Razer Copperhead Laser Mouse

Reviews: Peripherals

Accessories | Gaming Devices | Keyboards / Mice | Printers

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Bradford Day
Brian
Razer
Dec. 15, 2005

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Testing: Synapse Software

After you've stared at the pretty lights for a while, you had better install the driver and customization software. While the mouse will operate just fine with the generic Windows drivers, the Razer Synapse software allows for unique profile settings and on-the-fly DPI resolution and sensitivity switching. A diagram showing the Copperhead's button layout can be used to assign duties to each button as you see fit. Submenus allow for mouse sensitivity settings and the X and Y axis can be adjusted independently. Individual user profiles can be set and loaded as well by adjusting the data polling rate, button configurations and DPI settings.

The Copperhead can hold 5 different profiles. Profiles can be swapped using the Synapse software, by using a pre-customized button or by pressing the flush button on the bottom of the mouse. The glowing blue lights flash 2 times for profile #2, 3 times for profile #3, etc! By default the right hand mouse side buttons are set for on-the-fly DPI switching. The user profiles can be uploaded to the mouse and stored in its 32KB of onboard memory. It takes a couple seconds to upload the info, similar to loading data onto a flash drive. A handy side effect of having onboard memory to store personal profiles is that no driver is required should you want to plug your Copperhead into another computer.

Testing: In-Game Usage

My game testing of this mouse consisted of several sessions of various first person shooters, Counter-Strike: Source, Soldier of Fortune 2, etc! However, the bulk of the testing was carried out with my newest addiction, Call of Duty 2 Multi-Player. I spent several hours fragging my friends with this mouse in various CoD2 servers. Like with any change of hardware, there was a break-in period. The 2,000 DPI Copperhead is highly sensitive and what are normally small motions translate to massive movements on screen. Adjusting the DPI to a lower setting will help you to get used to the sensitive laser.

The Copperhead picks up the slightest hand motion and outputs smooth gliding action. It took me a while to get used to the new level of sensitivity. With the right side mouse buttons I adapted using the in-game adjustment of the DPI resolution. In some game situations, the rapid movement of 2,000 DPI is of great advantage. Lower DPI settings aid in steadying your aim and slowing your finer movements. Razer also touts a continuously active laser engine. This feature keeps the mouse from going to "sleep" after several seconds of stillness and theoretically removes lag. While this is a concern for some wireless mice, I've not experienced any issues of sleep lag from wired mice of any kind. All the same, the Copperhead is lag free.

Despite the on-the-fly DPI adjustments and smooth motion, I had a hard time getting familiar with this mouse. While the laser delivers accurate tracking, the compact size of the Copperhead didn't fit my large hand very well. In the process of tracking my opponents, my hand continually cramped up. However, the Copperhead's slim size didn't contribute to my hand cramping so much as the poor location of the DPI adjustment buttons. The right hand side default layout is absolutely painful and the nearly flush side buttons are difficult to actuate. Not only is it hard on the fingers, the DPI is damn near impossible to adjust while in the middle of a game.

About now you are saying to yourself, "Brad, why don't you just re-map the buttons to a more comfortable position?" A good question, thanks for asking. The left side thumb buttons are well positioned and far easier to use. Unfortunately, if you set the thumb buttons to DPI switching, you pretty much negate the usefulness of having additional side-mounted buttons for game use. This mouse would benefit greatly from a couple extra top mounted buttons and maybe just one side button located closer to the front of the device that the user's fingers can actually reach.

On the plus side, the glowing gripping surface (or GlowPipe as Razer calls it) surrounding the outer edges does a good job of keeping your hand stuck to the mouse. The large primary buttons are comfortable and the satiny, rubberized feel is easy on the fingertips. The middle scroll button clicks predictably with preset scrolling stop points allowing for easy weapon switching or page scrolling. A better solution to the clumsy DPI switching is to set one button to on-the-fly sensitivity switching. Sensitivity is a filtering method that can be changed in increments of 5%. Depress the sensitivity switching button and adjust the settings with the middle mouse button by rolling it up and down. A bar graph will appear in the lower right hand section of your screen displaying your sensitivity level. Combined with the DPI switching, several precise layers of in game adjustment can be reached.

Testing: Graphics and Browsing

Fiddling with PhotoShop usually highlights the drawbacks of most mice. Laser mice are excellent for fine detail work when using graphics software. The Copperhead is no exception!for small-handed graphic artists. Easy gliding feet help to move the mouse across the mouse pad with little to no effort. Swapping design tools is easy and quick.

For those times when you aren't shooting your friends online, you might want to know if the Copperhead is worth using to browse mod and map download sites. By default the left side thumb buttons (the well placed ones) are set to web browser forward/back. You can, of course, customize the buttons to your liking whenever you are surfing. The right side buttons (the poorly placed ones) aren't as annoying when browsing as compared to in-game use. Gaming is still the main purpose for this mouse; so don't expect it to be a perfect example of a desktop/graphics mouse.

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Page 1: Introduction
Page 2: First Looks
Page 3: Testing
Page 4: Conclusion

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