Unboxing & Review: Logitech G602 Wireless Gaming Mouse

Introduction

Hot off the shelf is the brand new Logitech G602 Wireless Gaming Mouse. At its heart is a 2500 DPI sensor, featuring the exclusive Delta Zero sensor optimizations for high-accuracy cursor control, plus battery-extending power optimization routines. It comes advertised as having enough juice to last you up to 250 hours of gaming, while in Performance mode. The SRP for the Logitech G602 Wireless Gaming Mouse is RM269.

The official specification from the website, showing most of the things you need to know about the mouse.

Closer look

It comes packaged in a nice solid box, with an open-able top that reveals the mouse inside. Nicely done.

Open everything up, and this is what you will get. Basically, you will receive the wireless mouse, receiver, USB receiver extension cable and setup guide.

I find the mouse sized just about right, very suitable if you have a large palm size. J The ergonomic design of the mouse is such that, it suits palm-grip type perfectly. There is a rather large rest area for your thumb, further making the grip effortless. The mouse is beautifully sculpted and the main grip areas are covered with a sort of grainy rubbery surface which feels great and is likely designed to be non-slip. The two primary buttons are made of plastic while the scroll wheel appears to be of soft rubber. Clicking and scrolling with this mouse just feels great. 

In fact, while writing this review, I am actually using this mouse right now and I find it to be very comfortable. J

Ok, as I happened to have my trusty old Logitech G400 mouse with me now, let’s see how they measure up next to one another. J Both are nearly identical in size but the G602 is slightly bigger though. Lovers of the G400 will no doubt have any problems adapting to the new G602.

On the rear side, there is a piece of arrow-shaped paper which you obviously need to pull it off before using the mouse. 

Notice that there is a small switch to turn on / off the mouse, just right above the sensor. Further opening up the small battery cover, reveals two AA alkaline batteries already installed for you. There is a small rectangular-shaped slot on the right side of the battery compartment which can be used to store the wireless receiver. Comes in handy in case you’re on the move and would like to take this mouse along with you together with the wireless receiver. A well thought-out feature.

There is a small toggle switch (right below the scroll wheel) that allows you to switch between endurance or performance mode. Nice power saving feature which may be useful when you’re not gaming. We also have two DPI toggle switches right beside the primary left click button. It allows you to toggle between the different DPI settings. There is a small DPI display indicator beside the side buttons which indicates what DPI setting you’re at. On the left side of the mouse, we have a further additional six side buttons. Great.

Earlier, I mentioned that there is a trigger to toggle between endurance or performance mode. Right above the toggle switch is an indicator which lights up to green when you’re in endurance mode, or blue when you’re in performance mode. It also displays your battery level. You can also check the battery level from the Logitech Gaming Software. Do take note that once you toggle the switch, the light stays on for about 7 seconds before it automatically switches off. You can check the battery level/mode again by pressing the side button (G6), which will light up the indicator again.

Software

You can use the Logitech Gaming Software to further customize your mouse. It is very simple and anyone would be able to quickly get the hang out of it. The saved profiles can be stored via the mouse’s on-board memory. As you can see, all the buttons are fully customizable and you can also adjust the DPI sensitivity level. So far, I see no options for macro programming. From the top left corner of the software, you can also check the battery level/mode of the mouse. The photo below shows that it is currently in performance mode (blue), while the battery level is full.

Conclusion

I personally feel that we have a winner here in the Logitech G602. It simply feels great, comfortable to hold onto and it also has top notch tracking (tested on cloth mousepad and desktop surface). Previously, I've used the G400 and it feels just at home with the new G602. This mouse uses two standard AA batteries, which one can easily get off the shelf. I have not tested it long enough to know how long they would last, but with the endurance mode for you to toggle to, I'm sure you would be able to have a longer battery life than the advertised 250 hours in performance (gaming) mode. For all it takes, you could even switch off the mouse all together when not in used. The plethora of side buttons is also an added advantage, as it gives the user greater flexibility and customization, as and when needed. The buttons are easily within reach, so that is another plus point as well. Great job there, Logitech. J 

Pros:
   • Solidly built
   • Nice aesthetic
   • Very comfortable
   • All buttons and scroll wheel feels great
   • Uses standard AA batteries
   • Software is simple and relatively easy to use

Cons:
   • Depending on your grip, this mouse may not be suitable for claw-grip type of users
   • No option to keep it wired
   • No macro programming
   • Slightly heavy

Reviewed by: rav3n82

Homebrew Tips & Tricks: Typing Faster

A quick search on the web will tell you that you'd need to sit in a good posture, memorize the keyboard layout, go for classes, play "typing games" and learn to touch-type. Keyword here is simply "Practice". The benefit? more time to do other things (including coffee breaks).

But what about people who just don't spend as much time in front of the PC? Nowadays most of us will only need to type two or three lines to reply emails, update the Facebook status, Tweet etc.... But when it comes to a need to typing a letter or an essay or the annual budget report, I'd like to get it over with A.S.A.P but I don't see myself training to type that much to achieve this. So here are some of my methods that I use to complete my assignments without spending too much time on the keyboard.

Drafts & templates, keep them!!

More often than not, you're likely to be typing a report that contains the same formatting to the previous week, month or even year. Saving those documents in soft-copies will actually help to lessen the work as you could reuse the same formatting. 

This is especially when you're working with spreadsheets such as Microsoft Excel as we tend to type in numbers and figures that need to be added, subtracted, multiplied and divided. Keeping the privoius template allows you to store the formula(s) used in it so all that's left is to enter the new information or data. No longer do you need to re-create the same tables, charts.

This not only saves you time, but will keep the report looking uniform and professional as well.

Software Short-cuts

Aside from saving drafts, software like Microsoft Words and Excel have some nifty tricks embedded into them to allow for improved speed. For example, most of us will know the "cut, copy  & paste" combinations with the use of the 'ctrl' key with either 'x' , 'c'' and 'v' keys. the full list can be found on Microsoft's support page (Microsoft Office Support Page).

The key is to only memorise those that are useful to you. For myself, I found that I normally use ctrl+b (bold) ctrl+shift+, or . (to resize text) and ctrl+shift+directional leys (text selection); just having these three functions alone lets me complete a page in no time at all. By doing this, you do not have to hunt for the specific functions in the tool bar or even reaching for the mouse. Some of these short-cuts will actually work on other applications as well such as blogs and forum posts as well.

Use specialized keyboards

A typical computer store will normally have different types of keyboards. From the cheapest to the most extravagant of keyboard, you'd be surprised how a good keyboard can aid in improving your typing speed.

Mechanical keyboards - This type of keyboard is so named for it's mechanical keys, at first glance, most of them would look like a normal keyboard, to understand what  makes them different have a read in Wikipedia. We also did quite a few reviews of mechanical keyboards such as the Filco Majectouch Ninja, Armaggeddon Black Hornet MKA-3 and the Armaggeddon Stealth Raptor MKA-7.

These provide feedback to your fingers as you type, particularly true to the blue and brown version of the switches, which tells you that the key is registered even without pressing the keys all the way to the down. Theoretically, once you get used to it, you would then move on to type the next key(s) in sequence a little faster. The only thing stopping everyone from owning such keyboards are it's cost with the cheapest retailing at RM250.

Ergonomic keyboards - This breed of keyboards may look strange to most people. Far different from a typical keyboard, they break away from the traditional rectangular design and is shaped to suit the natural position of the human arm and wrists.

Microsoft Natural Ergonomic Keyboard 4000 (pictured above) is one such where the curves and raised parts as well as the position of the keys are placed in such a way to allow a more comfortable typing experience. Speed then comes in as second nature as you wouldn't need to reach as far or shift your wrist position as much compared to using a typical keyboard. It will take some time to get used to though as the majority of us are used to the squarish layout of the typical keyboards.

Gaming keyboard - Yes gaming keyboard for typing may not be it's intended target of use but the additional functions on these keyboards are actually quite useful. I'm of course referring specifically to the programmable buttons that gives me the ability to bind multiple keystrokes to a single button.

As you might have known, I've been using the Logitech G510 as my primary keyboard, with the extra 18 keys (G1 to G18) at the side, I've actually registered all of the most common word(s) that I would type. For example, my multiple email address and web-address is bound to a different key; so instead of typing "www.tech-critter.com" all the time, all I have to do is press on G4 and instead of typing "Th1s-Is_mY+passwOrd" (note the caps and symbols) as a password for my email, I just hit G17.

So if you use the word "Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious" most of the time, the macro button just became your best friend hasn't it?

Conclusion

Though these tips might not turn you into a speed demon on the keyboard, but it will mean spending less time at the keyboard while completing more. Proves that, with a little creativity, you could be a little more productive without much effort. Do leave a comment to the article if you have any other methods.

Now, since I just made some time, who has time for Coffee?

Asus GTX 760 DirectCU II OC Review

Introduction

Before I begin, I would like to take the opportunity to thank Low Chern Lin (aka Lucidlts) who has invited me aboard Tech-Critter. Such a great pleasure to be able to share my passion together with my other brothers-in-arms. :) Today we will take a look on Asus GTX 760 DirectCU II OC. It is a trademark non-reference model from Asus, bearing the renowned Direct CU II heatsink, in which flattened heatpipes are in direct contact with the GPU, enhancing heat dissipation. The Asus GTX 760 DirectCU II OC is a factory overclocked rendition of the GTX 760. It comes clocked at 1006 MHz (1072 MHz boost clock), with memory speed running at a default 1502MHz (6008MHz effective GDDR5).

For this review, I will compare it with the Zotac GTX 760 AMP! Edition which we first had a look here not too long ago. Let’s see how the Asus card bearing a small factory overclock (OC) can fare against one of the highest overclocked GTX 760 in the market.

First looks

Pretty basic bundle, consists of a speed setup guide, driver disc and power adapter cable.

Here we can see the Asus GTX 760 DirectCU II OC in all its glory. Notice how it is quite reminiscent of its bigger brother, the GTX 780 DirectCU II OC. It is based on the similar 17 cm long PCBA that first made its debut on the Asus GTX 670 Direct CU Mini, which is very suitable for those looking for small builds. Overall card length is roughly 22 cm long and it takes up two slots in your system. It requires only a single 8-pin power connector, as compared to the reference model which requires two 6-pins.

We can see a glimpse of the proprietary DirectCU II cooling solution employed on the card. It utilizes two 6mm + two 8 mm nickel plated heatpipes which is in direct contact with the GPU. In a short while, we're going to see how significantly superior the cooling solution is.

The card is now plugged in and ready to be powered up.

Test Setup

Hardware

• Processor: Intel Core i7-2600K @ 3.4 GHz
• Mainboard: Intel DZ68DB
• HSF: Cooler Master Hyper 212 Evo
• RAM: Team Elite DDR3 1333MHz RAM (2 X 4GB)
• GPU: Asus GTX 760 DirectCU II OC / Zotac GTX 760 AMP! Edition
• SSD: Intel 330 Series 120GB
• HDD: Samsung SpinPoint F3 1TB
• PSU: Corsair GS600 600W
• Casing: Thermaltake V3 Black Edition
• OS: Windows 7 Home Premium SP1 64-bit
• Monitor: Dell U2312HM 23” Monitor
• Driver: Nvidia 320.49
• Softwares: MSI Afterburner, GPU-Z, FRAPS

Game Settings

• Metro Last Light: DX11, 1920 x 1080, Very High, 2 x SSAA, 16 x AF, Physx On
• Crysis 3: DX11, 1920 x 1080, Very High, 4 x SMAA, 16 x AF
• Tomb Raider: DX11, 1920 x 1080, Ultimate, 4 x SSAA, 16 x AF
• Hitman Absolution: DX11, 1920 x 1080, 4 x MSAA, FXAA, Ultra Quality
• Batman Arkham City: DX11, 1920 x 1080, 8 x MSAA, Extreme, Tessellation High, Physx Off
• Unigine Heaven 4.0: DX11, 1920 x 1080, 8 x AA, Ultra Quality, Tessellation Extreme

Testing is carried out in a non air-conditioned room.

GPU-Z screenshot

Testing

All tests are carried out at the card’s default speed and no overclocking is done.

Basically, we see neck-to-neck performance with the Zotac GTX 760 AMP! Edition.

 Synthetic benchmark results, nothing unusual.

 

This is where the DirectCU II cooler is starting to show its potential.

Conclusion

In summary, I find that the Asus GTX 760 Direct U II OC is on average only 1.59% slower than the faster clocked Zotac GTX 760 AMP! Edition. In terms of gameplay experience, this isn't something tangible that you are going to experience anyway. The superior DirectCU II cooler managed to keep the max load temperature well below Nvidia's default temperature target of 80°C (getting only 68°C). The card managed to hit a max boost clock speed of 1150 MHz, which is pretty high despite its lower base clock speed of only 1006 MHz. To further add on to my initial conclusion on the Zotac GTX 760 AMP! Edition that I first reviewed here, this card can only manage to hit its guaranteed boost clock speed of 1176 MHz, while temperature hit a high of 81°C. In some ways, I believe this holds true to Nvidia’s new GPU Boost 2.0 algorithm, whereby the GPU will try to boost as high as possible within its defined thermal envelope of 80°C.

The Asus GTX 760 DirectCU II OC certainly does pack a whole load of surprises despite its diminutive appearance. I could really find no flaw with its design and I highly recommend this customized GTX 760 to anyone looking for a quieter and higher performing card, right out of the box. Best of all, it comes in an all black PCBA and coupled with a nice cooler with a hint of red; I am sure it would go well with any build. However, it is not really cheap here in Malaysia, as it bears a SRP of RM1199. A reference GTX 760 from either Leadtek or Zotac could be obtained from as low as RM799, so that really does make a whole lot of difference. Well, that does it and I hope all of you had a good time reading up on my review once again. :)

Pros:
   • Performance is on par with one of the highest overclocked GTX 760 (Zotac AMP! Edition), despite its lower base clock speed
   • Very silent and efficient cooler
   • Suitable for small builds

Cons:
   • Expensive for a GTX 760, especially in the current local Malaysian pricing (RM)

Reviewed by: rav3n82

Unboxing & Review: BitFenix Recon 5 Channel Touch Screen Fan Controller

Introduction

BitFenix© is a familiar brand nowadays among PC enthusiast, builders and gamers alike. After the successful début of the Colossus chassis, they have continued expanding their range of chassis such as the Shinobi and the very popular Prodigy that strikes a balance of style and practicality. BitFenix also offer a range of accessories that performs great while not straying from the style that blends well with their trademarked design.

This time, BitFenix© sent me the Recon fan controller for review. This is a 5 channel touch screen fan controller that has unique functionalities and features that sets it apart from other similar products in the market. 

Why a fan controller you might ask? my reason is simple, I would like that my components are cooled efficiently with the least amount of noise emitted from the fans I deployed in my PC chassis. it doesn't matter if your PC is air-cooled or water-cooled, you'd still need fans. Having a non air-conditioned room in a tropical weathered country like Malaysia sure doesn't help so here is where the BitFenix Recon comes to play.

Available in black or white for about RM150 in the local market, it's decently priced for what the Recon offers so lets see what can be expected from this little package.

Technical Specification

Materials	SoftTouchTM, ABS Plastic, Steel
Dimentions	147mm x 43mm x 67mm
Form Factor	Single 5.25” Drive Bay
Fan Channel	x5
Temperature sensors	x5
Max Watt/Channel	10W
Measurement Frequency	Between 0.1-0.4 Seconds
Temperature Alarm Range	30 Degrees C - 90 Degrees C
Temperature Range	0-100 Degrees C
Screen Size	4.7"

The Unboxing

 

The Recon arrived to me in a white box along with two of their own newest Spectre Pro LED fans. A rather simple packaging, cushioned with used newspapers thus preventing the products from sliding around inside the box; it does the job, the contents are intact and free from any physical damages. Kudos to the team at A.P.E.S. We’ll get into the fans in a separate review and focus on the Recon in the mean-time.

The retail package of the Recon comes in a small, shiny overall black & green box with plastic shrink-wrap (helps keep the product dust free). I find that the package is attractive with the front having showing us how the product looks like out of the box.  

 At the sides, the package is plastered with a list of the key features, of which some is unique to the Recon. You'll also find the specification table at the bottom of the package.

Opening the package, I'm glad that BitFenix have once again been vigilant of their packaging; inside, the Recon is wrapped in a reddish anti-static bag, accessories are tucked in between the  wiring topped off with soft foam at both sides of the Recon that protects the unit from shock and damage during transport.

Included in the package is the Recon Unit and the accessories in the form of an instruction pamphlet, a pack of mounting screws, a few strips of double sided tape for easy placement of the temperature probes, a pack of supplementary temperature probes, and a set of fan cable extensions. There is also a small card that replaces the traditional driver installation disc which asks users to download the latest software driver from their official website BitFenix.Com.

         

The Controller

The Recon requires only a single 5.25" drive bay, even so, I was taken by surprise by how heavy and solid the unit feels. The plastic front bezel is coated with BitFenix's trademark SoftTouch treatment that gives the product the premium feel and you could see the white BitFenix and Recon Logo etched at the top left and bottom right. Just so you know, there is also a white version so that owners of white BitFenix chassis could match the exterior looks of their chassis.

Behind the bezel, we could see dual custom microprocessors soldered neatly on the PCB. These are the brains that enables the Recon to interact with the motherboard via the USB connection. Other components are well spaced and the soldering job is very neat. All the cables are modular so anyone could replace them with custom cables or even sleeve them should they wish to. Though I doubt most of us will bother sleeving the cables we’re hiding anyway :p. You would need to remove some of the glue that's stuck to one of the temperature probes but it shouldn't be a big issue.

Now I know the picture showed a bird’s nest for the cabling behind the bezel but in fact it’s pretty organized. Bundled and tied with twist-ties according to cable type, it only took me a few seconds to sort out the different cables connected to the Recon. 

The cables consist of 5 fan headers, 5 temperature sensors, a 4-pin molex connector (for power) and a USB data cable, all of which are labelled clearly so that you’d know which fan corresponds to the channel you’re gonna be adjusting once you've mounted the Recon. Cables quality is very good and feels different from your run-of-the-mill wires that one would find in the local hardware shops.

Looks like I’m gonna have an easy time routing the cables in the BitFenix Shinobi XL (not that it was any harder the first place), the cables are quite long and will reach anywhere in most full tower chassis, so therefore it shouldn't be a problem for mid towers (which most of us are using) at all. 

I’m also glad to see that the temperature sensors are very thin (and they give 2 extras just in case). This makes it easier for me to stash between the crevices of any components in the chassis. I do find the USB cable a bit strange as it has two USB connectors, with one terminating right before the other as opposed to having only one connector at the end, strange but I don’t think this will affect the functionality of the Recon.   

Mounting the Recon

Sliding the Recon into the vacant 5.25" bay of the Shinobi XL and securing it with the tool-free mechanism is a no-brainer but one could also mount the Recon using the screws provided in the package. After placing the temperature sensor s to key points in the Shinobi XL and plugging in the fans, remember to plug in the USB cable to the USB2.0 for the added “advanced” features of the Recon, in which I’ll demonstrate in a while with a video in this review. Finally, connect the 4-pin molex  to the PSU where the unit receives its power.

I have decided to use the following set-up  keeping the connected fans with the corresponding temperature sensors so that it’s easier to identify where the heat is coming from and which fan to crank up to eliminate it. This will also help in Auto mode since the Recon will be asking the corresponding fan to speed up. On default, the fans is set to spin at 40% of their maximum speed so long as the temperature indicated by the corresponding sensor is below 20 degrees C and gradually speeds up from there until 100% at 60 degrees C. That would be too low of a threshold in our country so I will adjust the upper threshold (yes, you are able to) to 80 degrees knowing that my GPU will reach about 70 degrees on gaming load.

Temperature Sensor	Location	Fan Connector	Location / Fan Type
Lead 1	Base of CPU Cooler	Fan 1	CPU Cooler push
Lead 2	Lower fin of CPU cooler	Fan 2	CPU Cooler Pull
Lead 3	Back of front 200mm intake fan	Fan 3	Front 200mm intake fan
Lead 4	Back of GPU Chip	Fan 4	Chassis rear Exhaust fan
Lead 5	Middle of chassis	Fan 5	200mm top exhaust fan

Operating the Recon

The BitFenix Recon can be operated in one of 2 ways, the touch screen interface on the bezel itself or via the web interface. This is why it was important to plug in the USB cable to the motherboard when installing it in the first place. I'll be covering this part in 2 separate videos so that you could get a better picture of how the Recon works.

Touch Screen Operation.

    

Software and Browser Operation.

Conclusion.
Having the BitFenix Recon installed in the system sure made a difference to my rig. For one, I'm able to run my fans at the speed I want, minimising noise while I am watching a movie or listening to soft music and jacking up the fan speed when I'm gaming or running heavy loads on the processor. Though to be honest, hiding the wires tend to be quite a chore, especially for first timers.

The touch interface is responsive and easy to operate, although I wish that the screen would be a bit larger but it gets the job done fine enough. What is unique to the Recon however, is the web interface that updates the temperature, fan speed, voltage, etc on-the-fly and lets you adjust them whenever from wherever you're connected from. Since it's accessible via any web enabled device, any Notebook, Tablet and smartphones would work. I find it especially helpful when I'm away from my PC that is running torrents or when I'm too lazy to get up (or bend down, depending on your chassis placement) to use the touch screen when I want to watch a movie while seated a few feet away. Finally, I don't have to even remember each fan's setting; with the presets available, a press (or a touch) of a button instantly sets the fans to my desired speed (naming them helps too); other than that, there is always the auto function that runs the fans according to the temperature probes.

Between getting the BitFenix Recon and enjoying it, there are some challenges that must be overcome. I'm of course not only referring to the tasks of routing the wires but the setup of the web interface as it does require a bit of tinkering with the network settings and having administrator rights in your PC so you'll need to do some extra bit of reading to complete the setup. Thankfully, there are a lot of guides online that one could follow step by step to complete the task.


Pros:

• Good Build Quality
• Affordably priced
• Unique one of a kind web interface
• Easy to use

Cons:

• Setting up requires some degree of networking know-how

First Look & Review - Armaggeddon Alien IV G9X Optical Gaming Mouse

First of all, let me start by thanking Low Chern Lin who invited me to join in on Tech-Critter.

I present to you the Armaggeddon Alien IV G9X, (no, I'm not referring to a movie from the Aliens series) courtesy of the good people from LeapFrog Distribution Sdn Bhd. At the time of writing this article, this mouse has yet to be released to the shelves in local stores, please check the availability at the official site Armaggeddon.net. MSRP for the Alien IV G9X is RM179.

Specification off from the website is pretty straightforward.

Specifications

• 6 Macro-able™ optical gaming mouse with 512KB on-board memory
• CPI switching on-the-fly [default]: 400/800/1600/3200CPI
• Software CPI setting: as low as 400CPI up to 6400CPI
• Adjustable polling rate(/second): 125Hz/500Hz/1000Hz
• Frame rate: 6600fps
• Acceleration: 20G
• Advanced Optical sensor: PixArt 3305
• Adjustable mouse light effects and up to 4 colour options
• Total 6-Buttons with 2-Way Click scroll [save up to 7macros in 5 available profile]
• High performance tracking speed: up to 160 inches per second

Multi-languages specifications

• Resolution range: 400 ~ 6400cpi
• 6-button optical mouse
• On-board memory: 512KB
• Cord length: 1.8m

Mouse size: Large

• 125(L) X 82(W) X 40(H)mm

Really suprised to see that this is an optical mouse, sure looks beefed up to me though. let's take a look in detail.

The Alien IV G9X

Well dive straight into the product itself as the Alien IV G9X is very new, it doesn't even have a retail box yet. This is not to be confused with the Logitech G9x and is certainly a very different mouse indeed.

This is the blue edition of the Alien IV G9X, according to the official website, there is also the black version and a yellow version.

The mouse feels right at home with my palm grip style, the thumb area and the top surface features smooth rubber coating and it's fingerprint proof! only the pinky area on the right side had a rough textured plastic and placement of the buttons are spot-on.

Speaking of buttons, the Alien IV G9X features 6 macro-able buttons; the right & left click, the dual thumb buttons, scroll wheel click and last but not least an additional button on the ring finger placement! (by default: double-click) From my experience, most mice would have one or two buttons that feels soggy when actuated, to my delight and relief, this is not so with the Alien IV G9X. Every button feels solid, even the thumb buttons and the CPI buttons have that satisfying click to it.

Weight System

This is the new and improved weight system of the Alien IV G9X. Seven mini-weights is hidden in the back compartment (accessible via the triangular button beside the door) will allow users to customise how heavy the mouse need be to suit their gaming preference. Happy to report that the weights are easily  removable this time compared to Armaggeddon's previous offerings, I do wish that they'd indicate how much each of them weigh though.

Connectivity

The cable is braided and presumably gold plated on the USB connector, no mention of it in the specs though. The braided cord has a tight weave to it and it's flexible enough as to not hinder any movement while using the Alien IV G9X.

Gliding

At the bottom, the Alien IV G9X have four PTFE feet that glides very well. I have a feeling that the middle part used to be covered by another PTFE feet but since this sample doesn't even have a retail box yet, I'd figure some parts would be missing. You'll also see that Armaggeddon opted for an optical sensor as opposed to the laser sensor used in almost all gaming grade mouse, what's interesting here is that the sensor is said to be a PixArt 3305 sensor; which to my understanding, is one of the best optical sensor available. Implementing an optical sensor also helps in reducing the cost.

Lighting

By default, the blue lighting is set to pulse at a very fast rate (except for the CPI indicator) which illuminates the Alien IV G9X adequately. Installing the driver software would allow users to customise the lighting, which we'll see in the next segment.

The Driver Sortware

Launching the driver takes you to Home Base, atypical Armaggeddon style, it does nothing except pelting users with the features of the Alien IV G9X. I don't know about you but I'd normally have read all the details of any peripherals before purchase, so having a "reminder" here is redundant and unnecessary.

Switching to the Main Frame tab lets users tweak quite a few things. For starters, one could choose to be very fussy over the sensor sensitivity to varying degrees between the X and Y axis, n other words, total freedom. Scroll-speed and Double-click speed makes a comeback as well and on top of that, all these settings can be tailored and mapped to five different profiles for different applications where users could choose to save, load or erase the settings as they wish.

Button Settings tab lets users define what each of the buttons do; a myriad of functions can be mapped to the keys, including the DPI cycle button, such as swapping windows, show desktop, run command, cut, paste, open media controls etc... and all this across five different profiles, which can be quite a mouthful.

Macro programming is also present, allowing users to record that invincible combo on SFvsTekken into one single click to be used against unsuspecting opponents; and with the built-in memory, you could bring the mouse to your victim's PC without the driver and still kick ass.

CPI settings on the lower left doesn't allow for that much of customisation but needless to say it's sufficient, clicking the CPI button on the mouse does the same thing. Polling rate is also selectable on this tab.

Honestly I was expecting quite a bit more in the Light Setting tab; a multi-coloured palette and lighting options would be nice but instead I'm greeted by only three options in yellow rectangles. i guess it's just too much to ask for in a sub RM200 mouse.

While you're still stuck with the blue lighting on the Alien IV G9X, you could  adjust the intensity and the pulsating speed or simply turn it off. Thankfully, you could set different modes on the five profiles that lets you differentiates what profiles you're on. I tried on all the settings for the lighting, works fine but pulsating effect doesn't "switch off" per-se, instead, the lighting will pulse at a very very slow rate instead of staying on.

Clicking the Support/Updates tab will launch your browser into Armaggeddon's website... should've just made it into a button I think.

Usage Experience 

Using the Alien IV G9X for daily tasks doesn't do it justice, but it works and it's comfortable. mapping the buttons to the much used copy, cut and paste function will definitely speed up your work which hopefully improves on your efficiency... until you switch modes for gaming :p

Gaming wise, tracking is smooth and accurate, while the default lift distance is standard, I find that no issues when moving the mouse, getting headshots in ME3 and BF3 is quite easy with the accurate tracking. Buttons are responsive and provides adequate feedback, I knew that the command is entered but the button on the ring finger needs getting used to as I keep hitting it accidentally when I'm lifting the mouse. Scroll wheel feels great as is the rubber coating on the Alien IV G9X makes the gaming session truly satisfying.

The Alien IV G9X will glide and track well on almost any surface but I find that the sensor struggles a bit on glass surfaces though that is to be expected for an optical sensor, not that most of us will have glass mousepads anyway.

Conclusion

It looks like the R&D team from Armaggeddon really done their homework on the Alien IV G9X. I like what they did to the weight system this time and also the button placement, really good work there. Aesthetics are flashy as always, not too sure if the the extra-slow pulse is intended though,overall look is great without too much details.

I would love to see multiple lighting schemes on the mouse but after considering the RM179 MSRP of the Alien IV G9X, I think I'd be okay with the blue-only lighting. The additional button on the ring-finger rest is a good idea as well, though it'll take some getting used to, much similar to the additional thumb-rest button on their Phantom mouse that I reviewed earlier. Placement of the back/forward buttons at the side is one of the best I have tested in a long time.

Pros:

• Good aesthetics
• Great side button placement
• Excellent button feedback
• Implementation of extra button on ring-finger rest
• Improved 7-step weight system

Cons:

• Limited lighting options