Sunday, August 26, 2012

How To Get Speed And Precision Out Of A Razer Mouse

So I've had this the DeathAdder Razer mouse for a while now and it took me quite some time to figure how to configure it properly. After buying the mouse I could not see any difference in precision compared to my old ordinary cheap mouse and I thought I got ripped. This is me trying to draw a spiral in MSPaint with my old configuration:
I was telling myself : how is this even possible this mouse is supposed to have such a high resolution. Why is it jumping so many pixels?

So you can test it yourself in paint if you want. If you have the same problem I might have the solution. I'll follow with the guide for those who don't care for the rest of my story.

How-To

Just so you know I did only test this with Windows Vista but I personally do not expect any difference with other Windows version. To follow this guide you'll need the newest drivers (Razer Synapse Configurator 2.0) and the Windows mouse panel open.
 

  1. Try to draw a spiral in MsPaint just to be able to compare precision later.
  2. In the windows mouse configuration panel (Not the Razer one), in some tab lower the speed of the mouse to 2 or 3 notches higher than the minimum, your mouse should be very slow right now. Don't worry we'll come back to that later. Improve mouse precision should be disabled (more on that later). Apply the changes but don't close the window yet.
  3. In the Razer Configurator turn up the DPI and polling settings to the maximum (to get the maximum resolution). I prefer no (as in zero) acceleration personally.
  4. Now go back to the Windows mouse configuration and adjust the speed to your liking. Apply.
  5. Draw an other spiral in paint. Compare.

The Problem

So the problem was that the windows configuration of my previous mouse was still in the windows panel. The speed configuration there was at the maximum and the only way windows makes a slow mouse fast is by skipping pixels.

When I plugged in my new Razor mouse I did not think to go back in the windows settings, I was just playing with the configuration in the software provided, and after setting the speed to my liking I still did not have any precision. No matter what configuration I put in the Razer software, Windows already decided it was going to skip pixels.

About Increasing Precision in the Windows panel

I tried it, it gave good precision results but while gaming it felt like there was deceleration in the mouse when I was trying to go too fast. So I did not like it.

Hibernation problem

After I updated in to the new driver, my computer would wake up immediately after I hit the hibernation button in windows. To solve this problem go in the device manager in windows and in the properties of anything mouse related, uncheck the check-box that  allows to wake the computer.

Razer DeathAdder Mouse Review

Let me tell you that if I had not found a way to configure this mouse I would have made a pretty negative review. At least now the precision is working. I was so frustrated earlier, I really thought the product was a scam. Now I can say that I like the precision/speed, the two buttons on the left side and the wheel. However the two main buttons are so long (half the mouse's length) that if I advance my hand too much on the mouse, it triggers unwanted clicks. With my hand size the mouse becomes quite uncomfortable in the position that does not provoke those unwanted clicks. Maybe someone with either a larger or smaller hands would find it more comfortable and practical. I think its the combination of  the long buttons and the round shape in the middle that makes it bad. Overall I do not recommend it. After paying so much, I expected more comfort than with my older cheap mouse. I would give it 5/10.

Sunday, August 12, 2012

Diablo III: Inferno Cleared

Inferno Clear

So I had stopped playing mostly but once in a while a would play with friends. Alone none of us was really able to do well in act 4, but with two monks with mantras and my barb with WarCry we were able to steadily advance. Once in a while we would still face a boss we would not be able to kill and that was frustrating.

We finally killed Izual and before our next session I decided to bypass the rest of the game using Sprint. I then tried Diablo alone and killed him successfully on my first try.

At our next gaming session, my friends were just glad that I could share the way-point with them and we killed Diablo together. Let me tell you that Diablo is a lot easier than the randomly generated bosses that you find in Act 4 (and Act 3 maybe ?).

Wicked Wizard

After that I stumbled on the wind-up wizard site and that gave me the motivation to try the Wicked Wind/Critical Mass combo. Basically you stack Energy Twisters on monsters and it makes the cool-downs of your other skill to replenish very fast. With enough monsters it allows to maintain Frost Nova and Diamon Skin permanently.

Without much investment I was able to steamroll Act 1 and Act 2 of Inferno. Right now my wizard is stuck in act 3, and it would require a bit of farming to get enough resists to be able to go through act 3.

The build is a lot of fun so we'll see if the upcoming patch will be able to get me back into the game.

Farming Act 1 (Not as quick as with my DH but a lot more fun)