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Technical specifications
Here are some of the specs for the DeathAdder, taken from Razer's website. The '*' signifies that these items were recently added to the DeathAdder in the latest product refresh.
- 3500dpi Razer Precision™ 3.5G infrared sensor*
- Ergonomic right-handed design
- 1000Hz Ultrapolling™ / 1ms response
- Five independently programmable Hyperesponse™ buttons
- On-The-Fly Sensitivity™ adjustment
- Always-On™ mode
- Ultra-large non-slip buttons
- 16-bit ultra-wide data path
- 60–120 inches per second and 15g of acceleration
- Zero-acoustic Ultraslick™ Teflon feet
- Gold-plated USB connector
- Seven-Foot, lightweight, braided fiber cable*
- Approximate size: 128mm (length) x 70mm (width) x 42.5mm (height)
Packaging
Before we spend some time with the DeathAdder, let's briefly check out what comes in first.
Razer could have opted to save a bit of money and go with a standard cardboard box, but chose not to. The packaging is well designed, and slick. It is the sort packaging that I imagine a luxury item might come in, like a Porsche Design watch for example. Sure, in the big scheme of things packaging doesn't mean much to gamers -- but here the quality packaging does contribute to the idea that you are getting a high-end, uncommon PC peripheral fit for real PC gamers and not the common World of Warcraft peon, when you first crack it all open.
Installation
Now on to the hands-on phase of this review. Naturally, we'll start off with the installation of the DeathAdder.
Being a mouse, you can only get so complicated with an installation process. As you'd expect, it is a very straight-forward procedure. Un-box mouse, plug into a free USB port, then get the software. Pretty simple stuff.
However Razer did something interesting here, when it comes to the driver software. The DeathAdder actually doesn't come a driver CD, like almost all PC hardware does. Instead it directs you to Razer's website to download it. This works for me; generally power-users and gamers probably download the latest driver for whatever new product they might purchase, instead of getting it off the CD, just out of habit. And the mouse operates as a normal mouse until the software is installed anyways; so not having the CD is not an inconvenience.
Let's take a look at the software.
Overall, we have to say that whoever made the Razer DeathAdder control software did a bang-up job it. The interface, in our opinion, is great, easy to use, and has all functionality that you could want. It only takes up about 10MB of RAM as well, which is entirely reasonable.
After you install the software, the Razer logo icon will turn up in your system tray. Click it and you can configure your mouse to your heart's content.
For the DeathAdder, you have the ability to select what each of the 5 buttons does. Further, you can change the assignments for the scroll wheel as well. It's an easy system to use.
The DeathAdder has 32KB of on-mouse memory, which allows for quick changing between up to 5 different customizable profiles. If you are a super-keen gamer you could, for example, make profiles for each game currently at the top of your rotation. So for Dragon Age, you could set up the side buttons to switch targets; or for your other profile, for Burnout Paradise, the side buttons could be customized to change gears. You get the idea.
Further options on the main panel of the Razer software allow you to turn the mouse lights off, change the polling rate (which is basically determines how often your computer looks to the mouse for movement updates), change the dpi sensitivity (for a FPS you might want top sensitivity, but then if you wanted to web browse something like 900 might be more appropriate).
Let's take a look at the sensitivity sub-menus that extend from the left of the main control panel.
Here you can adjust the sensitivity of the mouse, on a scale from 1 to 10. You can also change the speed of the scroll wheel here. Below these sensitivity commands there is a double click slider -- that gray target area there is a little testing space where you can double click (the target breaks when you do) to easily determine your favorite speed.
As we said, this software caused us zero headaches, and has a lot of functionality. And that is all we ask of driver software.
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I find that Razer mice are ideal for RTSes. In those games, you're constantly making fast moves and the downward shape of the mouse buttons help, even if it's a small factor. They're also smaller on the bottom than at the top, making them easier to flick with your wrist. I've used Logitech mice for the majority of my time, but I find their semi-circular designs aren't too comfortable for the long run.
What do you think of the Microsoft Habu that Razer helped design? I know it's a little old, but it looks great.
I like the look of the Microsoft Habu. But I don't like the fact that on the top, half of it is hard rubber material and half of it is standard plastic. An all-rubber top is just so much nicer IMHO.
Like a mx518
Or a G9
If you play MMOs, get the Naga. My friends who use it for WoW only need to use WASD, alt/shift/ctrl on their keyboards. The Copperhead is great for RTS, for the reasons I mentioned before. I would've gotten the Krait, but it lacks the side buttons that help in browsers.