Razer Mamba Rechargable Wireless Mouse

*recently rewritten to be more organized, comprehensive, and professional* Hi everybody, here is my full, detailed review of the Razer Mamba. I've done my best to be fair and accurate, and give as much detail as possible for any readers. -MY EXPERIENCE- Here's how my Razer Mamba 2012 experience went... I had a previous generation Mamba for a year and a half before the right click died. I purchased from Best Buy, so they (naturally) couldn't find my receipt in their database, and I had lost the paper receipt long ago, so I couldn't get it covered under warranty. I like wireless mice, and the ergonomics on the Mamba ARE pretty good, so I figured "well, maybe the newer model got improved build quality since it's the second version." So I ordered mine from Amazon (no more lost receipts for me!) ;) Mamba 2012, #1 - set it up, installed Synapse, seemed to work ok. Two days later, left mouse button began squeaking when slightly depressed, so if I rested my finger on it (or pressed it in slightly ready to click), a nice grating squeak occurred. Only real mice should squeak. Not a $100+ electronic. I processed the return, and opted to get a replacement. Mamba 2012, #2 - replacement came in. Set up again. Immediately I noticed the right click had a different "feel" then the left click (felt softer), and one of the DPI switching buttons made a much louder click then the other, and was harder to depress. Logged into Amazon, processed a return, then figured I would give this mouse ONE more shot. Again: ergonomics are pretty good, and I like wireless mice, so I genuinely WANTED this to work out. Mamba 2012, #3 - the third Razer Mamba arrived. Unpacked, opened, set up, charged. The clicks felt fine, the DPI buttons felt fine. No squeaking...did I finally find the one!?!?! ...(suspense)... Nope, sensor would suddenly stop moving for a quarter of a second if playing wirelessly at the 1000hz setting (which is what you would WANT to play it at, its one of the main selling points of this mouse). So I packed it up, processed a return, and this time, simply requested a refund. I'm done trying. I've since tried several other mice, and found none of the to have the build quality problems I've experienced with the Mamba. Well, except one: the Razer Deathadder 2013, which had a scroll wheel that sounded like something was grinding unnaturally when scrolling up, and which I could offset by lightly pushing to the right, and which frankly has the most BS configuration software I've ever seen for a piece of computer hardware. But I'll save those sordid details for my review of that product. Sorry to digress. -GENERAL REVIEW OF THE MOUSE, AND THOUGHTS- Aside from the deal breaking build quality issues, here's an overlook of some key points regarding the mouse itself: The mouse is pretty comfortable. The glossy side coating I'm kind of split on, since the spot where your ring finger will likely rest is glossy, and it felt a little weird. There are also rubber grips on the side. They are comfortable, but be forewarned: on my previous Mamba, the glue holding the rubber pads on began to come loose and smear residue a bit, in addition to making the pads start to come loose. Regardless, however, the mouse shape is really good. The thumb buttons also have a good feel and placement to them, as they are quite large, and have an clear "click" to them when pressed. The DPI switching is definitely functional, and I felt the placement of the switches to be fine. Certainly no better or worse than placing them behind the mouse wheel, as most other mice do. There are three important pieces I want to point out, however, regarding the Mamba. - First, the unit uses a battery (obviously, as its wireless). The location of the battery is at the back base of the mouse, right under where your lower palm rests. The result is that the weighting feels slightly strange when moving. It's heavier at the back then at the front. Other wireless options (Logitech G700 for example) use a smaller battery, and seem to distribute the weight better). - Second: do not attempt to adjust your setting while in a game. I've tried this (right before a match began), and it ruined me. It takes a minimum of 5-10 seconds for the configuration tool to even read the mouse, and any changes made then take 5-10 seconds to apply. Then clicking the "OK" button to close it takes another 5-10 seconds. And this entire time, there always exists the chance the software might hang a bit, during which your mouse will completely stop working. It happened twice that I had to unplug the base station and reconnect it directly to the mouse itself to get a functioning cursor again. So if you need to make any last minute adjustments, just...don't. Wait until after. - Last: something about the sensor and tracking felt...off. It's very small, but I found when directly compared to other mice I was trying, I kept feeling like I had a smidgen less control when using the Mamba, particularly when trying to make fine movements. Making a figure 8 on the screen seemed harder than on others. This might be attributed to any number of things: extremely tiny amounts of wireless latency, or maybe it was the sensor itself (Philips Twin Eye doesn't seem to be very popular, google it), or maybe it was the weighting of the mouse itself that threw my off. But ultimately, things just felt a tiny bit more loose when using the mouse, and I noticed I would overshoot my target when quickly moving more often using the Mamba, than I would with other mice. -CLOSING THOUGHTS AND SUMMARY- I want to be very clear here: I REALLY wanted this product to work out. I love the idea of a high quality, wireless, ergonomic mouse that provides extremely accurate tracking and movement. Unfortunately, that wasn't the case here. At the end of the day, I simply don't have any more patience for Razer's build quality. Especially considering the cost of the mouse, wireless or otherwise, there is a clear expectation of quality that clearly isn't there. Sure it looks fancy, and the marketing certainly poses this mouse as "the ULTIMATE EXPERIENCE", but in reality I believe the underlying components are likely mediocre (or just horribly put manufactured). Either way, that's not what I expect from a mouse this expensive. Heck, we shouldn't expect that of ANY mouse that costs more than $20-$30. Furthermore, I've since tried out other mice from companies like Steelseries, Logitech, and Mionix (Mionix Naos rocks, fyi). After experiencing what other vendors had to offer, I realized that there definitely exists other "gaming grade" quality mice outside of Razer that have even BETTER ergonomics, fewer build quality issues, and an even better feeling sensor & tracking experience. -CONCLUSION- I want to share one final "experience", as I think it helps sum up my thoughts regarding Razer currently. With the Mamba, I ordered (from Razer's online store) the Invicta gaming mousepads. It's their most expensive model that was just released, and the one they tout as being the highest quality. I figured if I'm going to use an expensive "elite" Razer mouse, I might as well pair it with an expensive "elite" Razer mousepad. Makes sense. Go all in I say. YOLO. ...ignore that YOLO part... I received the mousepad a week later. The aluminum-base mousepad comes in a hard box, and inside of that, is encased in a black hard plastic hinged case adorning the Razer logo with cushioning for the mousepad. And guess what...the case was cracked. The shipping box showed no signs of wear or damage, and was packed tightly. Plus, like I said, there's an outer hard box that holds this case. This must have happened before shipment, but they sent it to me anyway. And the plastic surface of the mousepad began to bend ever so slightly upwards at the corners, after one day of use. The best part, though, is the message printed on translucent paper that is placed inside the case, that reads: "MADE FOR PRECISION, DESIGNED WITH CARE", and after that "The Razer Invicta represents the new high standard of design and engineering for our entire line-up of surfaces..." Wow. Talk about irony. ... So yea that just about sums it up...I'm horrible at endings...um... Razer is(currently) all marketing and hype. Mamba 2012 isn't worth it. Better mice exist. THERE! Hope this review helped! =) Leave any questions in the comments and I'll try and answer them! Thanks!