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GM3200 Laser Mouse

GM3200 Laser Mouse

Written by Ben Berry on 4/9/2007 for PC  
More On: GM3200 Laser Mouse
The most interesting thing about getting new hardware to review is that sometimes you find that a new product makes you realize a previous product you love had more room for improvement than you thought. In this case, I’m talking about the Saitek PC Gaming Mouse, and its successor, the GM3200 Laser Mouse.
 
If you’ve read my review of the PC Gaming Mouse, you’ll know that I gave it a 9.1 based on the responsiveness of the unit, the features and frankly, the increased accuracy in FPS gaming. As I used the mouse since that review, I found that I really enjoyed it, but there are always ways to improve products.
I’m going to start with the most important feature. The GM3200 Laser Mouse doubles the maximum dpi setting to 3200. In simple terms this mouse is blazingly fast. I have never used a faster mouse in my life. It makes the the PC Gaming Mouse seem slow by comparison. I’ve been using the GM3200 for several weeks as my only mouse. Whether it’s cruising around Battlefield 2, or just web browsing the GM3200 is the most responsive mouse I’ve ever used.

So now that we’ve gotten the wow factor out of the way, let’s get on to the changes in the form factor which are the are substantial. To begin with the blue LED is back, but the display ring has been minimized and now surrounds the mouse buttons. The DPI switch sits behind the scroll wheel, and is adjustable between 800, 1600, 2400, and 3200 DPI modes. Behind the DPI switch sits a mode button which allows the user to switch between two user programmable modes which can be useful incombat for switching between DPI settings and programmable button settings.
The design has been changed to make the mouse sturdier and more substantial. On each side of the mouse is a rubberized grip, which helps during those marathon gaming sessions or even several hours of work. One purely asthetic change is that the saitek logo at the base of the back of the palm rest glows with alternating LED colors which has a surrel effect in a dark room.

The other really big change to the form factor is that the fact that the unit has adjustable weighting. By removing two bottom panels you can remove interior weights that allow for several different variations of heft to the mouse. I tried all the variations, and found that I preferred the unit at full weight. The thing that stands out to me about most Saitek products is they don’t feel cheap. The heft of the keyboards has been one of the things that sets them apart in terms of straight form factor, and the same applies to the Laser Mouse in my opinion. For those working in delicate tasks, such as computer art, they may want something not quite as heavy, and this unit certainly allows that.

Finally, I find it hard to say a lot more about this unit that wasn’t previously said about the PC Gaming Mouse. At this point, I can’t really find anything I would improve, aside from perhaps continued changes to the programming software to increase simplicity.
In short take the superlatives from my review of the PC Gaming Mouse, tack on a few more for the increased DPI, the adjustable weighting, the improved from factor, and the more comfortable design, and you have another successful product that will go just nicely next to my Eclipse II for the forseeable future.
Take all the good things about the PC Gaming Mouse and make them better. With increased rigidity, a more comfortable design, an adjustable weight, and the increase DPI all make for that much better of a mouse.

Rating: 9.3 Excellent

* The product in this article was sent to us by the developer/company.

GM3200 Laser Mouse GM3200 Laser Mouse

About Author

On my 12th birthday, I got a floppy drive, I stayed up all night playing Stock Market for Commodore 64. I owned everyone I knew at the various NHL titles for Genesis. I first learned how to code in LPC in the middle of the night from a heroine addict on the campus of Michigan State University back in 1992 when MUDding was the only ORPG there was. I was a journalism major my first time through college, and have been writing off and on since, and programmed up until 5 years ago, when I put down the tools of ignorance to become a business analyst. I'm a member of several gaming 12 step programs for MMO's, and I don't game nearly as much as I used to. I'm mostly on the lookout for items you haven't already seen reviewed 50 times, whether they are games, or just things a gamer might use. I'm now work out of GN's east coast office in Boston, and looking forward to spending the weekends my fiancee is away with Boston University Women's Hockey playing games while the snow falls. View Profile