What do the Pros Think?

Not quite satisfied with the opinions of mere web-monkeys? We thought so! We were also curious as to what other people think about the Razer mouse, but I didn't want the opinion of the average schmoe. We wanted to hear from the real players.

Karna had hands-on Razer Boomslang demonstrations at several recent Quake3 tournaments, and we decided to ask a few prominent members of the Quake community about their opinion of the Razer Boomslang mouse.

K9-Moonsh1ne

We were first able to track down Ken "K9-Moonsh1ne" Yanovsky, who recently took 4th place in the Frag3 Quake3 tournament. Ken and James go back to the NetQuake days (actually, that was only about 8 or 9 months ago for them). Questions are in bold, answers in italics.

Did you get a chance to test the mouse?
I tried it a bit at Ground Zero, but I haven't used it enough to give a qualified opinion.

How about just a first impression?
My first impression: I don't like the shape; it might take a while for people to get used to it. The movement felt smooth, but again, I haven't played enough with it to give a qualified opinion.

What kind of mouse do you normally use?
I used a Microsoft mouse for 2 years, but I switched to the Logitech Wingman when I joined K9.

Like us, Moon liked the Razer's smoothness, but he wasn't very big on the shape.

stx-Wombat and R3V-Rix

The next Quake player we managed to find was stx-wombat, winner of the Ground Zero tournament and 2nd place finisher at the Frag3. Unfortunately, like Moonsh1ne, Wombat only had limited experience with the Razer Mouse. We had a little more luck with my next interview with Rix of clan R3V.

Rix has been testing a beta version of the Razer mouse for the past couple of weeks. Being a CPL champion has its perks. He's had time to test mouse thoroughly, and we were eager to hear what he had to say about the Razer. As usual, questions are in bold and answers are in italics.

What's your opinion on the mouse?
I like it. It feels a lot more solid than a Logitech mouse, but I haven't used it enough to really know if the shape will work for me. It tracks beautifully.

Have you had any problems with accidentally pressing the sensitive buttons?
That really hasn't been a problem for me. It was for the first hour, but after that, it hasn't been a problem. I like the large buttons. You can press one down from any point on the entire button surface.

How do you like the rear ball placement?
I think it gives a better representation of where your hand is going - but it feels a bit odd just because I'm used to the Logitech/Microsoft ball placement.

Do you think you're going to switch to the razer?
Not sure yet… I'm going to give it a chance though. I like the way it tracks. I think they've got a pretty decent product, but I'd like it better if it were shaped differently.