Posted by Dennis Plank on March 6, 2014 at 7:10 PM
Perhaps an odd topic for a photography website, but bear with me for a sentence or two. My old mouse was starting to act up and I have had problems with wireless mice in the past. I started poking around on the internet for wired mice because they're getting difficult to find in stores.
I ran across this on (and many others) on NewEgg. This is billed as a "Professional Gaming Mouse" and is obviously being marketed at the computer gaming crowd. However, it has several features that make it an excellent choice for photographers.
It has a built-in memory that allows storage of three custom profiles in addition to the default configuration. Each of those profiles allows you to assign different functions to each of the eight buttons and this can include assigning macros. I haven't gotten into this aspect yet, but I suspect you could assign them to Photoshop shortcuts without undue difficulty. The feature I am particularly fond of is the ability to assign four different mouse "sensitivities" to each profile and change them on the fly while using the mouse. These are defined in dots per inch (dpi) and the range is advertised as 100-8200, though the minimum I've found in their software is actually 200. However this allows extraordinarily fine control when making a selection in Photoshop. For my taste and coordination, I have the minimum set at two hundred and the maximum at about 4200 with the two intermediate sensitivities spread more or less evenly between them. If you have other software you regularly use where you want faster mouse control, just set up one of the other profiles with four other speeds. The two arrow buttons behind the scroll wheel are the up and down for changing the sensitivity and the four white leds on the side tell you which level you are at. You can assign different color schemes to the main leds for each profile you set up, so you know which one you're using and profiles can be changed at the click of a button on the side of the mouse.
The ergonomics for my medium sized right handedness seem quite good with operation being very smooth. The clicks are nice and soft but very crisp. The cord has braided insulation for durability and ease of use and it is reasonably long.
The only downside thus far is the usual geeky lack of documentation. The packaging literally comes with nothing I would consider an instruction, nor does it come with the required software to customize it. However, their website http://www.cmstorm.com/en/products/peripherals/Havoc/ does have relatively easy to find links for downloading a manual and the software. Don't bother downloading what they call a manual as it is just a duplication of the non-information on the box. The software was simple to install and quite intuitive to use at least at a basic level and there is a support group of some kind, though I haven't had reason to resort to it. I suspect they would be useful for writing macros.
Given my basic klutziness, this mouse seems to be a great advantage as I can actually do work in Photoshop without having to correct to many false moves.
Thanks for the post Dennis. I'm having problems with my mouse and have had on and off for some time. Even a WIRED mouse! I suspect it's some kind of interference with my WACOM tablet, but it's very frustrating to deal with. I'm going to try this one and see what happens. I like my tablet, but if this mouse can give me the kind of sensitivity you're talking about, maybe I can uninstall the tablet.
I have a WACOM Intuos 4 tablet and I use the WACOM mouse with it. If you don't have one, you can order direct from them. Their mouse is wireless, working directly on the tablet. This would prevent any conflicts.
Discussion
2 repliesI ran across this on (and many others) on NewEgg. This is billed as a "Professional Gaming Mouse" and is obviously being marketed at the computer gaming crowd. However, it has several features that make it an excellent choice for photographers.
It has a built-in memory that allows storage of three custom profiles in addition to the default configuration. Each of those profiles allows you to assign different functions to each of the eight buttons and this can include assigning macros. I haven't gotten into this aspect yet, but I suspect you could assign them to Photoshop shortcuts without undue difficulty. The feature I am particularly fond of is the ability to assign four different mouse "sensitivities" to each profile and change them on the fly while using the mouse. These are defined in dots per inch (dpi) and the range is advertised as 100-8200, though the minimum I've found in their software is actually 200. However this allows extraordinarily fine control when making a selection in Photoshop. For my taste and coordination, I have the minimum set at two hundred and the maximum at about 4200 with the two intermediate sensitivities spread more or less evenly between them. If you have other software you regularly use where you want faster mouse control, just set up one of the other profiles with four other speeds. The two arrow buttons behind the scroll wheel are the up and down for changing the sensitivity and the four white leds on the side tell you which level you are at. You can assign different color schemes to the main leds for each profile you set up, so you know which one you're using and profiles can be changed at the click of a button on the side of the mouse.
The ergonomics for my medium sized right handedness seem quite good with operation being very smooth. The clicks are nice and soft but very crisp. The cord has braided insulation for durability and ease of use and it is reasonably long.
The only downside thus far is the usual geeky lack of documentation. The packaging literally comes with nothing I would consider an instruction, nor does it come with the required software to customize it. However, their website http://www.cmstorm.com/en/products/peripherals/Havoc/ does have relatively easy to find links for downloading a manual and the software. Don't bother downloading what they call a manual as it is just a duplication of the non-information on the box. The software was simple to install and quite intuitive to use at least at a basic level and there is a support group of some kind, though I haven't had reason to resort to it. I suspect they would be useful for writing macros.
Given my basic klutziness, this mouse seems to be a great advantage as I can actually do work in Photoshop without having to correct to many false moves.
Hope this helps someone.
I have a WACOM Intuos 4 tablet and I use the WACOM mouse with it. If you don't have one, you can order direct from them. Their mouse is wireless, working directly on the tablet. This would prevent any conflicts.
--P