Logitech G5 Gaming mouse
A week ago, Mercury (the white persion cat) decided to jump onto the pc desk with all the grace of a wildebees with a bad case of polio, and knocked a glass of water over onto my cheap-ass R50 mouse while I was playing GuildWars. Needless to say, my character died in the ensuing chaos and my mouse never worked properly again.So this past weekend while I was slaving away at the ceiling, Bibi went out and bought me a Logitech G5 Gaming mouse.
Now I've read the reviews in NAG when the mouse first hit the market (a month or two ago), where it even received the editor's choice award, but I've never had the urge to buy one myself as I thought a mouse is a mouse is a mouse. I mean how much difference could there be between an infra-red optical mouse and a laser mouse, except for the price?
Well, I was pleasantly surprised when I plugged it in. After the usual Windblows XP problems of getting it to recognise a new usb mouse, my jaw dropped on the floor at the first movement of the mouse pointer.
It is absolutely impossible to describe to someone the experience. Most people will think that when they move their mouse, the pointer moves along with it. That is not really true, with a normal optical mouse you get little bobbing of the mouse pointer even if you move it in a straight line, while with the G5, it feels more as if the pointer is an extension of not only your hand but your mind as well.
It boasts a 2000dpi laser, not infra-red, and the difference is really noticable (I might even be able to kick uKrease's arse in UT2004 now). The smallest movement is transferred to the screen with exact precision, so even Graphic artists will love this baby, as it will bring a new dimension to pixel editing.
Then it has sensitivity controls just above the scroll wheel, so you can literally adjust the mouse sensitivity on the fly. No more going into game menu's and fiddling with the sensitivity, just press a button and move the mouse. You also don't need to wonder what sensitivity the mouse is set to, as it's got a little display that shows you in light bars which setting is currently selected.
It also comes with an additional thumb button, strategically placed so that it's not in the way where you will accidently press it at the most in-opportune times, but also close enough so you don't have to explore the side of the mouse with your thumb like a rabid Indy Jones before you find the button. You can program it to take over any program action or simulate any keyboard key, so now "Bullet Time" or any other action that you normally use your keyboard for is available on your mouse, leaving your fingers on your keyboard free for more important stuff, like staying against uKrease if he has a rocket launcher ;)
It also has a weights cartridge with a set of weights so you can adjust the forward, center, and side weight of the mouse. Initially I thought, "So what?". Then after playing around a bit I noticed that it does bring an additional degree of stability to the mouse.
Now you might be wondering what this is all about as a mouse is a mouse is a mouse. But like I said, it has to be experienced, the same way it's impossible to describe to someone the sensation of your first scuba dive.
NECase, if you want more info on this king of all mouses (and a bloody king's price tag to boot), check out this url:
http://www.logitech.com/index.cfm/products/details/ZA/EN,CRID=2464,CONTENTID=10715
