Mice & Keyboards by stefan @ 2012-07-23
The latest mouse we are reviewing is Diablo III themed and powered with a 5700CPI Avago laser sensor. The chassis is lightweight, ambidextrous and features a total of 8 buttons (one of them being the CPI toggle button). The Diablo III mouse does not have multi-colored LED lighting or LCD display underneath and is priced more competitively than the Xai or Sensei, which have a similar shape.
At first I would like to thank SteelSeries for offering the Diablo III Mouse for testing and reviewing.
"From day one, SteelSeries has been focused on making high performance gaming gear used by the most demanding, top professional gamers worldwide and peripherals that provide superior quality and a competitive edge to gamers of all skill levels. We believe, as most gamers do, in winning, not trying!
What originally began with two people who recognized the need for superior, high-quality/performance gaming gear that would give gamers a competitive edge, has grown into a global leader in gaming and entertainment gear sought after for their high performance capabilities.
Fast-forward to today, and we’ve come a long way since our first glass mousepad. We have global offices in North America, Europe, and Asia, providing an integrated portfolio of products designed specifically for gaming. Fueling our growth is you, the gamer!
While we are proud of our technology and product innovation, we are even more excited about how these products are developed to meet the needs of gamers. Many companies may claim to develop superior gaming products but few actually do. Instead, they spend countless hours with lab engineers trying to force fit a new technology with bells and whistles and mediocre functionality for the end-user.
At SteelSeries, we develop our products with a small internal team and a vast network of technology partners, channel partners, game publishers, and gaming communities around the globe. We aren’t afraid of being challenged and implementing new ideas. Our main goal is to always to listen to the collective feedback of our professional gaming community.
We won’t bore you with cheeky slogans, trying to underline our authenticity as gamers. We fully acknowledge that the best professional gamers in the world know more about what they want and what will make them better, than we do. We are proud to be working with our partners, but we can’t take credit for their invaluable input and feedback. Instead we tell it like it is: they help us. We want to know what works and what doesn’t. For this reason, SteelSeries creates innovative solutions that provide a competitive advantage for all gamers.
Critical to our company’s success is also our reinvestment in the gaming communities and the individuals who support them. As a result, our corporate philosophy is to take a substantial portion of our revenue and put it back into the gaming community to help spur industry growth. We support our community in numerous ways, ranging from co-hosting tournaments like Iron Lady and King of the Hill, and supporting gaming competitions of all sizes, to promoting the top and up-and-coming gaming teams/organizations.
Put simply, SteelSeries does not claim to invent or reinvent the gaming industry. Nor do we focus on one specific product, copy other companies or follow the crowd.
Instead we leave it to you, the gamer, our customer/partner/inspiration, to decide if we are deserving of such declarations and accolades. What we do promise, however, is to remain committed to you. We will continue to work with you and the gaming community to make the best products possible and give you that competitive edge. We will continue to do our best to support the growth of the professional gaming industry and give back to the gaming communities. By doing so, we don’t just talk a good game, we win!"
EASY SETUP
Easy Drag & Drop Diablo® III skills and functions to mouse buttons.
TECHNOLOGY
Best-in-class technology provides extreme precision and reliability.
OS X (&) WIN
Diablo® III look and feel driver for Mac OS X and Windows.
AMBIDEXTROUS
Finely engineered shape suits all grips to ensure maximum control and comfort.
DURABILITY
10 million clicks per switch, 3x that of normal gaming mice.
COUNTS PER INCH
Scalable pointer speed up to 5,000 CPI.
DEMON RED
3 illuminated zones including scroll wheel, CPI indicator and the Diablo® III logo.
LIFT DISTANCE
Automatically adjusted lift distance locked to ~1mm across surfaces.
TOOL FOR VICTORY
A new generation of heroes must prepare against the evils that threaten the world of Sanctuary. Arm yourself with a weapon, co-designed by the creators of Diablo® III, for your battle against the rising powers of the Burning Hells.
RIGHTY AND LEFTY
The Diablo® III mouse was designed with an ambidextrous shape and an optimized size, making it a versatile tool for all types of gamer grips; palm, claw, or swipe.
DRAG IT THROUGH FIRE
Well, maybe not actual fire, but this mouse has some serious gaming durability. The Omron switches found under the hood can survive the relentless punishment of the most click intensive game known to mankind, with a guaranteed lifespan of 10 million clicks – that’s 3x more than an average mouse. And there’s more… the double-braided nylon cord (2.5m long) and gold-plated USB connection can be shoved and pulled with-out worry.
DEMON RED ILLUMINATION
The rising powers of the Burning Hells are themed throughout the Diablo® III interface as well as on the mouse. Illumination is found in 3 zones – at the CPI switch, scroll wheel and Diablo® III logo – and users can choose ON/OFF and a pulsation rate (LOW, MED, HIGH) for the logo.
THE SOFTWARE
Powered by the easy-to-navigate SteelSeries Engine software, users can configure their mouse with drag & drop, pre-defined Diablo® III functions and skills and effortlessly remap all 7 mouse buttons. You can control everything from the illumination settings to your sound support.
TAILOR YOUR GAME
Remap all 7 ergonomically placed buttons with predefined skills and commands. Assign macros with easy drag-and-drop functionality to personalize the mouse for your game.
HIGH VELOCITY GAMEPLAY
In the fast paced world of Diablo® III, your mouse will need to withstand quick and small movements. Regardless of your CPI setting (whether you’ve set it at high or low), it’s the sensor and mouse technology that will keep you moving. And if the number sways you, then the Diablo III Mouse features a Avago laser sensor with up to 5700 CPI (counts per inch).
The Diablo III Mouse from Steelseries is shipped inside a medium-sized cardboard enclosure and has a really nice box art. On the front we will find a photo of the mouse in operation, along with some Diablo III graphics in the background:
The front also opens up like a book (it is held with magnetic force) and we can discover a small product description, along with the main product, covered by a transparent plastic mold:
On the back side, some of the mouse components are explained, along with some features of the software interface:
To avoid access inside the box by unauthorized people, the manufacturer has sealed the packaging on both ends:
Besides the mouse, inside we will also find some documentation, wrapped separately in a transparent plastic bag:
Along with the Quick Start Guide, SteelSeries has included a sticker and a Product Catalog:
The sticker is ready to be put on our laptop, desktop system case or any other electronic device we may enjoy:
Inside the Product Catalog, some of the other peripherals made by SteelSeries are shown; of course, for additional information and latest news we should always check out their website:
The Quick Start Guide is written in multiple languages and describes in short steps how we can install the mouse in a snap:
The mouse follows the ergonomic lines of the Sensei, Xai and is beautifully executed with rubber coating on the top and both sides; for extra value, some artwork is also present on the coating:
On the back we will find a lighted Diablo III logo, which has a nice effect when the mouse is operating:
The left side is identical to the right one and has two programmable buttons:
When looking at the mouse from the front, we can discover the themed scroll button, a CPI LED and a triangle shaped CPI button:
The cable is fully braided, for additional durability:
The connector is gold plated to ensure optimal contact and one of its sides feature the SteelSeries logo:
On the bottom side we will find 3 large glide pads that will help the mouse to move as smooth as possible on any surface:
Also here we’ll find a sticker with the mouse power rating and serial number:
To be able to use the extra mouse features, we will have to download the software, present on the SteelSeries website; in the same area we will find an updater for the firmware which we should execute first:
The firmware update tool can work with multiple peripherals from SteelSeries like the Shift Keyboard, Sensei Mouse and so on:
A warning message will appear right before the firmware flash confirmation:
During the flash procedure, we will see a progress bar on the screen, and the CPI LED on the mouse will also blink:
The next step would be to install the SteelSeries Engine application:
Depending on the connected product, the interface of the Engine will change; in our case we have been greeted by a Diablo-themed UI and here we will be able to customize the mouse functions. The UI is divided into multiple sections; on the left we have the list of detected compatible devices, the list of defined profiles and on the right there is the Actions area, along with Tips; the center zone has multiple tabs and in the Buttons area, we will be able to see the current button functions:
By clicking on any of the button functions, we will be able to assign macros, by using the options that will appear on the bottom side:
With the buttons, we can also launch a specific application; for doing this, we also have to point to the Engine to the executable file:
For console commands and quick chat, we can also use the Text Macro feature:
Some of the keys can be disabled when we select Action Type: Disable Key:
Moving further to the Settings tab, we will be able to adjust the CPI settings for the toggle button, the polling rate or customize the LED effects:
The Properties tab helps us associate the current profile to an application or game:
Finally, in the Statistics tab, we can see the total number of button presses per current session or lifetime:
The Diablo III mouse from SteelSeries is a must-have for the collectors and admirers of the game with the same name. The design works optimally for both right and left handers, shares a lot of the design elements from the Sensei (the bottom LCD screen is missing though) and is fully covered with a rubberized coating.
Two programmable buttons can be found on both sides and the mouse is also decorated with game-specific artwork, for increasing the eye-candy element. The mouse LED lighting effects can be adjusted via software, but we cannot change the color. The mouse is not heavy and can be successfully used in office applications or for browsing; and the three large Teflon feet facilitate a smooth glide on the pad.
The high resolution 5700CPI Avago sensor did not have tracking problems during testing on the two different mouse pad surfaces we put it on (aluminum and cloth).
As we have seen in the Sensei review, the Diablo III mouse uses the powerful SteelSeries Engine application, which allows us to fully customize the mouse functions like CPI, pooling rate, button functions and more.
The Diablo III mouse can be found online for about 55 Euros.
I would like to thank again to SteelSeries for making this review possible!