Yes it’s been sometime since I’ve taken a look at a Razer product. I’ve always liked their mice and it’s a tough choice when I play a game whether to use the Logitech G5 or the Razer Copperhead. I’m more biased towards mice that are designed for the right hand so when Razer sent me the DeathAdder I was excited to see how well it stacked up to my other favorites.


The DeathAdder breaks off from the traditional Razer approach of building mice for both left handed and right handed people. The look of the mouse is close to the Habu, Microsoft and Razer’s joint venture product. It’s geared for right handed gamers so it’s got a more distinct curve in the thumb area. It`s also a wider than their older mice making it easier to hold for those with larger hands. Even though my hands aren`t that big, I found it to be more comfortable than the Copperhead.
On top, the mouse sports a one piece design with a nice rubbery feel. The one piece design splits at the top for the wheel, migrates inward at the base of the wheel, and down the center about halfway. In the center of the palm resting area sits Razer ’s logo of the three snakes. A cool effect when the mouse is plugged in is that it pulsates a slow blue glow and highlights the snakes when its at it`s brightest. When the LED is not on, you can barely see the logo.
There are two very nicely sized thumb buttons on the left side of the mouse. I never did like the Copperhead’s small thumb button but Razer did it right with the DeathAdder . I could easily tell which button my thumb was on without looking and they had a great feel to them when pressed. The tension on the springs weren ’t too soft or strong and the buttons exhibited a nice click as well as springing back quickly. The new design made the thumb buttons a lot more usable than the Copperhead ones.
The two main buttons also felt good when pressed with solid springs and a nice click as well. Since it’s a one piece design, you have a large surface area for each button giving you ample room to place your fingers on comfortably.
Scrolling with the mouse wheel felt very good and the DeathAdder offered a very smooth scrolling action. Its fluid and fast with a very subtle clicks as you rotate the wheel. Like the logo, it also glows blue when in use. The mouse wheel also doubles as the third button and it has a nice strong spring to it as well. The click, like the two main buttons, feels very responsive and has a nice sound to it. Unfortunately, there`s no sideways action for the wheel. I`ve been accustomed to mice having a tilt wheel but the DeathAdder doesn`t have one. Not too big of a deal though.
Underneath the mouse, there are three Teflon pads that help for smooth movement. Each top corner holds a triangle shaped pad while the back of the mouse has one medium sized half circle.
Sitting in the center is the 3G Infrared Sensor. It`s not the traditional red LED or laser sensor. This sensor enables precision of 1800DPI, which was something that was difficult to achieve with an LED. The Razer folks are stickler for accuracy so the sensor is also optimized for fast motions. Also improved in the sensor is minimizing the lift-off distance for the mouse. When you lift the mouse off the table and move it, there`s traditionally a small movement of your cursor. This distance has been improved so that you get a more accurate placement of the cursor with less movement when you lift the mouse. The sensor is also on constantly and doesn`t shut down like some LEDs. This will ensure that the mouse will react to your movements without any lag in case you haven`t ...