note: I started this review before the holidays, shortly after I bought these two mice. I put it on hold due to the sad fact that the Logitech G9 laser died on me. So, you lucky readers get a bonus anecdotal review of the Logitech support and RMA process near the end of the article.

I’ve been meaning to do formal reviews on drzy for awhile. But I get too lazybusy and usually just do a three-sentence blurb in a semi-related post. But after my Logitech G5’s middle button finally annoyed me enough to seek a replacement, I decided to upgrade. That, and the fact that there are some amazing deals on mice right now. Well, amazing deals compared to their suggested retail price, anyhow.

About 4 or so months ago, I started having problems with the middle mouse wheel/button on my Logitech G5. It became increasingly difficult to click the button without having the wheel register a move. This was compounded by the fact that the wheel also seemed to be “misaligned”. As in, the wheel doesn’t register a move just on the little wheel “clicks”, but also between them sometimes, which makes for a frustrating experience not just in gaming, but even in normal browsing. I put up with this for a few months, sometimes searching the web for quick fixes or at least people to commiserate with who have the same problems. I found the latter, but none of the former. I paid good money for this mouse when it came out, yet it was out of warranty, so I had no options to get the new “improved” G5 mouse except to buy it, again. I really hate buying the same thing twice. I am convinced the design problems with the G5’s mouse wheel have to do with over-engineering. They made it not just click down, but also click to either side as well. From the moment of buying one of these, you can feel the little wiggle in the wheel due to these “enhanced” buttons. As much as I tried to make them useful, these extra buttons are completely dead weight to me, as most games don’t even recognize them.

I won’t knock the performance of the mouse, although I wished they had made a better design than the old MX5xx series, the mouse was very accurate, and I had no laser-mouse-lag problems. (Keep in mind I game at low sensitivity normally, and am definitely in the “wrist-flicking” camp).

I heard about the Logitech G9 when they first announced it a year or so ago. It sounded boring, and the shape was… er, interesting. I had no intention of upgrading. I liked some of the other Logitech mice coming out, but I definitely didn’t want a cordless. I don’t care how many Mythbuster-esque tests people have run to refute it, I can definitely feel a response difference between wired and un-wired mice. Enough to make me uncomfortable with wireless mice, and therefore, never use them for gaming.

I had not heard of the new Microsoft Sidewinder or the new Razer line until I stumbled on both of them at an infrequent visit to Best Buy. I rarely retail shop nowadays for obvious price/availability reasons. But I will go if there’s a rare occurrence of a good sale, or if I’m buying something that never drops much in price, such as console-related merchandise. So, while I’m there I may as well browse. I went through the computer section and the first thing I saw was an endcap dedicated to Razer. They had three mice out on display: a Lachesis, a DeathAdder, (neither of which I had ever heard of) and a Copperhead. When the Copperhead came out was around the time I had bought the G5. I liked the Copperhead, but I didn’t like the gel feeling middle mouse and I had heard lots of bad things about Razer drivers (although Logitech has issues with theirs, as well). So I tried my hand on all of them, and while comfortable I wasn’t impressed. I have smallish hands and the Lachesis felt way too big. The other two were just too smooth. I like hard edges to hold on to. Still they were stylish and had impressive technical specs. Keep in mind, I wasn’t really looking to replace my G5 just yet.

So I wandered further and saw the Microsoft Sidewinder. People who have been computing awhile should recognize the Sidewinder name, as Microsoft used it for their high-end mice many years ago. I owned the first Sidewinder Optical. So, I guess they decided to relaunch the name with a high-end corded gaming mouse. The first thing that grabs you is the look of it. It has very unconventional shape and buttons. They didn’t have one out of the package, but you can reasonably see/grip the thing over the clear plastic container. I sat there pawing it a bit, and deciding if I liked it or not. The strange looks appealed to me as a sort of steampunk mouse. It had two round steel over-and-under thumb buttons, a sleek design broken up by sharp overhangs, and it looked like a mutated jellyfish.

continue reading "Logitech G9 vs. Microsoft Sidewinder (vs. the G5 a little) Mouse Review"

It’s the week of dystopian movies for drzy. I just watched Children of Men tonight.

I am a tad biased, as my favorite type of books and films are social sci-fi of dystopian nature, but really most sci-fi films have a relatively bleak look at the future, even if it isn’t our own future. (or, even a long time ago… in a galaxy far far away) For the books there are many, but these type of films are few and far between. And pretty much all of the films are based on or influenced by a particular book anyways.

Anywho, the film was very good. I’m not a big fan of Clive, but he’s done a decent job in all the movies I’ve seen him in, including this one. I’ll try not to give out any spoilers here beyond what the trailers show. Man has somehow accidentally engineered fertility out of our human equation. In so doing, the world plunges into chaos, and those countries left standing become racist/nationalist to an extreme. There are rebel groups fighting the power, and there are people who are now considered subhuman that are herded into camps.

The characters in this movie are remarkably deep and original, especially considering their limited screen time. Michael Caine was awesome, as only he can be. Chiwetel Ejiofor I have a fondness for since Serenity, and he definitely does not disappoint. Julianne Moore was ok, but I’ve never thought she was that great. Even the side characters manage to have a distinct personalities rather than being Guard #1 or Police Officer #7. The characterization is the real triumph of the movie.

For those looking for an action film, you may want to skip the first half. Sure there is a bit, but most before the half is marked with philosophy and discovery. Things pick up towards the end in a stark turn towards all out war.

As with many of these films, there is no clear resolution at the end. The glimmer of hope just becomes a tad brighter.

I recommend it as worth the ticket price and maybe even worth a second viewing, if only because you are like me and had metalhead days that flattened your hearing, so that UK accents are harder for me to decipher. Much of the dialog is very good.

I also rewatched Dark City today which furthered my dystopian trend. And… I saw Rocky Balboa last night, which surprisingly was a good movie that was enjoyable.