Mad Catz M.M.O. TE Wired Gaming Mouse

I got this mouse in a search for something suitable for productivity, and I have been testing it for a week. I use the extra buttons on MMO mice for closing windows, switching desktops, controlling volume, opening windows in new tabs or windows, etc. For reference, I also own a Razer Naga Epic, a Logitech G600, and a Logitech VX Revolution. The first thing I noticed about this mouse is that the left-click is quite a bit stiffer than any other mouse I've used. Even compared to the right-click, the left click is very firm. I tried pressing on different parts of the button, but I only found it to get even stiffer as I moved away from the front (where the cord is), as if there was a hinge there. Behind the blue button in the middle, it was impossible to activate the click, and the whole shell flexed visibly up and down. That just looks and feels really cheap. None of my other mice do this. As I kept using the mouse, I discovered that since the blue middle button is so large, I kept on hitting it by accident when I meant to use the left-click. Sometimes, even when I wasn't touching the blue button at all and I made a left-click, the left blue button got triggered anyway. I think that better solutions would have been smaller middle buttons with tactile bumps, or a tilt-click wheel. I also noticed that the mouse has a relatively flat top surface, compared to other mice I have used. This bothered me a lot, especially since the rear rose quite high and did not fit the natural curve of my hand. The length adjustment did not help. Extending the mouse unbalanced it when I rested my hand on it, raising the sensor off of my desk. This is because the rear foot does not extend together with the top shell for stability. The Naga's general shape was good, although reaching the fourth and fifth mouse buttons was a pain. I think the G600 had the best ergonomics overall, following the curve of my hand. The G600 also used different heights for the top center buttons so I could easily identify them without looking, and activate them without unnaturally curling my fingers. The MMO TE's thumb buttons were much nicer to the touch than the main buttons on top, but unfortunately, the thumb buttons cannot be programmed on a Mac. So, I will just describe their feel. They do wobble a bit in their sockets, but I can't really call them mushy. They grind more than they mush. In this regard, the "mushiness" of the G600 buttons feels better to me, since it feels smoother, and the rubber under the G600 buttons felt more premium than the bare plastic I tended to feel in the MMO TE. The news isn't all doom and gloom, though. I like the TE's different button shapes and the asymmetric arrangement, which allowed me to identify at least the thumb buttons by touch more easily than even the G600. The Naga is clearly worse here, since the buttons have very similar profiles, unlike the angled contours of the G600 and the TE. Although the Naga Epic's buttons are the tightest (least-wobbly) of the three mice, they don't depress as much or produce as satisfying a click. On the wired Naga, this is presumably fixed with the mechanical thumbswitches, which I have not yet had the privilege of trying out. My recommendations: Overall, I would never recommend the MMO TE to anyone. The primary function of left-clicking is nearly unusable, and the shape of the mouse will probably increase my chances of RSI. I think the G600 is the best MMO mouse I've tried so far. It is very easy to identify all the buttons by touch and to reach them, something which I haven't seen done as well by any other mouse. I like and use the ring finger shift button a lot. Some have complained about the rubber feel under the thumb buttons, but I actually like this, and it goes well with the high-quality rubberized plastic body. RGB lighting and the tilt click on top of all the other solid functionality earn the G600 my gold medal. If rubberiness is not for you, and you want the option to widen or thin the mouse, go with the latest Razer Naga (not the Epic). This mouse has mechanical thumb switches and includes magnetic inserts to widen and thin the mouse for palm and claw grip styles, as well as a happy medium between the two. Like the G600, it also has RGB lighting and tilt-clicking on its scroll wheel. Razer also has a cool feature letting you use the scroll wheel to continuously adjust the DPI setting, with a nifty onscreen meter to show you just how high the DPI has been set. This mouse only gets a silver from me because of some hard-to-reach buttons, its tendency to attract "shine" on its smooth plastic surfaces, and the configuration software's poor stability and design. Still, the Naga itself is a solid and quite useful piece of hardware. In comparison, the MMO TE is clearly inferior. I don't think it is even worthy of a bronze. It's the only mouse that I can't even consider using. Its false clicks and disturbing flexing make me not trust this mouse to do basic functions. The poor ergonomics take the cake. There are some things it got right, but those are all in the gravy. I give this mouse one star, since there are serious flaws in simple left-clicking functionality. Please MadCatz, this is basic. Fix the flexing and clicking issues, and I'll give another two stars. Curve the top more, and I'll give another star. But if you want five stars, there are too many niggling issues. It's just easier to redo the whole design, software, hardware, and geometry. Cons: - Extremely mushy and stiff left-click is hard to activate - Flexes too much - Blue middle buttons get in the way of left and right click, and sometimes activate even when I press entirely on the left or right click - Mode button is not reassignable to other functions - Mode indicator is hard to see, pointed in wrong direction - No Mac drivers; modes and thumb buttons are useless - Windows config is stored on the computer instead of the mouse; cannot configure on Windows for Mac - Very lightweight - Un-ergonomic flat top surface with high back - No RGB lighting - Room for exactly 3 modes, which cannot be disabled, reduced or extended Pros: + Thumb buttons are easier to distinguish by feel than Razer Naga or Logitech G600 + Four built-in DPI modes with LED bar graph indicator + 3 modes, with Red/Magenta/Blue LED indicator + 18 reprogrammable buttons + scroll up/down (reprogrammable) + mode button (3 modes) + left-click