Questions about the DeathAdder

So I was at BestBuy today to look at the DeathAdder and G700, unfortunately last time none of the gaming mice were on display. They still weren't so I asked if they could open a box up so I can get a feel for them. They didn't have the G700 in stock today but they did have the DeathAdder. So I couldn't make a decision between the two since I could only test the DA. Wow, that mouse felt perfect in my hand, like it was designed for me. Even the thumb buttons felt perfect and easy to press. The cable seemed to be so out of the way that it would feel like it is essentially wireless.

I have a couple questions about the DA though. How easy is it to have multiple profile setups and switch between them? Can they be set to automatically change based on what you are using? How easy is it to adjust the DPI? The button profile shifting is important to me because I have a lot of different setups I'd want based on what I'm doing (ie: Autodesk: Esc & Del, Web/Folders: Back & Del, StarCraft: Tab & A, FPS's: ?)

All of this in comparison to the G700 of which I can see the use for having the 8 more buttons than the DA.

Thanks for the help!
Also, if I go DA, should I go DeathAdder or DeathAdder Black Edition?

 

The DPI / Sensitivity / custom buttons and all can be customized in the Deathadder driver program into 1-5 profiles. You can change between the profiles using the driver program or by using the button at the bottom of the mouse and looking at how many times the mouse flashes (each flash will indicate which profile youre in: 1 flash = profile 1... 4 flashs = profile 4 etc.)

 

Glad you like the feel; that's how I felt when I first held mine

Profile switching is easy as hell. You can make multiple profiles in the driver software, and there's a button on the bottom of the mouse itself that switches between profiles. Not sure about automatic profile switching; I don't have the software for the DA installed right now (using my Mamba).

DPI switching is the least convenient aspect; it doesn't have dedicated DPI buttons. You can program any of the regular buttons to switch DPI, but you only have 5 of them.

I've never used the Black Edition personally. I liked the regular version I have, but I've heard the different grip material on the Black Edition is very nice.

 

Yea, I'm just stuck on what to do until I can test the G700. I'm very bad with keyboard gaming, so more mouse buttons will be much easier for me. Plus the fact it is wireless. I don't want to deal with the fast battery eating issue. I'm leaning 70/30 toward the DA. I'm not big on DPI so no on fly switching doesn't bother me. Being able to switch profiles though without touching the software is nice. Are the profiles stored in the mouse? Also, 5 profiles seems perfect, plus if I need more, I can just adjust the controls in the game itself to match the profile.

The only reason I'm thinking the Black Edition is because I don't care for how the scroll wheel glows. I wish it looked like the other Razers where only the edges glowed. Speaking of the scroll wheel, does it allow side scrolling (tilting the scroll wheel left and right)?

 

Yep, the DeathAdder has onboard memory, and the profiles will work on any computer as long as you set them up once with the software.

No side scrolling.

 

I never understood why people want DPI switching so much. I guess if you play different game types then maybe there's a point, but I hear people say all the time "on TF2 I have x profile for scout, y profile for pyro and z profile for sniper". By constantly swapping your sensitivities round you're never going to be as intuitive as you might be.

 

You don't snipe the same way you smash people with a bat, or spray them with a flamethrower. Sniping requires fine adjustments. Adjustable DPI can be advantageous, especially the mice with a button that instantly switches to a preset DPI.

 

That's what everyone says and while I agree that if you mainly play scout then it's better to have a higher sensitivity than if you mainly play sniper, the truth is that if you constantly switch around you'll never get your twitch aim to what it could be if you just stuck with one.

Sticking with a sensitivity (well I should probably say "inches per 360") also means you can get a new game, set it up and the mouse movement will be the same.

There are certain limited situations where I can see in game DPI switching as being beneficial (for example using a tank, as most games reduce the sensitivity to make it feel slower), but for the vast amount of the time it's only going to hamper you in the long run. Just chose a sensitivity that suits your main play style and stick with it.

 

I'm with monk on this one; consistency of sensitivity is a good thing. In TF2, for example, I use 1,800 DPI and 1.0 in-game sensitivity, which gives me about 10 inches per 360. It's a good feel for all the classes; I can turn on a dime as Scout, pull off quick rocket jumps as Soldier, yet focus my bullet stream on a moving target as Heavy. My BFBC2 and CoD sensitivities are around the same as well. I do prefer lower sens in CS:S, though; 800 DPI and 1.0 sensitivity, about a 20-inch 360.

 

*high fives*

I use that exact sensitivity in TF2! I used to have a 400DPI mouse before I got my MX518 and I had that set to 3 for sensitiviy. As I mainly played sniper the low sensitivity was nice. Then I started playing other classes and realised that being able to turn round would be nice so after a while of using the MX518 at 3 and 400 DPI, I switched up to 1 and 1800 DPI. Now I can turn a little better but I still have the control I need to play sniper, also the feet stick a little on my bedsheets so high sensitivity would never work well anyway.

I might start playing with high sens just for surf maps though.

As for CS, given that most shooting happens down corridoors, low settings are a good choice. I was surprised to hear that quite a lot of quake ppros use low sens though since it's sucha a fast game.

 

I thought about the same thing because the one I bought (or am borrowing for 30 days from the store) the scroll wheel has side to side "play".

 

I also had a question actually about these gaming mice in general:

I've used regular generic mice all my life with 3-4 buttons max and no options or drivers to install, pretty much just plug and play.

Say I get the DA.......do I really have to go into the options each time and swtich DPI or can I leave it at the same number and just play games and use it to browse etc. on same setting?

Also how does the whole DPI thing work with in-game sensitivity settings (like the mouse sensitivity I have in CS is 2.0 just cause that's what I'm used to and no other particular reason)

 

You can use the same DPI for browsing and gaming, although depending on your Windows sensitivity settings it may be a little fast. As for in-game sens, you might have to adjust that depending on what DPI you use. For example, if you use 2.0 sensitivity at 400 DPI now, if you keep the DeathAdder at 800, then you'll probably want to adjust your in-game sensitivity down to 1.0.

I personally think 800 is a good DPI for most things unless you play with really high sensitivity. You'll still have one-to-one pixel tracking, and it won't be too fast for browsing and stuff like that.

 

Ok, I was at a different BB today on my way back from a GC. They had the G700 so I took it upon myself to open it and try it out. I didn't get the wow factor that I got when holding the DA. Also the buttons took effort to press. So I went with the DA. I spent more money by buying at BB instead of Amazon but since I'm leaving for college in a week, I'd rather not wait on shipping. I also bought the razer mouse pad they had for $20, not sure which one it was at the moment (in a chinese place waiting on a take out order).

 

Good choice I had the G700 for about a month but had to get rid of it for an older razor mouse. The G700 just didn't give the same vibe as the razor mouse did.

 

The mouse pad I bought was the Razer Kabuto for $20. It's all they had, so I impulsed bought it. Probably the only thing I've ever impulsed bought too in years. Usually I spend 2+ months researching and hassling over what to buy.

If anyone has any recomendations to something else, I'm all ears. There is a 30 day return policy, and I'm known to return things... alot

 

The Kabuto is good for portability, but probably not their best pad overall. If you want a good soft mat, their Goliathus series pads are great. They come in two surface textures (smoother Speed version and more heavily textured Control version), and three sizes (Omega/small, normal, and Alpha/extra large). I personally have the Alpha Speed edition, and I couldn't be happier.

 

im using the goliathus control atm with a deathadder. i think its a great pad but it could be bigger. previous pads ive used: steelseries 5L and razer exactmat

i would still be using my 5L if i didnt accidentally spill wine all over it lol, that was my favorite pad of all times, awesome surface and very big.

 

Well, I still haven't gamed with the DA, only used it in Windows Explorer and IE. I keep all profiles polling to 1000Hz and DPI to 3500, I have my sensitivity set to 5 and the advanced settings are 10/10 for the Axis's, 1.5 acceleration, and 5.5 Windows Pointer.

The mouse is just perfect, on my Kabuto mat which I'm liking the compact size, I easily can hit anywhere on the desktop by moving my mouse within about a 1 inch radius from the center, which is great, no more pickup and re-centering. For games, I'll use the ingame sensitivity to decrease it if need be. I just love the precision I have.

 

No. You don't want acceleration if you're gaming, I'm making that decision for you.

 

You don't want acceleration for anything!!

I have been running my original DA since 2008, been using it for almost everyday since. Oh and, I bought it used.

 

LOL, ok, 1.5 acceleration was the default. I'll turn it off next time I use my mouse (back on touchpad right now).

 

The problem with acceleration is that it varies the amount of cursor motion in a given distance based on how fast you're moving your arm, making it impossible to accurately predict your movements, and thus impossible to aim accurately. With acceleration on, moving your mouse one inch at a slow steady speed will move your cursor slowly. If you flick your mouse quickly for the same one-inch distance, your cursor will fly much farther.

For gaming, you want consistency. This means disabling acceleration, so moving the mouse one inch will move your cursor the same distance whether you crawl it along your mouse pad, or whip it at 20 feet per second.

 

it was fun when acceleration was first introduced. cpl has to make their own fix to the problem