When One Scroll Wheel is Not Enough: Introducing the SPEEDLINK PRIME Z-DW

Sometimes, one of something is just good enough.  One sun in our solar system is just perfect.  One moon for our nighttime sky?  Ditto.  One heart, one brain, one set of reproductive organs…  you get the picture.

But there are things out there in the universe, both natural and man-made, where you can have two of something.  I’ve seen two-headed snakes, for instance (the result of a genetic mutation).  Guitars with two necks are strange, but they do exist.  I’ve even driven a car that had two sets of controls, back when I was still in training to join the world of motorists – one set was for the trainee (me), while the other was for the trainer.  I imagine it’s pretty useful to have that second set of controls for when the trainee forgets to get on the brakes at times (it never happened to me, though, I swear).

When it comes to gaming mice, however, well, we usually just get one of something.  One left-click, one right-click.  There may be thumb buttons galore in some designs, but it’s rare when we get duplication.  And when it comes to scroll wheels, one is enough for most people.

Well, the folks at SPEEDLINK in Germany have introduced their PRIME Z-DW gaming mouse.  It is the world’s first gaming mouse equipped with two scroll wheels.

SPEEDLINK says that having two scroll wheels makes perfect sense in that it should give gamers an advantage.  For example, one of the scroll wheels can be designated specifically for rapid weapon switching, leaving the other for another dedicated command (sniper zoom in-out, perhaps?).

The company designed the PRIME Z-DW’s scroll wheels to feel very differently in one’s hands; not only that, but one wheel is higher on the mouse than the other.  This should eliminate the possibility of getting confused as to which scroll wheel to use.

The PRIME Z-DW’s eight buttons (the count includes both scroll wheels, incidentally) are fully-programmable via SPEEDLINK’s special software.  Moreover, users can also assign sets of programmed functions in up to five user profiles.

SPEEDLINK says the PRIME Z-DW’s SRP is €39.99.  It’s unclear whether or not it will ever hit the North American market, though.