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 Electronics : Logitech G9 Laser Mouse |
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Rating:  - Ehhhh!
I really wanted to like this mouse. I've used the G7 for 3 years now and I absolutely love it. Unfortunately my G7 began to interpret single clicks as double clicks, and I was back in the market for a mouse.
I chose to go with the G9 this time because of its amazing "on paper" specs, as well as the glowing reviews on various sites, which really had me waiting at the bottom of the driveway for the package to show up :)
Unfortunately, no cigar.
The major problem for me was that most of the features listed on the box, ended up either not mattering to me personally or they just didn't work as well as I might have liked.
First, as another reviewer said - the choices of adjustable grips are between "tiny and pretty small". My G7 fits my hand like it was custom designed for it. The G9 seems to have been designed for much, much smaller hands.
Second, the micro gear wheel with the ratchet turned off is a great idea. Except that it takes a whole different set of fine motor skills to use effectively. Worse, the scroll wheel in "friction less" mode is truly friction-less - so you end up accidentally scrolling or zooming (if your control key happens to be depressed) when you least expect it. I'm not sure if my mouse wheel was just defective (it happens) because some of the others seem to particularly like this feature above all else.
Third, the weight tuning is something I ended up not caring for in the very least. I tried different combinations to see if it mattered - but it really honestly didn't. Maybe I'm just not the mouse connoisseur I thought I was.
Fourth, customizable LED display colors seems cool in theory - but again, I can't remember the last time that LED color was a deal breaker for me. I set it to blue and was done. I could have set it to red too. Or green. Or mauve (well, I'm not sure what mauve looks like, but you get the point.)
Fifth, the shape of the mouse resembles a pack of cards rather than the smooth filled curves of the G7. I couldn't make this feel natural no matter how hard I tried.
I really could go on.
So was there anything I liked? Actually, yes. I liked that it had on board memory for user profiles. I liked the texture of the grips and how they form fit the mouse itself. I liked the SetPoint software on Windows XP, which was real easy to use. I liked the non fray-able heavy duty cord that connects the mouse to the USB port. I liked the fact that it does have 9 buttons - if you count carefully (the scroll wheel is 3 buttons by itself). The harder part was to remember what each of those mappings did :(
Unfortunately, the positives didn't quite outweigh the negatives and I made the decision to go get myself a new G7 instead.
As with any ergonomics product, the choice of mouse is entirely a personal decision. So, the stars I've given it are a review of how well this mouse works with my hand and my temperament, and is not intended as an engineering review of the standalone product.
Rating:  - doesn't solve what it claims to solve at all
It implies that you can make it fit your large hand if you have one, but
it still doesn't: your choices are between tiny and pretty small. If you
would like to try palm mousing you'll be dissapointed unless your hand is
tiny.
With weight there is sort of the opposite problem: its heavy without any
weight added. So you can choose between pretty heavy and really heavy, neither of which you will probably like much if you come from cheap mouse land. Weight isn't really good for anything, it just makes starting and stopping take more work.
The thumb buttons are soggy and ill-positioned as usual with other mice.
Haven't bother with the software so I can't say how well that works.
Rating: - Overpriced with Issues
Pros
- Sensitive
- Custom weights
- Custom LED colors
- Extra grips
Cons
- Middle-mouse clicking (pressing down, not scrolling) is INCREDIBLY stiff. Difficult to open/close browser tabs, or fly-scroll on webpages, etc.
- Mouse is too heavy for precision gaming to begin with. Using the weights would make it worse.
- Labeled as a 9-button mouse, which is ridiculous and highly disappointing. 1: You can't use the 2 buttons on the bottom of the mouse. 2: Wheel-tilting shouldn't be considered 2 extra buttons. 3: The 2 sensitivity-adjustment buttons can't realistically be used for anything else. You can bind them, but actually clicking them requires stopping and trying to find them. In practice, this is only a 5-button mouse.
Most of the features that make this mouse so darn expensive end up being worthless, and the scroll wheel kills all usability for anyone who middle-mouse clicks in browsers, etc... I returned my G9.
Rating:  - Solid Piece of Hardware
If a gamer takes a step back and looks at himself, he may boggle at why he spent so much money on a gaming keyboard or mouse. But then he goes back to his Warcraft battleground or Call of Duty match and remembers why he made the investment; if you play anything more than Solitaire or Luxor on your PC, you'll want to consider making this investment too. And at the moment, the average gamer will need to look no further than Logitech's G9. I can't say the G9 will be remembered by gamers as fondly as the once-almighty G5, but once again Logitech has made a mouse which strategy, RPG, and shooter fans all can love.
This mouse's pricetag is a bit of a disappointment; it's steeper than both of its competitors, the Sidewinder and Lachesis. Not only that, but some of these features just aren't necessary. There are two grips, but wide load (the default one) is clearly the better one. Its smooth surface is more comfortable than the precision's drygrip alternative, and feels less awkward in your hands. The cord (which all gaming mouses really need for the extra precision) is braided with a durable fiber, and slides more easily than any mouse cord I've seen (though it would be nice if something to clip the unused length were included). There are two side buttons, which are easy enough to click; it would have been nice, however, if there were more side buttons. You can choose two different mouse settings; ratchet or free-scroll, but since even the lowest sensitivity for scroll is essentially out-of-control with free scroll, I don't see why anyone would want it. This is definitely Logitech's least flashy laser mouse (excluding notebook and early desktop models). It has a design that certainly demands respect at LAN parties, but it could have done with a little more flair in my opinion.
But probably the most important feature here is customization. Logitech has an easy-to-use system that lets you set up more mouse profiles than you would have any use of. Each profile can customize its LED color, individual dpi settings, scroll sensitivity, and key bindings. It's a bit hard to switch between profiles, but you really only need one, since generally speaking one type of game really only needs one dpi setting. You can have a maximum of 3200dpi, but in the current state of gaming, no one but an FPS fanatic with surgically-sound control of his hand would need more than 2200. For strategy/MMOs I use 1400-1600,FPS's in the 1800 range, with regular use at 1200-1400, just for people who need a reference point.
Ergonomically, this mouse really seems to be aimed at people with medium to medium-small hands. I have hands which anyone would call bigger than average, and the G9 isn't the most comfortable mouse I've ever held, but everyone who uses this for a day or two will easily become acquainted with the design. Wrist/forearm users will love this mouse, as will finger-grippers, but it's not exactly designed for people who move their whole arms. Large-handed gamers who use their whole arm are better suited for the Sidewinder. And of course, this is most certainly not a mouse for lefties. The main mouse buttons feel very comfortable, though it would be nice if they didn't click as much
With dpi switching that is easy to use, but not easily done by mistake, a great grip (and another which is bound to appeal to some), a durable cord, and great customization, this mouse is easy to recommend to almost any gamer.
Rating: - Logitech G9 mouse is cool
G9 works nicely, but beware. My computer, running WinXP, apparently didn't like the change. All was well until I shut off my computer. Upon reboot, it wouldn't reboot. It never got out of the DOS startup. Disconnecting power and reconnecting power worked at first for Windows bootup. The problem apparently was that I should have uninstalled the old mouse drivers first before installing this G9. After much playing around with uninstall and reinstall, everything is ok now. I'm not sure if it was the mouse or my error that caused all that. Anyway, FYI.
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