THERE is no doubt that Razer produces some of the best gaming mouses on earth.
Even Microsoft, with its long history of mouse design, has teamed up with Razer to produce the Habu gaming mouse.
Razer's current flagship rodent is the DeathAdder (named after yet another poisonous snake, like all Razer mouses).
It does away with the flattish design that began with the first Razer Viper and continued with the latest Copperhead.
The DeathAdder has a new design that fans out slightly at the button edges, and is actually more comfortable than other Razers for a wider range of hand sizes.
I always found previous Razers too large for my smallish hands, but the DeathAdder fits so well, I didn't even mind that this was not a wireless mouse.
It helps that the USB cable does not get gnarly or twisted with use.
All the buttons are in the right places (and have wonderful tactile feedback) and the DeathAdder uses a third-generation infrared optical sensor, rather than a laser or optical sensor.
The new 1800 dpi sensor is touted to help gamers who need low sensitivity and jerk their arms across a large distance during sessions. That means the DeathAdder is suited for faster mouse acceleration and can track more accurately over large sweeps.
But I found that it works with my minimal wrist movements too.
Frankly, there's no point talking about how many thousand dots per inch a mouse sensor can cover the proof is really in the performance.
And the DeathAdder delivers heaps even if you just use it in a Windows desktop environment.
I used it in Adobe Photoshop and games like Command and Conquer 3 and Doom 3 and you get what you pay for.
It's ultra-smooth, it's ultra-responsive and you can customise every possible thing from mouse polling rate to even switching off the glowing Razer logo on the rodent's back.
What is stopping it from being perfect is the annoying button at the base of the mouse that allows you to swap between different mouse profiles (which you can pre-programme using the Razer software).
That button is inconvenient to press (you have to lift the mouse up) and you have to keep counting how many times the scroll wheel flashes to ascertain which personality your DeathAdder has taken on.
Still, the DeathAdder is worth every cent of its $89 street price.
I won't say it's the best mouse on earth (electronic rodents is a very subjective topic), but if you are looking for a mouse that literally becomes an extension of your nervous system, the DeathAdder is it.
Rating: **** ½