My previous mouse was Logitech MX510. It was excellent, precise, relatively fast, well built but relatively expensive and too large for my hand. It was marketed mostly at gamers and Logitech G9 continues that tradition. This time it has a laser, configurable on-the-fly resolution (up to 3200 dpi), 2 different grips, advanced drivers with profiles and freely spinning (can be disabled) scroll wheel which can be tilted.
Ergonomics
I got this mouse because my previous one was just too large for my hand and it was somewhat difficult to have full/precise control of the mouse because I had to use wrist to move the mouse instead of fingers. All of the MX5xx series was just too large for many people and reviewers complained about it too. I guess it would be too expensive for Logitech to release 2 versions, one small, one large frame. So they devised somewhat intelligent solution and now we have two plastic grips. One is smaller, edgier and coarser, the other is larger, bulkier and smoother.
One could think that ergonomics is now perfect or close to perfect but I just cannot agree here. As you can see on the pictures there are no buttons before and after mouse wheel. I do consider this a flaw because those buttons on MX510 were almost perfect. There is another thing, there is a ridge to the right of the right mouse button which gets in the way when you press the button. The problem was that the rear side of the mouse is designed at the different angle from the front side of the mouse. So when you align your fingers with the buttons, your thumb muscles are not confortable with the rear side of the mouse. And vice versa. It is very annoying so I cut out that ridge with dremel tool and now the situation is much better.
Side buttons are ok, they are easy to press. + and - buttons are a bit more awkward to press but you get used to it. There are two more things I don't like. The wheel button is very stiff and hard to press. It is so stiff that you frequently press those tilting buttons. I just hope it will get a bit more softer with time.
Plastic itself in my opinion is not that good as in MX510. Grips are ok, but the mouse body feels cheap. And this is not that good because this is one of the most expensive mouses you can buy.
Installation
Nothing to be said here isn't it? Every hardware is easy to install:
Wrong! I have never, ever seen such a problem with device installation. Windows just didn't want to install mouse. Driver installation went ok, but there was no mouse to be found. I tried the mouse on another computer thinking that it was probably dead on arrival, but to my dismay, it worked on another computer. Then I searched online for help and found out that there is some incompatibility between different Logitech software (I had software from MX510 installed already). Well, no problem, I'll just uninstall the just mentioned software and install new drivers/software. But I still had problems. I somehow found out that I had to delete some file in \windows\system32\drivers folder but I didn't have that file anyway. There went the only one "solution" I found. I mean, what kind of crappy software developers there must exist when they have incompatibility between their own fucking software? One should be hard-pressed to find this thing even when microsoft is concerned. After hours of hard work I still wasn't not even an inch closer to the solution. So I reformatted my windows partition and installed windows and mouse drivers+software. Well it worked. But I repeat, I had to reformat/reinstall my windows partition just for a mouse (!) driver. What a bunch of cocksuckers.
Performance
The mouse really is very fast (probably too fast for average users), very precise and very configurable. If the mouse feels a bit too light, you can always add more weights. Drivers really do make this mouse excellent. Even though I had problems installing them, after that application part was great. Profiles let you enter different settings (resolution, polling rate, keybinds etc) that can be changed dynamically when you run/switch applications. And that, contrary to my overpriced Razer Tarantula keyboard, actually works flawlessly (Razer's don't work at all).
One may think (just like me at first) that fast resolution switching is just a marketing gimmick but I found it to be really useful. In FPSers you can have all 3200dpi, but change your weapon to a sniper and you want much slower cursor/aiming. Then with just a press of a button you can have lets say 600dpi and you will target others with much more precision. Switch back to your normal weapon and with a press of a button you can have full 3200dpi and that means very fast cursor. Same thing is in Photoshop for example. You want to draw something very precise, just slow down your mouse, draw it, and accelerate your cursor again. All in 2 (or more if you wish) button presses.
All in all, I'm very content with this mouse after I have dealt with the shortcomings. It is expensive but I do think it is a step in right direction.
Ergonomics
I got this mouse because my previous one was just too large for my hand and it was somewhat difficult to have full/precise control of the mouse because I had to use wrist to move the mouse instead of fingers. All of the MX5xx series was just too large for many people and reviewers complained about it too. I guess it would be too expensive for Logitech to release 2 versions, one small, one large frame. So they devised somewhat intelligent solution and now we have two plastic grips. One is smaller, edgier and coarser, the other is larger, bulkier and smoother.
One could think that ergonomics is now perfect or close to perfect but I just cannot agree here. As you can see on the pictures there are no buttons before and after mouse wheel. I do consider this a flaw because those buttons on MX510 were almost perfect. There is another thing, there is a ridge to the right of the right mouse button which gets in the way when you press the button. The problem was that the rear side of the mouse is designed at the different angle from the front side of the mouse. So when you align your fingers with the buttons, your thumb muscles are not confortable with the rear side of the mouse. And vice versa. It is very annoying so I cut out that ridge with dremel tool and now the situation is much better.
Side buttons are ok, they are easy to press. + and - buttons are a bit more awkward to press but you get used to it. There are two more things I don't like. The wheel button is very stiff and hard to press. It is so stiff that you frequently press those tilting buttons. I just hope it will get a bit more softer with time.
Plastic itself in my opinion is not that good as in MX510. Grips are ok, but the mouse body feels cheap. And this is not that good because this is one of the most expensive mouses you can buy.
Installation
Nothing to be said here isn't it? Every hardware is easy to install:
Wrong! I have never, ever seen such a problem with device installation. Windows just didn't want to install mouse. Driver installation went ok, but there was no mouse to be found. I tried the mouse on another computer thinking that it was probably dead on arrival, but to my dismay, it worked on another computer. Then I searched online for help and found out that there is some incompatibility between different Logitech software (I had software from MX510 installed already). Well, no problem, I'll just uninstall the just mentioned software and install new drivers/software. But I still had problems. I somehow found out that I had to delete some file in \windows\system32\drivers folder but I didn't have that file anyway. There went the only one "solution" I found. I mean, what kind of crappy software developers there must exist when they have incompatibility between their own fucking software? One should be hard-pressed to find this thing even when microsoft is concerned. After hours of hard work I still wasn't not even an inch closer to the solution. So I reformatted my windows partition and installed windows and mouse drivers+software. Well it worked. But I repeat, I had to reformat/reinstall my windows partition just for a mouse (!) driver. What a bunch of cocksuckers.Performance
The mouse really is very fast (probably too fast for average users), very precise and very configurable. If the mouse feels a bit too light, you can always add more weights. Drivers really do make this mouse excellent. Even though I had problems installing them, after that application part was great. Profiles let you enter different settings (resolution, polling rate, keybinds etc) that can be changed dynamically when you run/switch applications. And that, contrary to my overpriced Razer Tarantula keyboard, actually works flawlessly (Razer's don't work at all).
One may think (just like me at first) that fast resolution switching is just a marketing gimmick but I found it to be really useful. In FPSers you can have all 3200dpi, but change your weapon to a sniper and you want much slower cursor/aiming. Then with just a press of a button you can have lets say 600dpi and you will target others with much more precision. Switch back to your normal weapon and with a press of a button you can have full 3200dpi and that means very fast cursor. Same thing is in Photoshop for example. You want to draw something very precise, just slow down your mouse, draw it, and accelerate your cursor again. All in 2 (or more if you wish) button presses.
All in all, I'm very content with this mouse after I have dealt with the shortcomings. It is expensive but I do think it is a step in right direction.
2 comments:
I thought that I would add my two cents...
I recently purchased this mouse and I can not even begin to tell you how much better the ergonomics of this mouse are. I have fairly small hands with "piano fingers" and this mouse fits my hand perfectly. I owned the mx518 and g5. I loved both, but i always felt that they were a bit too big.
I would also like to note that this mouse is absolutely for fps gamers. The bigger grip is great for casual web surfing or other types of games, but the smaller, textured grip is perfect for fps games. This mouse is best utilized under the "claw" grip. Having your palms resting on the mouse with the smaller grip just does not cut it. This might be the reason why you did not personally like the grip too much. Most fps gamers (especially the pros) utilize the claw grip and never have a finger protruding off of the tip of the mouse. If you want a "flat" or "palm" grip mouse, then stick with the mx518 or G5 series mice. If you, like me, use a "claw" grip, this mouse is perfect.
Actually, I didn't know that there was a name for mouse holding position called "claw" but in the way you describe it, I use all my mouses that way. That means I have palm resting on the mousepad and moving the mouse just using my fingers. But in that position (any every else) the right mouse button is not comfortable without removing that bit of plastic as I did. On the image I exaggerated the my hand's grip to show the problem, but when using it normally my middle finger is around the corner of the button or a bit to the right edge. Maybe some other people have differently shaped hands (which I somewhat doubt) but that plastic part does interfere with the right button presses. Luckily, it is removed easily with proper tools.
Some other criticism is that the side ("back/forward") buttons have a bit too long travel and are just slightly too hard to press. That means when you need to press "back" button in a game you will usually move the mouse just a little unintentionally.
But anyway, that were two of the minor complaints about the mouse, I too like it very much and it is easily the best mouse I ever had or laid my fingers on it.
PS I don't know why I didn't got the message by mail about the comment, so sorry for the longest time between reply in the history of the internet.
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