A Mouse or a Snake?

On the last day of CES 2009, I got to sit down with Razor founder Robert Krakoff to talk about the new Razor Mamba.

The Mamba is Razor's first wireless mouse and the only wireless mouse created for hardcore gamers.  As many of you know, gaming with wireless mice has never been a good idea. Due to the latency of the sensor, battery life, weight, and signal conflict, using wireless mice to play the most common PC games such as first-person shooters has always been a problem. However, after 8 years of research and development, Razor appears to have solved the latency issues in wireless mice.

The all new 4th generation laser provides near instantaneous response at under 1ms of latency. The new sensor is the finest ever created with a maximum sensitivity of 5600dpi.  It is fully customizable and you can raise and lower the sensitivity on the fly with the dpi buttons on the mouse.

Razor has addressed the battery life issue in three ways with the new Mamba. The battery lasts 14 hours of playtime on a full charge.  You won't have to worry about your mouse dropping dead halfway through a game,  when there is 5 minutes of playtime left on the battery, a blue light on the mouse flashes.  There are two choices you have when the light flashes - you can drop in a new fresh battery (sold separately) or simply plug in the USB cable to turn the wireless mouse into a wired mouse. While you are playing the battery will also be charging.

To get around the problems with signal conflict, the Mamba constantly searches it's 21 channels of 2.4GHz for the cleanest signal possible.  Not only that, but the mouse itself hase a mac address, meaning that it is unique. Even if you are playing wirelessly in a room full of gamers with Mambas, there will be no signal confusion.

They got rid of predictive movement, so your mouse won't jump around the screen. Your movements are your mouse's movements.  The sweetspot for clicks is over 3", no straining and no missed clicks because you just didn't stretch your finger far enough. The rubberized grip on the top and sides will help you keep your grip during those long gaming sessions.  

Through the included software, you can specify up to 5 different mousing profiles. Customize each profile with macros for each button, custom names, and point the profile to any application on your computer. When you start up the application, the mouse will automatically switch to the corresponding profile. The macros can be as large as 500 strokes.

Last but not least, the Mamba isn't just a wireless mouse. If you want to get rid of all the latency, you can also plug the mouse in and run it as a wired mouse. The 1000Hz USB will keep you going all night long.

Whether you are playing on PC or Mac, you can pick up this great new device around April 2009 for $129. Firmware upgrades are free of charge and will keep your mouse up to date with the latest fixes and improvements.