Tuesday, September 28, 2010

R.A.T. 7 Review

 Even though I consider myself a high end PC builder, it's very rare for me to spend the extra money on any of the peripheral items. Keyboards, mice, headphones/speakers and monitors have all taken a back seat to my large case fetishes.  Recently however I have been purchasing all of the above, probably because my 6-7 year old gear is kicking the bucket. It started with new headphones, which are good, then a new ASUS monitor that I absolutely love and then finally my topic for today, the R.A.T.7 "mouse".

 The R.A.T.7 takes on more of the appearance of a gimmick to lure in feature crazed fanatics then an actual, useful, item for every day use. But appearances can be deceiving, especially for this flashy item. With 5 programmable buttons, adjustable palm, thumb and optional pinky grips, this mouse fits even my long freak fingers/stubby thumb combo. I was sort of secretly hoping it would also help with my early stages of CTS but some how I think its actually making that worse. For it to fit the easy access weight system it has installed, MAD CATZ raised the palm rest just a tad bit to high for my hands which affects my wrist, but I'll admit that I have bad wrist posture anyway.

 Along with the varying degrees of customization, this mouse has great DPI (5600 DPI @ 6 mps). You might say "who the hell is going to need that?", and your right. That's why it has 4 customizable DPI modes that are adjustable on the fly. The R.A.T.7 also has one other secret little button that I'm sure you haven't seen before, it's a little red delight. Now, if your like me, you hate FPS snipers with a passion. I know they have their place, and I have even been accused of staring down a 50 cal.'s scope a few times, but if your one of those sniping ass-hats you will love this button. Located on the thumb rest, this red button drastically lowers the DPI while pressed to adjust for scoping. Although I'm sure this was designed with Pvt. Jackson in mind, I've found this very useful while sighting a pistol or assault rifle. BOOM, HEAD SHOT!

  Like I mentioned before, I dont buy a lot of mice, but over 18 years I have used my fair share and this one takes the cake. I must stress though that this is an enthusiasts toy and if you spend your day surfing.. well actually, if you get creative you can set it to perform any function on your browser that you can also assign a hot key to. Like setting the thumb scroll (up) to refresh and (down) to go back a page or close a tab, so never mind.

 Overall I have been very impressed with my new gadget, but be warned, before you go out to grab one be prepared to drop at least $80.00. This isn't a Microsoft mouse.

Nifty:
 -Beefy aluminum chassis
 -5600 DPI
 -Adjustable grips
 -Contains an actual laser, not a cheap L.E.D. tracker
 -Braided cord
 -5 Programmable buttons
 -"Sniper" button
 -Optional pinky rest
 -Neat weight and gear case
 -Soft "velvety" body texture

Not so nifty:
 -Tall palm grip
 -Heavy (I only use 1 weight out of 6)
 -EXPENSIVE
 -Finicky programmable user modes
 -The forward and backward buttons along with the palm rest have a cheap "plasicty" feel.

As a side note; this mouse comes in a very beautiful package and case, I can't help but feel that the price could have been $20.00 cheaper if less was spent on the extra items.







1 comment:

  1. Well, I have to admit: I don't really care about my mouse. All I need it to be, is big. This is simple because it has to fit into my hands perfectly fine. So right now I can only use Microsoft mice.
    I wonder if this one is adjustable enough, but it sounds promising. Anyway, great review.

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