Lantern's Mouse Guide

Written 3/9/10 - Last update - 3/9/10

I wrote this article in order to reduce the number of people posting the same questions over and over: "what mouse should i get?" etc. I realise that there are hundreds if not thousands of gaming mice out currently and I only have listed a few. Why? Simply because after experiencing many of these gaming mice, they simply do not live up to the demands placed on them by gamers, competitive gamers moreso.
I have omitted mice that have major problems, like the Razer Imperator due to its massive cursor jump when picking up and placing down the mouse. After reading this, you may gain a better understanding on the advantages and disadvantages of each mouse and how it might suit your playing style.
I will not be commenting much on the shape of the mice, as that is very much personal preference and everyone is different.
Every mice in this article I have personally tested. I realise that I enter into quite abit of detail with the advantages/disadvantages, technical specifications and correct setup of each mouse, but while it may be daunting to a few people, I beleive that ultimately it will help you make the correct descision in picking a mouse, understanding how it works and finally setting it up best for the way YOU play.
Finally, I acknoledge that there maybe many fine mice out there, which exhibit excellent performace, plenty of features etc, but I simply have not been able to test them. With any luck I will make full indiviual reviews of new mice a regular thing.




Microsoft Intellimouse Optical 1.1a - Optical


Quite a cheap but very good quality mouse. Can generally be found for under $30.
5 Buttons - LMB, RMB, scroll wheel, Mouse 4/Mouse 5. 4 and 5 are on opposite sides of the mouse.

The intelli optical sensor is only 400 dpi, with no option to change that. It comes stock at 125hz Polling rate, which can be overclocked 250/500/1000hz. I advise 500hz as this seems to be the most stable.
The shape is excellent for both Left and right handed users, with any grip be it claw, palm or finger. Definetly the most versatile mouse in terms of shape.

Perfect control speed: 1 m/s @ 125hz or 1.55 m/s @ 500hz.
Malfunction speed: 2.10 m/s @ 500hz
This mouse has no prediction

I don't recommend this mouse for people who use high sensitivity as well as high resolutions as they will experience pixel skipping, same as the other low DPI optical mice. Otherwise an excellent mouse with amazing value.



Microsoft Intellimouse Explorer 3.0 - Optical


A long time favourite with CS and Quake players alike, the IME 3.0 has been around for almost 8 years in 2 versions. The original version released in early 2003 was discontinued in late 2004. In 2006 it was brought back due to popular demand in an updated form. It now appears to have 450 dpi and 9000fps vs the old one with 400dpi and 6400 fps. The old one was a lighter silver whereas the new version (only one you can find really) is more gun metal grey. The current IME 3.0 is version x9, the old was x6-x8.

5 Buttons - LMB, RMB, scroll wheel, Mouse 4/Mouse 5.

The intelli optical sensor on the IME 3.0 is only 450 dpi*, with no option to change that. It comes stock at 125hz Polling rate, which can be overclocked 250/500/1000hz. I advise 500hz as this seems to be the most stable.
Shape is a right handed ergonomic shape. The Razer Deathaddder is actually modeled on the Explorer 3.0 so they share a similar (but not the same) feel. The IME 3.0 is quite abit lighter than the Deathadder too.

The mouse does have a few drawbacks. There is a well known scroll wheel issue where the wheel does not move completely to the next notch, but still registers the scroll. Then randomly it will scroll. Usually just when you are aiming at someones head. The side buttons have a bit of a cheap feel with no real tactile feel. This is fine, but it bothers some people and can be fixed easily, as can the mousewheel issue.

See my thread here to fix any of these issues.
www.cybergamer.com.au/forums/thread/166796/HOW-TO-Fixing-scroll-wheel-on-Intellimouse-3.0/

Perfect Control: 1.00 m/s @ 125hz 1.55 m/s @ 500Hz
Malfunction Speed: 2.10 m/s @ 500hz
This mouse has NO prediction
Excellent mouse, my most recommended of the list. It won't handle uber low sensitiivty, but I use it with 50cm/360 and dont experience any real problems with tracking.




Razer Deathadder 3.5G - Optical


The DA has been incredibly succesful since the original version with the razer 3G sensor. It is to this day the best product razer have launched. The new version has the exact same body, but now can do 3500 dpi and has an updated sensor.
5 Buttons - LMB, RMB, scroll wheel, Mouse 4/Mouse 5. Not counting the Profile button underneath the mouse.
It has the best sensor on the market on paper. There is zero accel, it is infared/optical so doesn't experience laser's problems, has a very high perfect control speed and no prediction.

This mouse's shape was modeled on the shape of the Intellimouse Explorer 3.0, with some slight changes made. There is an issue which seems to be very hit and miss and that is a slight scrape due to a slightly warped bottom (about 0.3 mm) but it seems not all DA's have that. After a while I didn't even notice it.

5 Buttons - LMB, RMB, scroll wheel, Mouse 4/Mouse 5. Not counting the Profile button underneath the mouse.

The DA 3.5G needs to have the firmware updated to 2.41 to perform optimally. Also if you install the drivers and set all 5 profiles to the same DPI/Hz etc settings, then save and uninstall the drivers, the mouse will remember your settings. Very handy for people who go to non-BYOC lans, simply plug and play.

The deathadder performs optimally at 1800 dpi in terms of max perfect control speed and malfunction speed, but 450 is also good, but seems to hit perfect control at about the 2.8-3m/s mark. I do not recommend 900 dpi or 3500 dpi as these still seem to have some skipping problems.

Lift off distance: The DA has a fairly high lift off distance, which is worse on some pads than others. I have about 3.6mm on my Qck Heavy and Qck+ (3dvd height). This can be fixed by slightly blocking the infared light that beams back to the sensor. I will do a mini guide/how to on this soon and update this article when I have done so.

Using 1800 dpi and 500hz, this is the mouse's capability
Perfect Control: 3.92 m/s
Malfunction Speed: 4.40 m/s

I highly recommend this mouse if you need higher DPI for high sensitivity/resolution or if you need really good low sensitivity performance. I
have played with this mouse on 1.7 metres/360 and still experienced no skipping or negative accel. A good, safe option.



Logitech MX518 - .rev2 - Optical


Possibly the most solid mouse ever created. I have known people that rage (hard) and throw their mice, smash em on the desk etc and still keep the same mouse for 5+ years. They are actually indestructible, and can be picked up for about $40-$60 depending where you look.
The only difference between the old MX518 and the new is the mousefeet (G feet vs old mx feet) and it is now able to do 1800 DPI instead of a max of 1600 on the old 518. Without installing drivers, you are able to set 400 dpi, 800 dpi and 1800 dpi by using the DPI buttons on the mouse.

5 Buttons - LMB, RMB, scroll wheel, Mouse 4/Mouse 5. Not counting DPI/fnct buttons.

This moue has alot of prediction, more any other mouse on the market except the kinzu.
The buttons have an excellent feel to them and don't seem to really change with use, although I have never used a REALLY old one, oldest was only a couple years.
There is a glitch where installing Setpoint drivers ruins the mouse's performance. I suggest leaving it with no drivers and simply up the polling rate from 125hz to 500hz.

Perfect Control: No actual numbers are known for 400 dpi, it appears to be about 3.1m/s, at 800 dpi about 2.5m/s and
at 1800 dpi, about 2 m/s.
Malfunction Speed: > 4.5 m/s - No one can make it malfunction, it simply gets alot of negative accel.

A really good quality mouse and highly recommended for any type of player aslong as you don't mind the prediction.

Logitech G9x


The succesor to the G9 mouse, one of the early laser mice. This G9x uses the Avago 9500 laser sensor, regarded by many as the start of the age of mature laser sensors. All previous laser sensors are inferior on paper to the ADS9500, but even after saying that, it still has issues. Only reason I am suggesting this mouse is due to the fact that I feature no other mice with this shape (unless you count the IMO 1.1a for claw/finger).

The G9x is best suited to a claw grip or fingertip grip player. This mouse seems very popular with quite high sensitivity gamers. As a palm grip player, I really disliked the feel of the mouse, but those who like that shape really enjoy it. The buttons are quite crisp and give good feeling, although I got rid of mine quite soon after purchase due to the shape and cannot comment on how they go after long term use.
The sensor has some positive acceleration that cannot be removed. About 10% accel when speeds hit 1+ m/s. Some people can get used to this, and they do, judging by the number of people that like this mouse, the G500 (terrible mouse for soooo many reasons), the Steelseries Xai and several other new mice.

The MicroGear Precision Scroll Wheel technology offers dual modes for different types of scrolling.
Ratchet mode provides distinct click-to-click, ratcheted scrolling.
Hyper-fast mode delivers frictionless scrolling.

No prediction
No numbers are really available interms of perfect control and max control, except a few benches done by some japanese gamers on special glass pads. They managed to get the G9x to hit perfect control at approx 6 m/s, and malfunction at about 6.5 m/s. They have not explained what DPI settings they were using and have not returned my inquiries.




I WILL BE UPDATING THIS THREAD OCCASIONALLY WITH MORE INFORMATION, MORE MICE AND MAYBE HEADPHONES, MOUSEPAD, KEYBOARD SECTIONS







Glossary

Polling Rate
The rate at which the mouse sensor sends data to the computer.
125hz = 8ms of input lag, 250 = 4ms, 500hz = 2ms, 100hz = 1ms
500hz is generally the most stable and therefore i recommend it the most due to the fact that a consistent polling rate is better than a rate that jumps up and down randomly (similar to ingame fps).

Prediction
Angle snapping/drift control, whatever you want to call it. It lets your draw straight lines buy using algorithms to keep the mouse cursor on a straight path, even if the mouse moves fractionally. This doesn't bother alot of people, a fact proven by many of the top players in both CS and CoD using mice with this feature, but I personally cannot stand it. Generally inbuilt onto the SROM of the sensor and cannot be edited except by firmware update(XAI excluded).

Perfect Control Speed
The speed that a mouse can be moved at while still maintaining a linear response. This means that at any speed under the perfect control, with no accel, you should move the same distance if you move your hand slowly or fast (fast, but under perfect control spee). This is the most important number between this and malfunction speed.

Malfunction Speed
The speed where above the mouse just gives up and can do anything randomly. After you exceed the Perfect control speed, you may experience negative accel, but after you exceed malfunction speed, you may end up looking in the sky, or doing a 180 and looking into the ground. There is no telling what it will do.

Positive Acceleration
Positive acceleration is when the mouse goes further the faster you move your hand. Some players actually decide to turn it on, but you want to be able to control it, or turn it off completly, so positive acceleration in the sensor itself is very bad.

Negative Acceleration
This is when the mouse moves less distance the faster you move it. This is generally what happens when you move past the perfect control speed. Also there are problem with using high dpi on some games. This is because the cursor (behind the game) hits the edge of the screen really fast, so the game is constantly recentering it. Not a problem in CoD, mainly can be experienced in CS 1.6. 90% of the time it is because you have surpassed perfect control speed though. Negative accel is bad as it means that when you turn very fast (180 flick on someone suprising you), instead of turning the distance that you expected, you infact turn less. I.E you react and move the mouse the distance needed to turn 180 normally, but because you swiped so hard, you might only turn a part of that.

Lift-Off Distance
This the distance that the sensor can be away from the pad and still register movement. Lower is better, as it means that with low sens players that are constantly picking up their mouse and placing it back in the center/other side, the cursor will move becuse it registers the mouse moving just above the pad. Generally lift off distance is between 1.2mm and 3.6mm. The model of mousepad affects this, some pads are better than others with certain mice. This is not a big concern to most players though.

Resources:
Hidusbf - A small program used for changing the polling rate on mice with no drivers. Instructions in the file.
http://sweetlow.at.tut.by/download/hidusbf.zip
How to change Polling rate on Windows 7 x64
www.ngohq.com/news/15043-how-to-increase-usb-sample-rate-in-windows-vista-7-a.html

www.esreality.com - An awsome hardware section, and Sujoy has done some amazing benchmarking of mice. The forums are where I absorb alot of my knowledge.

Contact:
Feel free to contact me if you have any questions at all

xfire: jackolantern125
msn: mtb41@hotmail.com

Edited once, 28/5/11 - 11:15pm.

The mouse guru

Good writeup. Hopefully this will clear up all the 'What mouse should I get' posts.
Looking forward to perhaps a keyboard section.

great guide, was an interesting read

thanks lanrand

DA all the way. [sm-love]

not too bad. expects the mousefix write up next

He know's like everything,
oh em gee o.o

not just mice m8, he knows everything.


Hazz: i think lantern is the second coming of jesus boys

we all know it.
good read, keep it comin bru <3

very nice writeup

Indeed a very nice writeup jackolantern me boy <3.
It's good to see that you aren't covering the new mouses (which indeed fail hint hint imperator).

I would have to say out of those mice that you have reviewed, MX518 would still have to be the best, just a shame my right click died after 2-3 years of use ;<

Well done JackoLantern. <3

lol thanks denied.
Yeah, a friend that plays quake has his for about 6 years (old version) and reckons its exactly the same as new cept for the mousefeet.

The older version of the MX518, for some reason is better, i'd say it tracks better.. but that's just me. I think you'll find that most of the newer versions of any mice, tend to break easily ;<

Good write up mate, hope to see more.

Very informative, will help a lot of people.
Looking forward to see how well the other sections will be