Razer Deathadder Infrared Gaming Mouse

I got this mouse because I wanted a gaming mouse to go with my new gaming keyboard, the Razer Blackwidow Ultimate. Since the keyboard was by Razer, I decided to try a Razer mouse. I settled in on this one because it had the right balance of price and functionality. I was previously using the Logitech M500 mouse, a great mouse but not a gaming mouse. After learning about all the features of this mouse and experimenting with the settings, I can see where this mouse has huge potential for a wide variety of uses. The mouse frustrated me at first, but as I learned more about it my experience and satisfaction with it grew.This mouse is very comfortable in my hand. I use more of a palm/flat style to hold my mouse, and this works well with the shape of the Deathadder. Users who are more claw-style holders may have more of a challenge with this than palm-style users (google mouse grip styles for more information). I like the light-up scroll wheel on the top of the mouse, and the side buttons are nice and large, so they are easy to press. They are also noticeably more smoother than the buttons on the Logitech M500, which are stiffer to press down. The light-up scroll wheel is cool, also the light-up Razer logo on the body of the mouse is a nice 1337 touch. The Deathadder has a braided USB cable and a gold connector to reduce latency. The top of the mouse is made out of a neat rubbery material that has a nice, smooth feeling. Like the other reviewers said, the sides of the mouse and the two side buttons have a shiny plastic finish that can attract finger grease, but I don't mind wiping it off every now and then. The feet of the Deathadder are made of a Teflon material that makes the mouse literally glide across your mousepad! This helps the sensitivity of the mouse and makes its movements smooth.The mouse does come with a bit of a learning curve if you are not used to gaming mice. The Deathadder will work fine with no drivers out of the box, but in order to get the full range of options available you need to go to Razer's website and download the drivers for the mouse. There is also a firmware update there as well. Navigating the Razer website for the correct drivers leaves much to be desired. It is a little tricky to find the correct drivers but after that, installing them is no problem. Once the drivers are installed and you restart, then you have access to the full configuration options for the mouse. This is where things can get a little confusing if you are new to the world of gaming mice.The driver software is not very visually appealing at all--the font is small, boxy, and the whole interface is a very dark and more than a little cramped. But beneath the ugly exterior of the driver software lies the mouse's true potential. Don't get discouraged here. If you take the time to learn what each of the configuration options means, you will find that the mouse has a lot of power in it. I initially did not like the mouse and was getting ready to return it to Amazon because it skipped around on my computer screen a lot (and I did remove the film from the bottom). I couldn't understand why the mouse would not work smoothly, but after I educated myself I found out that the polling rate on the mouse defaulted to 500Mhz, but the normal rate for most mice was 125Mhz. Also, the two USB ports on my computer that were reserved for the keyboard and mouse were USB 1.1. Combined, those two things accounted for the mouse skipping. I created a profile for the mouse with a polling rate of 125Mhz, and adjusted the sensitivity and the acceleration of the mouse, and the skipping problem went away. I also created a faster profile for when I am gaming.Again, this mouse does take a learning curve as far as the configuration goes if you are not into gaming mice. Please don't give up on the mouse until you have put the time it to learn about all the setting options and how they work together. I would have sent back a perfectly fine mouse if I had went with my initial feelings about it. Now I love the fact that this mouse can accommodate a wide variety of uses, from gaming, to everyday web browsing, to even photo editing (with the high DPI settings)! The only two features that this mouse doesn't have that I miss are horizontal scrolling and hyper-scrolling (like my M500). Still, I do give the scroll wheel on this mouse its credit as the clicks on the scroll wheel of the M500 were not as defined due to the unlocking feature of the mouse. Also, on the M500, using the mouse as a button was tricky because actually pushing down the scroll wheel required much more force and was not nearly as crisp as the Deathadder.I am now very happy that I did get this mouse. This was a good place for me to start learning how to improve my game with gaming mice. If you are looking for a mid-range gaming mouse that has some premium features but doesn't break the bank, this is the mouse for you. Just be sure to learn how to use it to its full potential.

I have been using high-end mice for several years, and this mouse is one of the cheaper ones I've bought in last few years. This is, however, my first mouse from Razor, a company I have heard many good things about their mice.DesignThis mouse, not differing from the pictures I saw online, is very modern looking and elegant. The "pulsing" Razor logo looks great, and you can even turn it off if you want to. The only problem I have so far is the sides that are glossy. They get dirty easily and sometimes gets slippery during use. This problem probably disappears if you use a black edition as it has non-glossy sides, but I do not have one to confirm it.ComfortThe initial impression of this mouse was that it was so comfortable. Having used mice like Logitech Performance MX, which is probably one of the most comfortable mice in market, I was not expecting that much from this mouse even though it was said to be ergonomic. However, I was wrong. This is one of the most comfortable mice I've used. I was very surprised because its looks do not differ that much from any other mice on market, unlike Performance MX. I'm actually not sure if Performance MX or this mouse is more comfortable. I also like the weight of this mouse, but since this usually depends on preference, I can't say everyone will like it.DriverYou can use this mouse without installing a driver, but installing the driver will allow you to customize this mouse. The UI is not the best and could definitely be better as it looks out of date. It does, however, do pretty much everything it's supposed to do. You can set profiles, program your keys, and change settings. I also found being able to back-up the settings as a file convenient. It works as intended, and I did not encounter any problems with it.Customer serviceLike many other companies, the people working in customer service do not seem to have the best knowledge of their products and take a long time understanding the problem. I've only contacted them twice via email so other people may have had totally different experiences. When I asked if there is a way to make the logo stay lit without pulsing, but I was told to check the driver to see if there is an option. I shouldn't be asked to check it--they should before answering my question. I actually checked before sending the email. The driver only has two options: on and off. This is not a big deal at all, but I hope they will have a better customer service when I have an actual problem.SensorAs advertised, the sensor is 3500 DPI, and it should be high enough for any person. I cannot see anyone using it one-to-one (one pixel movement of cursor per 1/3500 inch), so no one should need more than 3500dpi. As long as it's one-to-one or lower, higher DPI does not increase accuracy. I've tried this mouse on many surfaces, and it seems to work on all the surfaces it should. Of course, it does not have "dark field" or "blue track" sensor, so you shouldn't expect it to track glass. It actually also failed to track properly on one of my mouse pads, which some of other cheap mice have failed too. I feel like it shouldn't fail for the price tag it has, but I don't actually use that mouse pad. Also, the lift-off height feels a little high depending on the surface.OverallThis is a great mouse, even more so because of the price tag. It has high enough DPI for any use, and two extra buttons that can be used for any purpose. It's aesthetics are great, and the build quality seems to be high. You may want to consider buying a black edition mouse if you don't think you will like glossy sides, but it is not a big problem at all. The sensor is not the best, being able to track only on normal surfaces, but it works great on surfaces you expect it to. Having 1000hz ultra polling rate with <1ms response rate, this mouse should be a great tool for any gamer. I am giving it 5 stars as it was much better than my expectations, and everything worked as intended and expected. If I ever have any problem with my mouse, I will update this post.