Power Overwhelming

I'm overly exciting today. Why? Because I managed to get my hand on one of the sexiest computer peripherals available.

The Razer Naga Molten.

From Naga

OK sure I got the standard Naga a few months ago while I was still playing WoW and some might say its a mere re-skin of an existing model but listen to this, there's the Naga, Naga Epic(cordless), Molten and the unreleased Maelstrom. Thats 4 mouse with the same overall design and 2 of then have the same visual features but Razer realised they hit something good to keep churning out variants.

So lets do a small comparison of the 2 that I currently own. The box includes a small facelift on the front while the sides panels are complete redone for the molten

From Naga

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Flipping open the front cover reveals the exact same things except for minor color differences

From Naga

From Naga

BTW the one that's unboxed is the blue one which I've been using till now

The packaging is fairly sturdy with multiple layers of plastic trays

From Naga

...but we don't really care about that so lets get onto the mouse.

From Naga

Visually the mouse is very impressive. Its sleek, black and badass. The cracks are molded into the rubber coating which covers the entire top of the mouse for extra grip and supple comfort.

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The main selling point of this beast
That's right 12 thumb buttons plus the standard 5 buttons for a grand total of SEVENTEEN re-mappable buttons and for an MMO player its a dream come true. Buttons 4-6 and 10-12 have ridges on them to help users become accustom to the many buttons by giving tactile feedback on were you thumb is.

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Sleek...

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It comes with a 7ft braided fiber cord which is very durable and doesn't like to tangle

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and a gold plated USB connector

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Side by side there isnt really any difference between the 2

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The engravings on the Standard Naga is more simple but has its own charms

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aaand excuse all the streaks all over the mouse. I had to wipe it down with some cleaning wipes to degrease it( yes the rubber coating loves grease) before I give it to Ivan who was kind enough to buy it off me woot.

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Spot the difference

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The main left and right buttons are 1 piece with the rubber top and as you can see there is a large travel distance for your clicks which to me feels more comfortable and I know a click has been made and spamming it is more enjoyable.

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Let there be light!

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Selling point 2. LEDs makes stuff sexy period. Here is the biggest and only difference between Naga series of mice. Can you tell which one is the molten?

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Desk lamp off

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Computer monitor off

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Enjoy some out of focus close ups

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And in complete darkness

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.
The standard Naga shines abit brighter and has a more clean and sophisticated look
oh and did I mention that the Molten along with the disappearing Maelstrom supposedly were designed for Wow Cataclysm .

OK so I talked a whole bunch of about the looks of the mouse. What about the specs and how well does it perform? TBH with you I don't think I'm qualified enough to say whats good or bad with this mouse but I'll try to give you my persona opinion if its worth anything.

First off, it was made for MMOs where macroing and hotkeys are the norm. For instance I use to play as a bear druid which translates into a tank and to some people tanking is a very focused role with too many buttons to worry about. Initially I was a bit apprehensive about tanking but blah blah I totally pooned while using this mouse and gradually became so lazy I couldn't play the game with a normal mouse anymore.

On your average mice the thumb operated 2-4 buttons and 2 of these being the forward and backwards button as set by default. These 2 buttons on the Naga are abit strange and requires you to press them with ur index finger as it sits just off to the side of the left click and it does take a while to get use to the strange feeling of angling your index finger out that way.

The lack of dpi on the fly button is abit disappointing instead your required to change the dpi through the downloadable software which becomes abit of a hassle but hey unless you're playing FPS thats not really a problem. The scroll wheel is very solid and only scrolls when you need it to and i believe there is no side to side scrolling but meh I never used it.

And thats pretty much about it from me.

Here's some more pics of stuff I don't care about which comes out of the box

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Oh and here's a few pics of my tank(ard). Yeah Yeah I'm a WoW nerd =P

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THIS IS MADNESS!!!

From Naga

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WORLDS UGLIEST MOUSE

For those who follow our blog, you may already know that I normally use a Logitech MX revolution, and also keep a Microsoft Sidewinder as a spare mouse. More often than not, im rather reluctant to use the Sidewinder as it isnt really the most comfy, or the best looking mouse in the world. Im mean look at it below....its hideous. But now, for the next week or so, i’ll be stuck with this mouse, hence im just here to rant about it.

Previously, I had made a short post about the Sidewinder. However after reviewing the post, i realised i made one big mistake. And that was to take a photo of a black mouse, on the black icemat v2.
Earlier on in the year, I traded my icemat for a similar mousepad made by steelseries. In terms of surface, its identical to the icemat, just different in colour. So why the trade? Long story short, Sum didn’t want a piece of white glass on his desk, so i was kind enough to trade him mine.
So back to the reason why im stuck with the Sidewinder for the next week or two.
For starters, Sum’s MX1100 died, so while its going through its lengthy warranty process, i was kind enough to lend him one of my mice. Knowing that he’d complain about the lack of buttons and the unergonomic design of the sidewinder, i’d decided to lend him my MX rev, just to keep him happy.

So lets look at some of the technical specs
Microsoft claims that this is a 10button mouse



so 1-5 is what you get with a standard 5 button mouse
6 is a record macro button (cannot be reprogrammed and hard to reach)
7-9 are dpi sensitivity buttons (cannot be remapped)
10 is a unusual button that launches the Games folder on your computer. The folder that contains solitaire and mine sweeper etc.... Utterly useless button. Positioned right underneath your palm, so VERY hard to access, and like most of the other buttons, cant be remapped.
So as far as buttons go, its really just a 5 button mouse.

One of the positive things about this mouse is the laser sensor in this mouse. It can be adjusted from 2000 dpi to as low as 200.
As this mouse is all about looking bad, Microsoft even had to put a metallic rim around the laser sensor, just to emphasise its importance.


Speaking of looks, we’ll now go into detail about its ugliness.
For starters...
Looks somewhat like the neon lights you’d find under a street car, but red. To be honest, i wouldn’t mind half as much if this was blue, but red.....hurts my eyes when i try to sleep with this mouse plugged in.

The lights from underneath....looks rather demonic.

The Back and Forward buttons. Personally, i don’t really mind the bling chrome. However, when i first started using this mouse, i got a little bit confused as to which is the forward and back button. These bling buttons gives a really distinctive loud mechanical click when you press down on it.

The scroll wheel Click on picture to view the details. Its a clicky wheel. Which for me is a definite no no. Smooth scrolling feels better, and is a lot nicer to my ears, especially when scrolling down long webpages. Also, no tilt (horizontal scrolling available), which is kinda odd, since Microsoft started introducing tilt scroll to their mice long before the birth of the sidewinder.


Next up is the accessories included with this mouse

For starters, the weights. Well, its not a necessary thing in a mouse, but it is a nice optional extra.
I use weights to simulate the weight of the battery in the MX rev. Also a heavier mouse glided better around a glass surface.

Cable anchor, also doubles as a box to hold 2 different sets of feet for the mouse, and also houses any unused weights.

Heres the anchor in action. Basically you loop the cable through and put the lid ontop of the box…..
Its supposed to stop the cable from going everywhere, but its still rather useless.


Now moving onto the comforts of this mouse. This is by far not the most ergonomic mouse in the world. Looking at the pic below, you can see that Microsoft has attempted to put a tiny bit of effort in, but clearly not enough. After around 10minutes of usage, my hand gets tired. I’ve tried different ways of grip, but it just doesn’t seem to help.



So after all that, I think I’ll go back to using the touchdisc on my beloved dinovo edge.

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