Tech Olive

For The Mamba Files: Month 8 we’ll be shifting focus a bit from the Mamba itself. We’ll be talking about the charging dock that also doubles as the Mamba’s wireless receiver. Adorned with a nice blue glowing base and a stylish design (with or without the mouse perched atop), one could be forgiven for wondering just how much there can really be said about this device. Well, truth be told, I am left with wanting a bit more from the dock at times and that’s exactly what we’ll be focusing on this month.

As I mentioned previously, the Mamba’s dock works both as the charging station for the Mamba’s internal battery and as the Mamba’s wireless receiver. The dock’s cable is also what you would plug into the Mamba if you wanted to switch the mouse to wired mode. Of course, this combo unit setup makes things a lot easier and cleaner, but the down-side is a slight but undeniable lack of portability.

With previous wireless mice that I’ve used, there was a charging dock that plugged into the wall and a separate USB wireless receiver. While this seems a bit unnecessary at first, it actually makes the mouse fantastically portable. For example, if I was headed to a friend’s house for a day of gaming, I could just take the mouse and its receiver and not worry about my charger for the most part.  However, with the Mamba, I would be forced to take the mouse, its cable and the charging dock/receiver. Of course, I could just take the cable, but that would negate the mouse’s wireless functionality completely.

So when it all comes down to it, you’ve got a small list of pros and cons that almost completely cancel each other out making this a very close competition between a combo dock and separate charging/receiver units. Hopefully this article (and the entire Mamba Files series, for that matter) has helped you make your final which-mouse-to-purchase decision.

MAMBA QUALITY UPDATE:

After our Maintenance article, the Mamba itself is solid and reliable again. However, the charging dock is another story. In recent weeks, there have been issues with getting the mouse to properly charge on the dock. I have to fiddle with it and shift it around a bit on the dock before it will charge. I’ve checked and cleaned the connections with no luck. It’s still a minor annoyance, but undoubtedly one that would be covered by the Mamba’s warranty.

Be sure to check our previous Mamba Files if you haven’t seen them, and watch out next month for our thoughts on Razer’s offered upgrade Teflon feet for the Mamba!