ASUS GX800 upgrade

User avatar
boxjon

20 Sep 2012, 02:08

I'm new here so I apologize if I come off as noobish. I have an ASUS GX800 which has great response time and DPI, however its light and the buttons are less then clicky. Is there anything that can be recommended as a replacement. My daughters HP mouse is more clicky then this. Sad but true.

hfcobra

20 Sep 2012, 07:48

Answer these questions and I may be able to help steer you the right way.

1. What's your grip style?

2. What's your sensitivity?

3. What's your maximum budget?

4. Do you want additional buttons?

5. What games do you play?

6. Do you mind about prediction?

7. Other relevant information:

User avatar
boxjon

20 Sep 2012, 14:08

OK.

1. I don't know for sure but I would have to say palm because my entire hand rests on the mouse.
2. Sensitivity? I'm not sure what your referring to. My current mouse is set to 3200 DPI and I have gotten used to it.
3. Max budget would be no more then 100 bucks.
4. My current mouse has a DPI switch, middle click, and forward and back buttons on the side which I like. More buttons might be good if I could assign them separate functions. I was looking at the Razer Naga cause I've heard the new drivers allow you to assign programs to open from them in WINDOWS.
5. I play mostly dungeon crawlers like Diablo, Torchlight and LoL which require the top row of number keys. I do like to play a few first person shooters but not professionally.
6. Prediction? In a mouse? Maybve I need that concept explained to me a bit more. I'm a bit noobish with peripheral technology.
7. Only other thing is I don't want shiny surfaces. I prefer matte black with hints of chrome if the option is avail. I don't mind high customization.

hfcobra

20 Sep 2012, 20:07

Just to make sure that we are clear on the grip style, palm means that your hand touches your mouse from the tips of your fingers all the way to the wrist. Claw means that you touch with your fingertips but not your fingers, with your palm resting on the back of the mouse. Fingertip is just that, only your fingertips touch the mouse.

Prediction/acceleration are things that cause inconcistency with your cursor/aimer movement. So they make your aiming less accurate or your clicking might be off when playing D3 or SC2 etc. I will not go in to detail unless you want me to but you would rather avoid them if you have a choice.

I would recommend you try check out the Steelseries Sensei [RAW] (very minor acceleration ~5% that you most likely will not notice)and the Zowie AM for an ambidextrous mouse.

Or you could check out the G400 from Logitech or Razer Deathadder. Since you palm your mouse an ergonomic mouse would be comfortable for you as well.

All of the above mice that I have listed all have "perfect" sensors except for the Sensei [RAW]. That mouse is the most comfortable one that I have used though so I include it as a recommendation despite it's imperfection. I use a fingertip grip though and I also REQUIRE an ambidextrous mouse since I hate ergonomic mice. Now let me go into detail about these mice a bit for you so you can make a well-informed decision based off more than a list.

First off lets go with the SR (Sensei [RAW]). I will refer to it as the SR from now on since I hate typing out the real name since I never use those keys and it slows me down. It is about $60 and a very good mouse. The shape of it is slightly better than the Zowie that I listed since the sides are indented slightly so you have a little support when you are looking to lift your mouse up. It looks a little like this:

\_/ <---- SR
/_\ <---- Zowie

Keep in mind that that is a view from the front/back and that it is not nearly as indented as this representation makes it look. The SR is just indented a little bit so that you can feel it but it is harder to see unless you are viewing the mouse in person. The same goes for the AM. It is not shaped quite like that, more like a nearly vertical line until you get to the top of the mouse where it curves to become the top. The little indentations on the sides make the SR a comfortable mouse for your fingertips, especially if you use a fingertip grip. The mouse is available in glossy plastic and matte rubberized. The sensor is a laser sensor that goes from 90-5700 CPI in counts of 90. Don't worry about the counts of 90, they are better that the actual Sensei since anything that is not a multiple of 90 is interpolated with this sensor. Interpolation causes minor inconsistencies and lag in the cursor. Nothing that you would notice, but tests show that it is there. There are plenty of pro players who use mice with acceleration/prediction and interpolation who play just fine so please don't look too much into it. I am just telling you so you are aware.

Next up is the Zowie AM. It is the mouse I use! I really like it although I really wish that I could take the sensor on my AM and put it in the SR. Then I would have the best of both worlds and never worry about mice again. Alas, I wait for the day that Steelseries releases a mouse with a perfect sensor in a body shaped like their Sensei. Although I feel that I wait for no reason since they are too big on marketing to 1337 G4M3R5 with their "pro-grade" laser sensor to release a perfect optical sensor in their flagship body shape.
Back on topic from the mini rant. DPI settings can be set at 450-1150-2300 but they are all said to be a little higher than the stated amount. 450 feels more like 500, 1150 feels like 1250, and 2300 feels more like 2500. I have not tested this so I can not give me personal opinion about it. Some people say that it is true though so that is something to keep in mind. This mouse is a little smaller than the SR. It is about the same length but slightly less wide. It also weighs about the same amount (88g vs the 90g of the SR). I feel that 88-92g is really the perfect weight for a mouse. It feels solid but is still light and easy to flick around while gaming, especially in FPS games since they tend to be the most action-packed. The main buttons on this mouse use different switches than all of the other mice I have listed making them very clicky and just a teeny tiny bit harder to press because of it. It will take you a day or so to get used to it. I was a bit worried about this when I bought the mouse but after I got used to it I have to say that I really like the clicks on this mouse. I also wish I could keep the clicks of this mouse with the SR body shape for my perfect mouse. The best way to describe the difference in OMRON (Deathadder, G400, SR) and HUANO (Zowie AM) mouse button switches is that the HUANO switches are more like a Cherry MX Blue switch in a keyboard and the OMRON switches are more like a Cherry MX Brown. When deciding between the two you do not look at the force required to activate as it will be so similar that it will not really matter. You take a look at the tactility and sound response when using them to decide which is your favorite. I will say that the HUANO switches might be a little bit louder as well, but it is very hard to tell so sound is not something you should really worry about. The main difference is in how they feel. If you don't want clicky then don't get this mouse. After using this mouse for a while I cannot use anything else since all other mice buttons feel "mushy" for the most part. The Zowie AM is also available in glossy plastic and matte rubber just like the SR. Also costs $60.

Next up is the G400 from Logitech. This uses the same sensor as the Zowie AM but has slightly different preset CPIs since they do not use a special lens on the mouse to lower the LOD (lift-off distance). This can be set to 400-800-1200-1600-2000-2400-2800-3200-3600. In order to achieve the same LOD that the AM has (less that 1CD, a CD is not a special unit of measurement or anything, it is actually a compact disk. Height is equal to 1.2mm) Logitech uses software and other minor modifications to the sensor. Since the sensor does not have the lens on it it also has a higher perfect control speed. Meaning you can really whip this mouse around and the sensor will still work perfectly. Honestly the AM had a high enough perfect control speed so that most people could not make it skip anyways. It was 2.6m/s at the worst and 3.3m/s at the best. Putting that in perspective you would have to whip your hand over 5.8mph or 9.3Kph to make the AM skip. That is pretty fast in a game and you would definitely need to be playing with an ultra low sensitivity to achieve this and still maintain control of your aim. I have not been able to make it skip and I play pretty low sense and am very good at FPS games.
The G400 is an ergonomic mouse in that it is shaped in a comfortable way so that when you hold it your hand is nearly at rest. It works best with a palm grip like many ergonomic mice. You can look up the shape with a picture as it is a bit difficult to describe. I have tried it with a palm grip (I don't use one naturally, but I forced myself to use it to try it out) and I can say that it is indeed very comfortable for that grip style. This is a bit heavier of a mouse weighing in at 105g. So if you like a heavier mouse then this would be one for you to try out. The mouse is a little cheaper at $50 and also only comes with matte rubber.

Lastly on this list is going to be the Razer Deathadder. It uses a different sensor than the AM and G400 but like them both it is also what is called a "perfect sensor." The only problem that this sensor has is that it has a very high LOD compared to the other mice that I have listed here. I think that it is somewhere around 5CDs which for me was terrible and I hated it. Also there was the fact that again this is an ergonomic mouse designed to be most comfortable with palm grip so I did not like it much at all. I will say that there are quite a few people who swear by this mouse more than anything because of its comfort and sensor so I would not count it out at all especially since you use palm grip. There is a small fix that you can do to make the LOD much smaller and more manageable as well so you may want to look into that if you decide to get this mouse. The fix is very easy to do and just requires a steady hand to place tape on the mouse. Here is the correct way to place the tap on the mouse. Do not cover the entire sensor as that will cause other issues with tracking speed and jitter. The DA has a weight of about 133g so it is definitely the heaviest of the bunch and also the biggest by a very slight margin. It has a different ergonomic shape than the G400 so you might want to look up some pictures and see if it looks more or less comfortable to you compared to the G400. Also, its buttons are the squishiest out of all the mice that I have listed so I really do not like how they feel, but you might. It costs $60 like the others.

Some honorable mentions for the last bit of this post! You might also want to check out the Razer Abyssus and the Coolermaster Storm Xornet/Spawn.

The Abyssus has the exact same sensor as the DA but the body of the mouse is a little different. First off it is an ambidextrous mouse and it is VERY light. If you are looking for a small, light mouse then you might want to look into this mouse. It only weighs 72g. To me it feels very cheap because of how light it is but the one I own has not had any problems and I use it on my laptop everyday. Don't get me wrong, I do not really like it, I just don't have money to buy a Sensei [RAW] for my laptop right now. There are more important things that I have on the list to buy right now. Since this is made by Razer and uses the same sensor as the DA you will need to keep in mind that it will have squishy buttons and still have the high LOD problem like the DA. The same fix can be applied to this mouse as the DA so no real worries there. Something else to keep in mind is that this mouse sometimes has a jitter issue if you get one with an older firmware version and the firmware on the mouse cannot be upgraded. If you get one with jitter you should return it or throw it out. It only costs about $20 so no worries there! :)

The Storm Xornet/Spawn is a very unique mouse in that it is the only ergonomically shaped mouse for claw/fingertip grippers out there. I have not had a chance to try it out but people who have who use claw/fingertip say that it is truly the most comfortable mouse that they have used. I know that you said you use palm but I am listing it here anyways. It also uses a perfect sensor like many of the other mice that I have listed. The LOD has been fixed on this mouse via firmware so no worries there. I am not sure of the exact weight but I know the weight of the DA to be 133g without the cable and 148g with with the cable. The Xornet is 142 with the cable so assuming that the cables are about the same the Xornet probably weighs around 127g. I would be that it would be a little less (more like 125g) since Coolermaster uses thicker cables. It costs about $30 but you can probably find it for less. People are getting mixed results with the sensor on both the Xornet and its older brother the Spawn though so I would buy this mouse with some caution unless you are a higher sens gamer. Some people are reporting very low perfect control speed and others are reporting jitter.

If you have any other questions about anything that I have said feel free to ask! As you can tell I do not mind giving a good answer to help someone out. Besides, it lets me type on my keyboard which I like to do oh so much. :)

Post Reply

Return to “Mice & other input devices”