Razer DeathAdder Gaming Mouse

Now that we know what the DeathAdder is all about, let’s see how it performs in real world scenarios. To test the mouse completely, we used the DeathAdder for two weeks non-stop. This includes not only work, but play when time permitted. In our stable of games, two were chosen. One was Supreme Commander and the other was the tried and true Counter Strike: Source. We feel that these two games cover both quick response "twitch" FPS games as well as long, sweeping motion RTS games as well. Before we get into the actual testing of the mouse, we first need to install the provided software.

In the bundled manual, we saw the driver disk. The software included on this disk will allow the user to manual adjust the response of their mouse to suit their individual needs. The cool thing about this is that these settings can be saved as profiles and then loaded when the need arises.

As we can see, not only can the DPI and polling rate be configured, but the settings can also be saved to one of five available profiles for future use. Also, the user can control the lighting of the logo and the scroll button as well as program each button individually. From here, the advanced settings can be brought out and here is where the settings of the DeathAdder can be fine tuned to the liking of the user.

As with most mice, you can adjust the clicking speed. A successful test of this will result in the sound of breaking glass to let you know that your clicking speed is adequate enough. The driver also allows the adjustment of scroll speed and on the fly sensitivity.

As we covered earlier, to test out the DeathAdder, we chose a pair of popular games that cover two massively popular genres: Supreme Commander and Counter Strike. While RTS games are my personal favorite, I deeply love Counter Strike as well and while I do enjoy it, my love does not imply, in any way shape or form, that I am good at this game. Skill level aside, games like this give a good idea of the overall gaming performance of the mouse. Not only because of the technical engineering of such a device, but also because of the ultimate comfort of it as well.

Throughout the gaming, as well as day in and day out work, the experience of working with the DeathAdder was one of comfort and enjoyment. The response of the DeathAdder in fast paced games such as Counter Strike, and slower paced games like Supreme Commander is one of pure enjoyment. Our first Razer product was the Copperhead. The Copperhead was a on the fly DPI adjustable mouse that used a laser instead of the standard infrared eye. All this sounds good but the truth was, it felt like hell in our hands over long periods of time. With the DeathAdder, Razer has addressed this issue.

There is honestly only one thing I look for in a mouse. Comfort. Over time, I have come to absolutely love the kidney bean shape of the Logitech series of mice. Whenever I review a mouse, I will use it for a month or so and then put it back up and go back to either my beloved MX518 or the G7 wireless laser mouse. Both are extremely comfortable and easy to use. Now there is a bit of bias there because I have used these mice for a quite a while so there is a familiarity there between me and the mice.

With the DeathAdder, I can forget all about this familiarity because the design of the mouse is so complete. While I would love to retain the on the fly DPI buttons, unless you use these on a regular basis, this is something that you most likely wont notice. In gaming and in work, my hand felt right at home on the DeathAdder and add to that, the beautiful glow of the blue scroll wheel and Razer logo, it’s definitely a safe bet for anyone who is in the market for a high quality gaming mouse but also one that can be used for everyday use day in and day out.

Taking all this into consideration, the Razer DeathAdder earns a well deserved 9 out of 10 and this editors personal Editor’s Choice award as well.

Pros
• Quality build we have come to expect from Razer
• Blue lit scroll where and Razer logo
• Comfortable right handed design
• Comfortable non slip material
• 5 programmable buttons
• Deep software tweaks

Cons
• No dedicated DPI buttons on the mouse
• Wired

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