PC Gamer - October 2011

GET THE PC YOUR GAMES DESERVE
Mighty mice
Four new tools for fragging your foes! by Jonathan Cooper
G400
Logitech

While the G400 offers what PC gamers have come to expect, it falls hort of delivering what hardcore gamers require (despite being called a gamer’s mouse by Logitech). For instance, the two programmable side buttons are technically adequate, but in this case four would’ve been better considering that the DPI buttons (located above and below the mouse wheel) are awkwardly positioned. They’re functional for changing the DPI levels between play sessions (it supports from 400 to 3600), but taking my hand off the mouse to change sensitivity in a Team Fortress 2 match was enough delay for me to eat a fatal rocket.

Despite having the look of a cutting-edge gaming mouse, it doesn’t have the feel of one. I kept reaching for buttons that weren’t there, and it’s just not as comfy as the competition. It’s durable, but with extended use it seems more like the utilitarian mice that came with Gateway PCs in the ’90s— rubber cord and all—than one built for shooting folks in the face. It’s OK for casual gaming, but for someone looking for an ultra-com-petitive gaming mouse—one that won’t get you accidentally killed in Counter-Strike—save up the extra $15 and go for the Thermaltake Black Element (reviewed to your right). ■

70

$50 ◆ www.logitech.com ◆ Category: Mid

XAI Pro
Steel Series

The XAI is like a gorgeous Ferrari with a giant, distracting dent in its hood. No matter how savory the paint job, or how amazing it handles, I’m never, ever going to be able to ignore that dent. And the XAI certainly is beautiful in its own quaint way. It’s stylishly simplistic, and made of a sleek, comfortable plastic that’s smooth to the touch. Beneath its old-fashioned exterior lies all of the necessities, including multiple profile settings that can be browsed using an LED screen located underneath the mouse—an awesome feature that takes full advantage of its built-in memory, making it easy to set up for LANs.

But then there’s that dent. I figure most people grip their computer mouse in a similar way: thumb resting on the left side, pointer and middle fingers on the left and right buttons respectively, and ring and pinky landing somewhere on the right side. When I used the XAI in this way, the same way I’d used every mouse for over 15 years, my pointer finger sat on an extremely sensitive button. Quite often, I’d mistakenly click the button. It’s a major, constant distraction, and it led me to disable the button entirely (dropping the number of truly usable buttons to seven). It’s a shame; if not for that misstep, the XAI would be great. ■