Usage

Feelings, Nothing More Than Feelings

I've been using the Boomslang for about two weeks now, and it still feels odd in my hands. Holding the Boomslang is utterly foreign. Most people can easily switch from a Logitech First Mouse shape to a Microsoft Intellimouse, but switching to the Boomslang will take time. At first, I got destroyed in Quake 3 numerous times as I was getting used to the mouse. The learning curve is long, and painful.

I think for those who are new to computers in general, this mouse would be a nice place to start with those virgin mousing hands. For all us veterans, I think this mouse will cause a great amount of grief before we can reap the benefits. Only recently, have I noticed a marked increase in the amount of rail shots I land, and the difficulty of the shots that I now am able to take. The increased sensitivity, and control allow me to attempt shots that I would most likely never have had before. Kenn and James tried the Boomslang, but they both went back to their old mice in a matter of days. I would hazard a guess that it would take a person about a month to get completely familiar with the Boomslang.

Look at 'dem buttons

Weapon?

Button Pushing

Pressing buttons on this mouse is exceedingly easy. If you have a heavy-handed approach to using things, you will most likely trigger the buttons inadvertently. Pressing the side buttons accidentally is a little bit harder to do. The documentation mentions that the buttons are rubberized for a non-slip texture. The buttons have a nice feel to them, but I highly doubt my finger will slip off a button that has an area that is roughly 25% of the surface of the mouse. These buttons are huge; I don't even need my palm on the mouse to reach the buttons. As far as wheels go I really like this one. The wheel has nice controlled scrolling where you can feel every single tick, but this might impede users who follow the fast and furious method of scrolling.

Many players tend to pick the mouse up to reposition it on the pad during a game or even during normal daily mousing. Picking the Boomslang up results in the cursor on the screen dropping (or rising if you play non-inverted) by a significant amount, drastically decreasing your chances of survival in a deathmatch. On many of the other mice we've tested (Microsoft and Logitech), the drop associated with picking up the mouse was minimal. I have to admit that I am not entirely sure of what is going on here, as the Boomslang I used at GDC did not have this problem.

We think this might be attributed the placement of the mouse ball, general wear and tear, or the extreme sensitivity of the mouse itself. On most mice the position where the mouse is held is also in direct alignment with the ball. On the Razer Boomslang, the ball is positioned far towards the back of the mouse.