Version 2. Let’s see if it lives up to its predecessors…

Features

• Adjustable weight cartridge: Use up to 36 grams of weight to customize your mouse with a heft and balance that’s just right for your game.
• Adjustable sensitivity: Shift from pixel-precise targeting to lightning-fast manoeuvres, without pausing the action. The G5 gives you instant access to three sensitivity levels—400, 800, and 2000 dpi—before driver installation.
• 2000 dpi laser engine: Experience the blinding speed and unequalled response of a 6.4 megapixels/second image processor.
• Full-speed USB: Get blazing speed and instant acceleration from up to 1000 reports/second; bidirectional connection
• Right-handed comfort grip: Enjoy a natural grip that won’t fatigue you.
• Polytetrafluoroethylene feet: Forget sticky workarounds—these low-friction feet glide effortlessly across almost any surface.

Specifications

• Tracking resolution: 2000/800/400 dpi (user-selectable)
• Image processing: 6.4 megapixels/second
• Maximum acceleration: 20 g
• Maximum speed: 45–65 inches/second (depending on surface)
• USB data format: 16 bits/axis
• USB report rate: 1000 reports/second
• Sleep mode: Disabled

Packaging

The Logitech G5 arrives in a rather eye catching box. Typical of Logitech, the colour scheme of teal, blank and white is continued. However, there is a fire-orange insert in the centre. Randomly placed around the front of the package are features which the Logitech entails – - these seem to be listed in more than one language.



On the back of the box are specifications listed in six different languages. This is good as it allows the buyer to know plenty of details about the mouse before making their purchase.



Opening the box up reveals the G5 seated in a vacuum formed plastic box along with the included accessories:

• Adjustable weight cartridge
• Tuning weights and case
• CD with Logitech SetPoint software
• Installation guide
• 3-year limited warranty

Altogether there are 16 weights in the weight tin- from 1.7g increments to 4.5g.

Logitech G5

The G5 is quite an odd mouse in its appearance; it features a cracked blue design which remains all over the top of the mouse. The top of the mouse isn’t smooth glossy plastic unlike most mice and has a slight texture – - of the painted blue cracks. At the rear of the mouse is the Logitech logo and ‘G5’ beneath it. There is a DPI indicator on the left hand side, showing what speed the mouse is currently set to by blocks which light up.



Like most mice, there is a scroll wheel at the front. This scroll wheel is a little different to the wheels we’ve used on most mice because as well as vertical scrolling; the wheel can be moved horizontally for horizontal scrolling.





On the left hand side of the mouse, there is a large indent where your thumb would be comfortably seated. Just above the indent are two buttons – - which can be configured with the software. These buttons come in useful for functions such as copy and paste, or back and forward on your web browser.



The right hand side has a much mellower indent, this highlights that this mouse is not really designed for lefties.



At the bottom of the mouse are three quite large mice feet – – these are very smooth and quite rugged. There is also an insert and button. Here is where you insert the weight cartridge for tuning the mouse. Pressing the button releases the cartridge from the mouse.







The trailing USB wire is unlike most mice cables. Instead of the standard coating which you’d normally expect on a mouse cable, the G5’s cable is braided in black fabric – - like a rope. To me this looks better and is probably slightly more hard wearing.

Installation

Installing the mouse is a fairly simple process. Plug in the USB cable and then begin the installation of the driver CD and software.

The installation started automatically and went flawlessly. The software includes Yahoo Toolbar, so make sure you deselect it if you don’t need it. After the install, the software may prompt you to install an update for the software (depending on what version software you have). In my opinion, this is a good plan, as auto updating the mouse allows the G5 to be kept up-to-date without any hassle.

Without turning this review into a guided tour of the software, I’m just going to talk about the basic and gaming features of the Set Point software.

The SetPoint software has the usual features for configuring the various buttons on the mouse, changing DPI for windows use etc. The gaming section allows you to configure the DPI of the mouse for gaming and change it depending on certain games.

Testing

I tested the G5 using an XTracPads Hammer – - which has a similar appearance. In windows/ general usage the mouse performed flawlessly. The laser in this mouse is very accurate and after getting use to the high DPI, I was able to navigate straight to shortcuts with ease. One thing I didn’t like very much was the texture of the mouse, this is supposed to increase grip, though I just found it quite uncomfortable and nasty to touch. However, after using the mouse for about a week now, I have got used to the textured surface of the mouse. I don’t even notice it now.



Just like Windows use, the mouse also performed very well in game. The 2000 DPI was a bit too high for me in first person shooters (Battlefield 2) and I ended up dropping it down to 1600 – - which was fine after a while of getting use to it.

Though all of this is good, there was one slight downside to the mouse, the feet. These feet are Teflon-like material and are quite frankly pretty good at gliding. However, as they are so big, they increase friction, slightly slowing the glide down. I noticed this from using my MX518 and then G5 – - the MX518 glides much more easily.

Conclusion

I can conclude to say, the Logitech G5 Gaming mouse is a very good buy. The appearance is either a love or hate relationship. However, if you love it, you really will love it because it’s very unique.

The additional buttons on the mouse and features such as vertical and horizontal scrolling are very handy. Once set up properly you’ll find that you’ll be using them a lot of the time for features such as copy and paste.

Comfort wise, with the indent for your thumb and the unique ergonomic shape, the mouse is very comfortable to use. You’ll find that you won’t ever use another mouse once you use the comfortable shape of the G5 – - a smart marketing move by Logitech, design a mouse that’s addictive!

Gaming wise, with the high DPI setting, popping those heat shots is very easy as the laser on the Logitech is very responsive. The Teflon feet are also very good at allowing the mouse to glide easily along your chosen pad. However, I’d recommend maybe cutting the feet to a smaller size; this increases the glide even more.

So if you’re after a mouse and don’t mind a corded one. Believe me, the Logitech G5 is a very good buy.

Review : ThermalTake V6 BlacX

ThermalTake recently released the V6 BlacX Edition (VM100M1W2Z), one of the first budget gaming cases with a top-mounted single-bay docking station for 2.5" and 3.5" SATA disks. These type of docks easily cost $35 or more so getting it as a feature of a $69 case sounds like a pretty nice deal.

The V6 BlacX is a mid-tower case with an all-black design, the case has a small case window and comes with two fans pre-installed. The case measures 460mm x 220mm x 490mm and weighs 6.7kg, making it a nice companion for LAN parties if you don't want to carry around big heavy cases and don't like having a mini-PC.

The case ships in a cardboard box, it's protected by two large blocks of foam and a plastic bag to prevent damage and scratches during shipping.



ThermalTake created a quite open case, all of the front bays are covered with metallic mesh plates, most of the top panel is covered with honeycomb-like mesh and there's also a vent in the left side panel.



ThermalTake V6 BlacX specifications:

• Model: VM100M1W2Z


• Case Type: Middle Tower


• Dimension (H x W x D): 462.0 x 220.0 x 490.0 mm ( 18.2 x 8.7 x 19.3 inch)


• Net Weight: 6.7 kg / 14.8 lb


• Side Panel: Transparent Window


• Color: Exterior & Interior: Black


• Material: SECC


• Cooling System:


• Front (Intake) : 120 x 120 x 25 mm (optional)


• Rear (Exhaust) : 120 x 120 x 25 mm Turbo fan, 1300rpm, 17dBA


• Top (Exhaust) : 200 x 200 x 20 mm Blue LED fan, 800 rpm, 15dBA; 120 x 120 x 25 mm (optional)


• Side (Intake) : 120 x 120 x 25 mm (optional)


• Drive Bays:


• Accessible: 5.25” x 8 or 5, 3.5” x 1 (converted from one 5.25” drive bay)


• Hidden: 3.5” x - or 3, 2.5” x 1 (converted from one 5.25” drive bay)


• HDD docking: 3.5” x 1 or 2.5” x 1


• Expansion Slots: 7


• Motherboards: Micro ATX , Standard ATX


• I/O Ports: USB2.0 x 2, MIC & Speaker (support AC’97 & HD Audio)


• PSU: Standard PS2 Power Supply (Optional)


• Other:


• CPU cooler height limitation: 170mm


• Graphic card length limitation: 280mm

Exterior
Except the edges, most of the front is made out of metal. ThermalTake's logo can be found on the bottommost bay cover, the plastic "side wings" feature some additional vents to provide air to the optional 120mm intake fan, and the top I/O panel is also made out of plastic.



The left section of the I/O panel contains the power button, a blue power on LED, a red HDD status LED and a reset button. The reset button is depressed and because of it's tiny size it may be hard to reach if you have large fingers. On the right side you can see two USB 2.0 ports and audio connectors. Unfortunately, the case doesn't support USB 3.0, FireWire, nor eSATA.

Review : Logitech VX Nano

Introduction

There isn’t a lot of enthusiasm for laptop track-pads. Most of the people I speak to seem to hate track-pads and normally opt out for a trusty old mouse. However, using a big fat chunky mouse on long journeys where you don’t have much space isn’t really ideal. Thankfully, Logitech have saved us with their VX Nano; a cordless pocket size mouse. Let’s see how it performs…

 

Features

• Plug-and-forget nano-receiver: Barely larger than a coin, the receiver is so tiny you can plug it into your notebook just once – and forget about it.


• Small, yet powerful: Expect a robust wireless connection with advanced 2.4 GHz cordless technology.


• Always ready: Leave the nano-receiver plugged into your notebook—your mouse is always ready.


• Protective pouch: Use the stylish pouch to protect your mouse when it’s not in use.


• Longer battery life: Get up to 6 months of use (or longer with the convenient on/off switch).


• Ultra-portable mouse design: So slim, it slips easily into your notebook bag.


• Attractive style: Complements your active lifestyle with an ultra-slim, sleek design.


• Storable receiver: Store the nano-receiver inside the mouse when you need to free up a USB port. Shuts down when stored, saving more battery life.


• Hyper-fast scrolling: Fly through long documents at hyperspeed with the nearly frictionless scroll wheel, or shift instantly to precise scrolling.


• Forward/backward buttons: Effortlessly navigate the Internet with Forward and Back buttons.


• Five programmable buttons: Customize the mouse controls to fit your needs with included SetPoint™ software (or, for Mac® users, with downloadable Logitech® Control Center software).


• Laser precision: Experience smoother cursor control on virtually any surface. The VX Nano outperforms ordinary optical mice.

Packaging

The VX Nano arrives in Logitech’s standardized black and teal cardboard box. On the front of the package Logitech boast about the included USB receiver being the world’s smallest. The centre of the package is transparent letting you get a glimpse of the mouse and its receiver.



The back of the box has some short features listed which the Nano entails. These features are listed in 27 different languages – - that’s what you call multilingual!



Inside the box you will find the mouse and all its accessories carefully positioned in another cardboard box. The transparency which holds the receiver and mouse is a piece of vacuum formed plastic.

Included with the Logitech VX Nano are the following accessories:

• 2.4 GHz Nano-receiver


• Desktop USB extension stand


• 2 AAA batteries


• Logitech SetPoint™ Software CD


• Protective pouch


• User guide


• 3-year limited warranty

The protective pouch is a great addition to the mouse. It’s a zippy pouch which is made from a breathable material. This makes the mouse very easy to transport in your rucksack / notebook bag without the mouse getting damaged.

The included desktop USB extension stand comes in handy when people would like to use this notebook mouse on their desktop. Reasoning for this is because it allows better signal strength to the mouse and is also much more convenient.

Logitech VX Nano

The VX Nano is dark grey in the centre with a glossy black surround and dimpled rubber placements where your thumb would be positioned. The whole mouse is very smooth and positions nicely over your fingers. It’s designed for both left and right hand users which is a good compatibility feature. The rear of the mouse hangs over the back instead of curving down to the surface. This is purely for aesthetics not ergonomics. Although the VX Nano is a notebook mouse, it’s about as wide as a standard desktop mouse, though much shorter in length and smaller in height. Also to the rear of the mouse is the Logitech logo printed in white.





The front scroll wheel does horizontal and vertical scrolling. Unlike most scroll wheels, the Nano’s can ‘free wheel’. So with a flick of the finger, the scroll wheel will comfortably spin round on its own accord. However, when pressed hard, you can switch the scroll wheel to normal mode. Above the scroll wheel is a button. When the software is installed, the button works as an internet search button. When no software is installed, the button is for ‘auto scroll’.

To the left hand side of the mouse there are two more buttons which are easily accessed by your index finger. These buttons are programmed to do back and forward functions.



The receiver for the VX Nano is absolutely tiny, so small I’d worry about it getting lost. However, the receiver can be stored for safe keeping in the battery compartment of the mouse, where it simply plugs into a designated port and can be ejected by a button. Furthermore, most users will most likely leave the receiver plugged in, so losing it isn’t really an option.

Testing

I’m not going to blabble on about Installation as it’s a fairly similar process to the installation I did on the Logitech G5, except the set point software for the VX Nano has none of the features mentioned in the G5 review.

To test the VX Nano, I felt it would be unfair to use a mouse pad – - most notebook users do not carry mouse pads around with them. Therefore, I just used my desk as a surface. The Logitech glided along my desk smoothly without much friction causing a problem. I was amazed by how accurate the laser was and how strong the signal was. Even being 15m away from the receiver, the mouse still performed very well without a drop in performance. To me this is very impressive for a cordless mouse, as many cheaper wireless mice seem to be jumpy and lacking in performance.

I did actually try a quick round of Battlefield 2 with the VX Nano, but it was a slightly unfair test as I’m use to gaming with a higher DPI setting than the VX Nano caters for. However, it did perform quite impressively and performance remained similar between the Nano and MX518.

For general usage though, this mouse is perfect, very accurate and the buttons are easy to reach with your index finger. One slight annoyance though was the scroll wheel, which doesn’t act as a third button like most mice. To make up for this, there is a button behind it, however it’s not in as good location as the scroll wheel.

Conclusion

The VX Nano is a mouse with a lot of positive features. The performance of the Logitech is quite outstanding for a notebook rodent and the wireless connectivity is also very good. To use, it’s very comfortable if you’re use to notebook mice – - where you have to claw your fingers over the mouse. The buttons dotted over the mouse are a great feature for internet browsing.

However there are some down sides to the mouse. Firstly, the scroll wheel, this scroll wheel when free spinning is quite pointless. Even though when clicked it turns into a normal scroll wheel, the mouse would benefit if the free wheeling scroll wheel was removed and just replaced with a normal scroll wheel and third button. A third button in this location cannot be replaced with buttons elsewhere. Secondly, the price, £50 for a notebook mouse is quite expensive and should be seriously considered before purchasing.

Therefore, I’m going to award the Logitech VX Nano 4/5. It’s a very good performer, but the price and scroll wheel really lets this product down.

Review : Razer Mamba Wireless Gaming Mouse

Introduction

There are many known disadvantages with wireless gaming mice such as slower response times, batteries dying and wireless interference. It’s these common stereotypes which has left the wired mouse to rule the gaming scene.

Razer, a company not known for doing things by half, has attempted to turn this stereotype around with the Razer Mamba. It’s been years in the making and its features are out of this world. Let’s see how it performs…

About Razer

“Razer collaborates with gamers to develop, manufacture and market cutting-edge gaming peripherals utilizing proprietary technologies that give gamers the competitive edge. We reinvented the computer gaming industry by bringing this competitive edge to gamers when professional computer gaming was in its infancy. In the mid 90s, with the advent of networked gaming and competitive first-person-shooter (FPS) games, gamers found that their legacy peripherals were inhibiting rather than enhancing their gameplay.”

Features

Specifications

• Gaming Grade Wireless Technology


• Dual Mode Wired/Wireless Functionality


• Razer Synapse™ On-board Memory


• Seven independently programmable Hyperesponse™ buttons


• 5600DPI Razer Precision™ 3.5G Laser sensor


• 1000Hz Ultrapolling™ / 1ms response rate


• Up to 200 inches per second*/ 50g acceleration


• Approximate size: 128mm x 70mm x 42.5mm


• Battery Life: 14hrs (continuous gaming); 72 hours (normal gaming usage) *Depends on surface used


• Windows® 2000 / XP / X64 / MCE 2005 / Vista / Vista64
  Available USB port
  CD-ROM Drive (for drivers)
  At least 35MB of hard disk space (for drivers)
  

  The Package

  
  The Razer Mamba arrives in a slightly unique style of box. It features a transparent acrylic top half where you are able to see the Mamba on its pedestal and a black acrylic bottom half where all the accessories are contained. The bottom acrylic half sits in a cardboard section which lists all the specifications and features.
  
  
  
  The technical specifications are bullet pointed and an insight behind the technology that the Razer Mamba uses is also given. The features are listed towards the bottom in a mix of languages.
  
  
  
  On the base of the cardboard section, the package contents and system requirements are listed.
  
  
  
  After removing a piece of cardboard from the front, you will find instructions for opening the box. It’s quite good that Razer has provided these because believe me, it’s not the easiest box to open.
  
  
  
  Once the box is disassembled, you can see clearly see how overboard Razer has gone with the package. The black acrylic bottom half has been designed like a chest of draws, all the accessories are located within the draws.
  
  
  
  After removing all the accessories, it’s easy to see what’s included with the Razer Mamba:
  
  
  
  • Charging Dock
  
  
  • Rechargeable Battery with Battery Door
  
  
  • USB Cable
  
  
  • Certificate of Authority
  
  
  • Quick Start Guide
  
  
  • Master Guide
  
  
  
  
  
  The Razer Mamba mouse itself comes attached to an acrylic stand. To remove it from this you simply unclip it.
  
  
  
  
  
  

  The Razer Mamba

  
   
  
  The Razer Mamba itself is very attractive with a sleek and sharp design. It comes with a matt black rubber texture on top, on the buttons and where the fingers/thumb would rest. This allows the user to have a very secure and comfortable grip on the mouse.
  
   
  
  The right side specifically is completely bare with no buttons. As the Mamba is quite comfortable in both left and right hand, this is a slight let down as it’s nearly impossible for left hand users to make use of the buttons on the left.
  
   
  
  
  
   
  
  The two buttons on the left side of the mouse are quite large and perfectly positioned for easy use. It feels good pressing the buttons as they compress a fair amount and make a nice ‘click’ sound. This is helpful in-game as you know your click have been registered.
  
   
  
  
  
   
  
  There are also two more buttons located at the side of the left-click button. These are positioned very closely to the main left click button and so it’s very easy to accidently press this too.
  
   
  
  
  
   
  
  A subtle but obvious feature of the Mamba is the black outlined tribal-like Razer logo which locates towards the rear of the mouse. This looks rather appealing and has a menacing look towards it.
  
   
  
  
  
   
  
  The front of the Razer Mamba reminds me a lot of the motorbike-like vehicle from ‘The Dark Knight’. The sharp edge of the left and right click buttons and the gap in the centre really does look very sinister.
  
   
  
  
  
   
  
  
  
   
  
  Hidden below the scroll wheel is a USB connector. The Razer Mamba can be used as a wired mouse as well as a wireless one and so this is where the cable connects.
  
   
  
  
  
   
  
  
  
   
  
  The bottom of the Razer Mamba is gloss black plastic. There are three large Teflon feet to protect the surface and to help the mouse glide well. Also on the bottom are three buttons: on/off, wireless connect and eject (allows the USB cable to be disconnected when being used as a wired mouse). Located in the centre is the laser sensor with surround.
  
   
  
  
  
   
  
  The battery sits in a compartment on the bottom of the Mamba. It doesn’t need to be connected to any wires as it has metal contacts on the battery which contacts with metal contacts inside the compartment.
  
   
  
  
  
   
  
  The charger is made from glossy black acrylic and has a translucent acrylic base. There is also a connect switch on the front of the dock and the Razer logo.
  
   
  
  
  

  Lighting

  
  The Razer Mamba has a blue LED installed which makes the scroll wheel glow blue. Also, there are three bars on the left side of the mouse which indicate how much battery the mouse has and also how sensitive the DPI is.
  
  
  
  The acrylic bottom of the charger also glows blue. It seems to look as though the charger is floating.
  
  
  
  Whilst the mouse is charging on the dock, the LED installed at the base of the charger fades on and off.
  
  
  

  The Drivers and Software

  
  Rather than including a driver/software CD with the Mamba, Razer has provided a link to where they can be downloaded. The latest ones available when testing the mouse were v1.05 and came in a file size of just 38.9MB.
  
  The first screen in the software allows you to assign different functions to the buttons. There are over 15 assignments to be had and so you can pretty much do anything possible.
  
  
  
  The second screen has a slider for DPI and cursor acceleration and also three options for polling rate. The DPI speeds available range from 100 all the way up to 5600.
  
  
  
  The software can also create different profiles. Therefore, you could have one profile with all the settings for day-to-day tasks and then another just for games. By simply switching profiles all the settings are then configured. Many mice come with the ability to do this and I find it’s a really useful feature.
  
  
  
  For automated commands, you also have the option of Macros. You simply record the macro and then you can configure one of the buttons to play it. This makes it simple in-game to quickly perform actions with one single click – some see this as cheating.
  
  
  
  As you saw on the previous page, the Razer Mamba has a number of lights. Although these do look quite appealing, when gaming in the dark they can often distract. So using the software you can also turn on or off the various lights.
  
  
  
   
  
   
  

  Testing

  
  

  Surface Response

  
  I tested the Razer Mamba on five different surfaces: transparent glass (no frost), wood, glossy magazine and XtracPads Logic mouse pad (which we’ll soon have a review on). Usually many mice fail on the glossy magazine and transparent glass test.
  
  The Razer Mamba performed exceptionally well on wood, the glossy magazine and the mouse pad. It registered all slight movements and the Teflon feet glided across either of the surfaces. Unfortunately it didn’t work on transparent glass, but this isn’t a surprise because very few mice work on this.
  
  
  

  Performance

  
  I gamed with the OCZ Mamba in Far Cry 2 and Crysis. Usually I’m not a fan of high DPI as I tend to end up navigating too far across the subject I’m shooting or pointing to. However, with the Razor Mamba this wasn’t the case. I wacked the DPI up to 5600 and loved every second of it. It was dead accurate and even on wireless it was not ‘laggy’ or unresponsive at all.
  
  Like I mentioned in the overview on the mouse, the buttons on the front of the left click are a bit difficult to press. This was the case in-game too and I simply disregarded them after plenty of accidental clicks.
  
  In Windows the Razer Mamba was a pleasure to use. I even used the mouse at 5600DPI here too. It navigated me to buttons quickly and effectively without any hassle.
  

  Durability

  
  After a couple of weeks of constant use, the Razer Mamba wasn’t battered at all. The top does tend to pick up dirty easily and the charger is a magnet for dust, but the overall build quality is second to none.
  

  Comfort

  
  The Razer Mamba will fit snugly in most people’s hands. I have larger than normal hands and the Mamba was still comfortable for me to use. The rubber texture on top gives good grip on the mouse too.
  
  However, in intense gaming situations or long games you’ll find that the rubber thumb and finger grips become very sweaty. I even had to use a tissue to dry them off they got so bad!
  
  But for most normal people… you’ll find it very comfortable and enjoyable to use.
  

  Conclusion

  
  The years in the making have paid off. What we have here is a gaming mouse which performs great, looks great and is great to use. What more could you want?
  
  The only problem is the price. At a whopping £115 it’s certainly not the cheapest of gaming peripherals. But if you give it a try… trust me you’ll be tempted.
  
  Bottom Line: If you’ve got the cash to splash I would fully recommend the Razer Mamba. However, for the lot of us with not-so-deep pockets, there are many other good alternatives.