[Product Review]Razer Viper

[Steve]

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<p><a href="http://www.razerzone.com" target="_blank"><img src="http://stevieb.dfhq.net/reviews/_razer_viper/logo.jpg" alt="Razer Viper" border="0"></a>
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<ul>
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<div align="left">Product: Razer Viper™</div>
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<div align="left">Manufacturer: Razer Inc: <a href="http://www.softtrading.info/" target="_blank">http://www.razerzone.com</a></div>
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<div align="left">Supplier: Razer Inc: <a href="https://www.steelpad.com" target="_blank">https://www.razerzone.com</a></div>
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<div align="left">What you get:</div>
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<div align="left">1 x Razer Viper™ Mouse</div>
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<li>1 x Razer LAN-pak</li>
</ul>
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<li>The Official word:
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<ul>
<li>The Razer Viper possesses the most advanced optical tracking system
of any mouse to-date. This is a high-precision, extremely accurate input
device that operates at anywhere between 25 to 150% more resolution
than other optical mice. <br>
• Sleek ergonomic ambidextrous profile - translucent exterior
design <br>
• Two Ultra-large nonslip buttons - Finger tip grip for accurate
and precise targeting control <br>
• Nonslip side rails - performance grip design <br>
• Ultraslick teflon feet - zero acoustic feedback <br>
• Gold Plated Max-Conductive USB connector</li>
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</ul>
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</ul>
<p>I was pretty excited about getting the chance to test out the latest offering
from the Razer Inc. team. The Razer series of mice have always been tempting
to purchase when you read the claims of the accuracy and speed achievable. From
the early days of the Boomslang, then the Boomer and Control, Razer have now
embraced optical technology to create the Viper.</p>
<p>A piece of super kit or an over hyped piece of useless tat? Let's take a look:</p>
<p align="center"><img src="http://stevieb.dfhq.net/reviews/_razer_viper/01.jpg"></p>
<p align="left">Here is the little beast out of its package. It has a nice sleek
black design, and a cable which is about 7 foot long (should be long enough
huh?). You can see the gold plated USB connector also. Here is a closer view:</p>
<p align="center"><img src="http://stevieb.dfhq.net/reviews/_razer_viper/02.jpg"></p>
<p align="left">The buttons are plastic but have a really nice texture to them,
its very hard to describe but it feels soft like fabric, but anyway it is comfortable
and smooth. You can see that the buttons are unusually long, I've never seen
buttons like this design before.</p>
<p align="left">The main shell of the Viper is transparent black tinted plastic,
you can see inside the mouse and this creates a great effect because the red
LED for the sensor shines out through the mouse. This makes the wheel glow,
also if you look you will see 'rails' down the side which glow up nicely. See
the pic below:</p>
<p align="center"><img src="http://stevieb.dfhq.net/reviews/_razer_viper/03.jpg"></p>
<p align="left">There is also a great little effect in the middle under the 'Razer
Viper' text/logo. If you move the mouse to light up the sensor you will see
a 'Y' shape glow just like a viper's tongue. I presume that is intentional but
that shows the level of thought and detail that has gone into this product.<br>
<br>
Check the picture below to get some idea of the size/scale of the Viper, I think
you might be suprised:</p>
<p align="center"><img src="http://stevieb.dfhq.net/reviews/_razer_viper/04.jpg"></p>
<p align="left">It is considerably shorter and slimmer than the MS Optical mouse,
and the buttons are almost twice as long. This made me wonder if there was going
to be a problem using the Viper, seeing as I have been using the MS mouse pretty
much every day for the past three years.</p>
<p align="left">At first the Viper is slightly uncomfortable and I felt almost
as if my had was going to cramp up. This feeling lasted for approximately half
an hour during usage which was surprisingly short in my opinion seeing as the
mouse is quite different in shape. The buttons took about one evening to fully
get to grips with because you can press the buttons anywhere along the whole
of your finger, which I was not used to.</p>
<p align="left">As you might expect due to the size difference there is a weight
difference. According to my scales the Viper weighs 77g and the MS weighs 105g
which is approx 25% lighter. This is greatly noticeable and when I compare now,
the MS just seems to be bulky, which I never thought before.</p>
<p align="left">While writing another review I wondered why mice didn't come with
feet that promote smooth movement... well Razer have pulled another trick out
of the bag. The Viper comes with Teflon feet! Believe me when I say this is
one smooth mouse. The size, weight and contact surface set the Viper up to be
one terrific mouse without doubt, but how does the optical side of the Viper
perform? </p>
<p align="left">The Viper has a 1000dpi sensor, basically this means it is the
most accurate optical mouse you can buy. I'm sorry but I'm a gamer not a technical
wizard and I know that most people don't want to read about how much data the
sensor can read per second or what resolution does what etc. What I can say
is that as a gamer I have tested the mouse out in various games, I think that
is a good enough test as any. I tested the mouse out mainly in first person
shooters, namely Delta Force games, Ghost Recon, Far Cry and UT2004.<br>
<br>
The precision while sniping is absolutely superb and is pixel perfect. Lowering
the in game sensitivity seems to work better for sniping situations and it is
a bit easier to aim in small amounts.</p>
<p align="left">Using the Viper with UT2004 was simply a joy, I don't usually
play that type of game but I enjoyed every minute because I never seemed restricted
for movement and I could aim easily and freely even at high speed with reaction
shots.</p>
<p align="left">The only downside is that I can no longer blame my mouse when
I fail to hit the target.</p>
<p align="left">The driver package is simple to use and uses a nice looking graphical
interface with various sliders to adjust the speed at which the mouse cursor
moves. From the standard setting of the MS Optical mouse it took about one hour
for me to get used to the Viper on full speed setting. Although it is fast,
you just feel in control and it is not a problem.</p>
<p align="left">The driver lets you enable 'on the fly' sensitivity control, so
you can quickly adjust the sensitivity at any time in less than a second. This
is a useful feature depending on your circumstances, although personally I just
have it on full speed all the time.</p>
<p align="left">The only potential problem I can see with the mouse is that there
are only two buttons (three if you count the wheel). Again personally this is
not an issue because I haven't used more than two buttons in a game configuration
before. I do know that this will put some people off the Viper though.<br>
<br>
The only other thing to mention really is the Razer LAN-pak:</p>
<p align="center"><img src="http://stevieb.dfhq.net/reviews/_razer_viper/05.jpg"></p>
<p align="left">This is a little pouch for storing/protecting your Viper:</p>
<p align="center"><img src="http://stevieb.dfhq.net/reviews/_razer_viper/06.jpg"></p>
<p align="left">It's a nice enough idea for those who go to LAN's frequently,
it does offer some protection to knocks and falls.</p>
<p align="left">&nbsp;</p>
<p align="left">I tested the Viper out on an Everglide Ricochet and the Black
Icemat version2, and had zero problems, both provided an excellent companion
to the Viper giving no loss of accuracy, skips or glitches. However this message
is on the Razer website:</p>
<p align="left">&quot;Not all mousepads are created equal! The Razer Viper works
great with most mousepads, however due to the optical engine, there are a few
to avoid. Here is a list of the best of those tested and approved for use with
the Viper: Quality Mat, V2A Pad, Func Surface 1030, Everglide Gaming Mat Works,
Icemat white, XBoard V2, Destrukt Pad, 3M Razer pads, Allsop Raindrop, GlideTapes
BigPad, Ratpadz GS, and Corepad.&quot;</p>
<p align="left">&nbsp;</p>
<p align="left">Lets have a little recap of the Viper, it is small, light, large
buttons, looks great, smooth, fast , accurate, configurable... shall I continue
or shall I let you go and order one?</p>
<p align="center"><img src="http://stevieb.dfhq.net/reviews/dfhq_ap.gif"></p>
<p align="center"><em>the best thing since... mice</em></p>