Specialist
peripherals are nothing new. Specialist gaming peripherals are
also 'old hat' these days. However, just recently there has been
a pretty big influx of gaming mice designed for various genres
of gaming, and all sporting a plethora of differing features to
entice the prospective buyer. At one time, if you mentioned Gaming
Mouse then Razor would be the response by simple word association,
but these days there is a lot more choice for the discerning PC
Gamer.
Razor
have expanded their line-up, Logitech have an extensive collection
and even Microsoft (in conjunction with
Razor) have announced a gaming mouse. But they are not the only
companies out there with gaming peripherals in their line-up.
We have looked at Cyber
Snipa peripherals before, from gaming pads to keyboards to
mouse mats. Their newest item was shown at CeBIT earlier this
year and is their take on an advanced mouse for gamers, FPS gamers
specifically. Introducing the Cyber
Snipa Intelliscope Mouse.
Specifications
|
Package
Size
|
260mm
x 260mm x 45mm |
|
Lazer
Resolution
|
2400
DPI (illuminates blue ) 1000 DPI (illuminates red) |
|
Frames
Per Second
|
10500FPS |
|
Connection
|
USB
|
|
System
|
Windows
XP, 2000, ME, OS 9 up |
The
specifications speak for themselves with possibly the exception
of the illumination which we shall get into in a bit.
The
packaging for the Cyber Snipa Intelliscope is fairly attractive
and gives you an excellent view of what your buying. Included
in the box are the mouse itself, a software disk for the Intelliscope
software and a simple black and white manual.
The
mouse itself is probably not what I would call eye-catching
(at least not without power) but it isn't an ugly device by
any stretch of the imagination. Being symmetrical
in shape makes it viable for lefties and righties, even if the
button arrangement is not symmetrical. The shape has been designed
to provide a sculpted place to rest your hand and so hopefully
reduce discomfort during those long gaming sessions.
Speaking
of buttons, the Intelliscope mouse is a 6 button mouse with
the standard right and left on the front top of the mouse as
you would expect. Much like the xRaider mouse we reviewed previously,
the actual buttons as well as the top of the mouse are a one
piece affair which gives a clean aesthetic and as I have discovered
is also better for cleaning. The material used is a soft rubberised
plastic which provides a nice balance between grip and slip
to keep you happy using it. The two main buttons are also quiet
a length allowing you to place your fingers in whatever manner
you are comfortable with without worry of not being able to
push the buttons properly. The third button is the mouse wheel
itself; like many mice on the market these days, you can push
down on the mousewheel for a third button.
Buttons
four and five sit on the left side thumb position and are sloped
in an upward manner making it easier to slide your thumb upward
to press the buttons rather than releasing your grip on the
mouse. The sixth button is a large button on the right side,
sloped upward like buttons four and five but maintains a longer
length, ideal for the right handed to use your little finger
regardless of your hand size or grip.
Powering
up for the first time brings a warm red glow to the mouse around
the edges and from under the translucent mousewheel. Now this
red glow is not just an aesthetic feature but is also an indication
of the current DPI setting of the mouse. When I said this was
a six button mouse, that wasn't strictly true, as a seventh button
resides on top of the mouse just behind the mousewheel*.
Adorned
with the Intelliscope 'i', this button has but one function;
toggling of the DPI. Adjustable DPI is not a new feature as
it is something that has been done before, but what I like about
this set up is that you only have
two choices; 1000DPI or 2400DPI. I'm sure that there are those
of you out there who would like incremental adjustments but
to be honest, would you truly use more than two during a game?
Cyber Snipa call these two settings Stealth (1000 DPI) and ATAK
(2400 DPI) and these are indicated by the coloured glow of the
mouse, the Intelligent Ambient indicator. Red, as mentioned
before signifies a setting of 1000DPI while switching to 2400
DPI will give a bright blue glow.
*I'm
bound to be asked, but no, at no time have I accidentally
pressed the DPI switch. It sits in just the right place so that
as you hold the mouse, it will be within the crook of your fore
and middle fingers without actually being under any part of your
hand during normal use. With a little practice you might find
that the bottom of the second joint on your middle finger could
be used to adjust the DPI on the fly as the DPI Switch is curved
to allow you to slide onto the button.
The
bottom of the mouse is quite bland but there are a couple of
things I would like to point out. Teflon coated feet, 6 of;
they provide a very nice slide to the mouse as you would imagine
but the downside here is that as much as I would like to say
otherwise, the feet will eventually wear down with use. If you
use mouse feet or some other form of mouse feet covers, you
will need to replace six feet rather than the average four.
More positively, four of the six feet are small enough to balance
this out and the actual slide you get from the layout appears
to work well regardless of the condition of the mousing surface
you are using.
The
picture close up shows the hole for the laser although to be honest,
there is little to show but I have displayed it for the sake of
a complete review.
Mouse
Software
The
included software CD supports Windows 95 and 98 (with supplied
driver) and 2000 and XP. While you don't have to use the driver
installed by the CD for operation within Windows 2000 or XP, you
will want that driver to be used for full interactivity between
the mouse and the Intelliscope software. If you switch USB ports,
the software doesn't automatically use
the Intelliscope driver but instead uses the standard Windows
driver. I doubt this will be much of a problem as most will likely
plug in to one singular USB port and leave the mouse plugged in,
but thought I would mention it anyway.
There
are four tabs within the software beginning with a little about
the mouse with the second tab for button assignment. The software
is quite simple and allows you limited control of button assignment.
I would have liked to have been able to choose from any keys
available rather than the limited amount in the list, but I've
been lucky in that it hasn't affected gameplay for me in any
games. Still, I can see the situation arising whereby an end
user has already got a specific button layout that they use
for their favourite game, only to find that the button arrangement
will have to be altered to accommodate their new mouse. Hopefully
the selection will be large enough not to interfere with many,
but I would suggest you look at the picture above which shows
the available buttons selections.
The
third tab shows the sensitivity control and double click speed
along with a test area. The fourth tab allows set
up of the pointer and scroll wheel which lets you calibrate
the mousewheel as well as enabling 3 related options. The first
is the keep shooting option which is kind of like an autofire
for the mouse; clicking the mousewheel down will continually send
left click commands with a 0.1 interval to the game, just as if
you were using the left mouse button repeatedly. The second option
is for compatibility purposes, specifically with older versions
of Windows. The third enables Virtual Double scrollwheels; Clicking
the mousewheel down will let you toggle between standard vertical
scrolling and horizontal scrolling. Options 1 and 3 will override
any button assignment made on the second tab.
I
would like to see a profile system added to the software; being
able to have different button set-ups
for different games/applications would be a great feature that
I think would benefit this mouse. Since that would be a software
update, perhaps a future update of the software might allow for
this.
Final
Words
I've
been using the mouse both in and out of gaming for a solid two
weeks now. My previous mouse of choice was the old faithful Microsoft
Explorer V3 which has served me well for a good few years now.
The Cyber Snipa is without a doubt easier to use for longer periods
although I did find that the orientation was slightly different
from other mice I have used before. This necessitated
a 'breaking in period' whereby I had to learn to push up ever
so slightly when moving side to side to maintain a straight line.
After a few days this became quite natural and isn't something
that I think about in normal use now, but thought it worth mentioning.
I've noticed this same orientation difference with Logitech mice
that have the pick-up to one side just
as the Cyber Snipa does.
Gaming
is good with this mouse; like any new mouse, it won't turn you
into Jonathan Wendall overnight (Ed
- not even his mouse does that!) but the Cyber Snipa Intelliscope
is certainly a good mouse to game with. For a few games, I already
have multiple sensitivity set-ups for
each weapon within that game, but there are a few games out there
which cannot offer this. The Intelliscope offers you on the fly
changing between 1000 DPI and 2400 DPI which will get around this
limitation in certain games. And with the Intelligent Ambient
indicator, it's easy to see at a glance which setting you're in.
To be honest, 1000 DPI and 2400 DPI is quite a difference in speed,
so you should feel the difference without the need to see it but
either way, pressing the DPI switch will change the mouse from
red or blue.
During
everyday desktop and application use the Cyber
Snipa was also a good mouse to use. The supplied software
allows you to assign different buttons to different key presses,
which can also be used with certain programs. I use the left thumb
button for CTRL-V for example. I do wish the software for the
mouse had some sort of profiling ability, even if manually selectable
(right click the tray icon, choose Photoshop/Quake 4/ F.E.A.R/Word)
as this would expand the usefulness across different programs.
The other thing I would have liked it for the software to not
have been as limiting with its assignment choices.
Weighing
up the good and the bad of this mouse, I find in favour of the
Cyber Snipa
Intelliscope mouse. 2400 DPI is very accurate, the mouse is
comfortable in use during long sessions, has 6 buttons, and is
just an all round nice mouse to game with.
If
you have any comments, be sure to hit us up in our forums.
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