Okay, so its not the R.A.T. 9 that I’m drooling over – I’m through with battery-operated stuffs and wireless keyboards that I’m probably never going to own one myself. I’m a lazy guy, and I don’t want to have to troubleshoot my own computer when something goes wrong – I do that enough for other people, and I haven’t been let down yet. I will say, though, that my mouse needs a serious upgrade.
I first heard about the R.A.T. series in February last year via a viral video showing off the R.A.T. family’s unique ability – using a set of gears neatly integrated into the mouse, you can adjust it to fit your hand and the style in which you use it, claw or grip. I was initially (and still am) gobsmacked at the asking price, but I suppose if you’ve got the kind of cash to buy this mouse, you probably won’t have an issue with anything else either. You’re looking for something to augment your gaming.
The R.A.T. family’s signature feature is the huge room for adjusting the mouse for comfort or practicality. You get a set of different thumb and palm grips and weighted washers and a few other spare ends. You can adjust the thumb rest location, the tail end of the mouse and even how heavy it feels. One of the biggest grips people have with mouse reviews is that not everyone feels comfortable with a Razer Naga, for instance, while others will take to it like a fat kid to his favourite chocolate mousse cake.
Other notable features of the R.A.T. 7 are the thumb wheel and action button, both of which I hope to see picked up by other manufacturers. The scrollable wheel by the thumb is customisable and Maximum PC found that it was perfect for switching through weapons in fast FPS titles. Productivity-wise, it could also be configured to switch through browser tabs, run through folders or a myriad of other things which someone could program for it. Its better than having a million buttons on the left side and an LCD panel hidden under your pinky.
Lots of spare parts for you, and most importantly the choice of doing what you want with the mouse.
The action button is coloured red, and always in the same position on the adjustable thumb rest. When pressed, the mouse temporarily lowers the DPI level to around 1600, giving you more control when sniping someone hundreds of meters away and useful if you chose to have shaky hands at that same moment.
Specs wise, the R.A.T. 7 equals its more expensive wireless cousin with a 5600 DPI count, polling rates up to 1Ghz (utterly useless for most scenarios, but a welcome improvement nontheless), tracking speeds up to 6m/s, seven buttons with five being programmable, three switchable modes giving you up to 15 button combinations and interchangeable palm and pinkie grips. Its also interesting that Cyborg used a sort of matte paint for the grips, and its likely that you can take apart the R.A.T. 7, custom-paint the panels and put them back together without fuss.
Its well worth your consideration if you’re shopping around the Logitech G9 territory, and also a great buy if you’re one of those people who chop and change their styles to suit their mood every so often. If you’re one of those people, the R.A.T. 7 has something for you.
Buy it now: Jump Price comparison, Pricecheck.co.za comparison
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