To make the lefty gamers feel more at home here, we have an extra Razer DeathAdder Left-Hand Edition gaming mouse lying around that we will be giving away to one lucky reader! And if you haven’t already read our review, then you definitely should. To enter the giveaway, all you have to do is leave a comment in the original giveaway post and you’ll automatically be entered into a random drawing. Sound good? Good. Be sure to get your comment in by 11:59PM EST on Friday, September 3rd.

Some Basic Rules

- Only U.S. residents are able to enter. Sorry, foreigners.
- Only one comment will be counted per reader.
- Please don’t use multiple email addresses. We have evil robots that check.
- The winner will be randomly selected and then immediately notified via email for further action.

View the official rules here.

Microsoft announced today their new Arc Touch Mouse which looks to be the competitor of Apple’s Magic Mouse, but we’re not 100% on that. You can obviously tell that the mouse has quite a weird looking form to it that probably will only attract a handful of users. The mouse has the usual left- and right-click buttons, and where the scroll wheel would usually reside is a capacitive touch strip with sensor pads that can be used for scrolling (obviously) and any customizable shortcuts that you’d like.

The Arc Touch Mouse will retail at a nickel shy of $70 and will be available in December, but they’re accepting. To see more photos and a quick hands-on video of the device, head on over to Engadget.

[Product Page], [Press Release]

If you didn’t know (and you should), AMD owns ATI. Now that we settled that, the micro processor manufacturer is finally throwing out the ATI brand. They will keep the names of the product lines, such as Radeon, Eyefinity, and FirePro, but instead of it being called ATI Radeon, it will now be known as AMD Radeon.

This really isn’t a huge surprise. Some people have already been referring to ATI as AMD, even though it was still ATI. And they both sound the same anyway; three letters, both start with ‘A’, both are medioc…..erm…..you get the picture.

via [Tech Report]

To make the lefty gamers feel more at home here, we have an extra Razer DeathAdder Left-Hand Edition gaming mouse lying around that we will be giving away to one lucky reader! And if you haven’t already read our review, then you definitely should. To enter the giveaway, all you have to do is leave a comment in this post and you’ll automatically be entered into a random drawing. Sound good? Good. Be sure to get your comment in by 11:59PM EST on Friday, September 3rd.

Some Basic Rules

- Only U.S. residents are able to enter. Sorry, foreigners.
- Only one comment will be counted per reader.
- Please don’t use multiple email addresses. We have evil robots that check.
- The winner will be randomly selected and then immediately notified via email for further action.

View the official rules here.

I’ve been waiting for the day when big-name peripheral manufacturers would start making left-handed products for the few and the proud. Logitech was first with a left-handed version of the MX 610. Now, Razer is wanting in on the left-handed action with their new DeathAdder Left-Hand Edition. It’s not the first left-handed mouse, but the  company claims it’s the first left-handed gaming mouse. We’ll give it to ‘em. Myself being left handed (and using right-handed mice all my life), I wanted to check this thing out and see what ergonomic mayhem I was missing out on my whole life.

The left-handed DeathAdder is pretty much just a mirrored version of the normal right-handed DeathAdder. It has the two main click buttons, which are switched (The “left click” button is on the right side and vice versa), as well as the scroll wheel that lights up and then the two thumb buttons, which reside on the right side of the mouse. It also has the same 3.5G sensor that can deliver up to 3500DPI. It’s a pretty simple mouse when you think about it. Not a whole lot to it.

So, since it’s a left-handed mouse, how does it feel for left handers like myself? Well, to be completely honest, I’d rather stick with my right-handed Logitech VX Revolution, for a couple of reasons. The DeathAdder doesn’t have as many buttons as my VX Revolution, which has thumb buttons, “zoom” controls, a separate button above the scroll wheel, and side scroll buttons. Trust me, I use all of these buttons and not having them during my time with the DeathAdder was kind of frustrating.

Another annoyance was how the left and right click buttons were switched to accommodate the left handers. You would think lefties would love this, but I personally found it irritating. I’ve always used the left and right click buttons just the way they are, so it was frustrating when they were switched on me. Yes, I could probably easily get used to it in a month or two, but then every other computer I would go to, I would have re-teach myself how to use the mouse.

The left-handed contour of the DeathAdder feels pretty good in my hand. However, gamers with smaller hands might have a difficult time reaching the front thumb button.

To quickly wrap-up, this isn’t the mouse for me, even though it’s meant for me. It could certainly be different for other left handers, though. You might like how the main click buttons are switched and you might not mind that the only extra buttons are just the thumbs buttons. Nonetheless, it’s a very well built mouse that definitely lives up to the Razer name. No doubt about that.

[Product Page]

Score: 8 Olives

While the MX Revolution is still one of the best mice I’ve ever had the pleasure to use, I was ecstatic to review the second generation of this amazing mouse, which is the Performance Mouse MX. Logitech finally sent over a review unit and it’s time to see how this mouse compares to its predecessor.

*Above: Side-by-side comparison of the Performance Mouse MX on the left and the MX Revolution on the right.

Right away, I was surprised how much the design changed from the original MX Revolution. Unfortunately, some of these changes worked against the mouse’s overall appeal. What made the MX Revolution such a new and unique mouse was its extreme styles, curves and incredible ergonomics all mixed together with awesome technology and versatility. These curves gave the mouse a feeling of it being huge without it actually being very much larger or heavier than most wireless mice on the market. However, the Performance Mouse MX seems to have scaled back and slapped on fewer buttons that are smaller and tighter-grouped. What you get as a result is just a couple extra buttons and a much tighter grouping of the thumb buttons, which makes their use in heated gaming almost unrealistic, since the chances of you hitting the right button quickly are low.

Staying with this topic, we move onto the mouse’s scroll wheel. The scrolling action of the wheel is great and allows you to easily change between regular scrolling and Logitech’s frictionless scrolling modes. However, it’s the middle button and side-scrolling (pressing left and right on the wheel) buttons that are painfully unresponsive and mushy. Even when not gaming, it can be hard to reliably issue a command with these buttons, which can lead to a lot of frustration no matter what task you’re performing.

While the MX Revolution’s 800DPI never had me wanting more, the Performance Mouse MX received a bump to 1500DPI, and that’s nothing to be ashamed of. You also get Logitech’s Darkfield technology that allows you to use the mouse on just about any surface, including my glass desk, which it performed flawlessly on. There’s also Logitech’s Unifying receiver that allows you to use multiple Logitech products simultaneously with just one tiny wireless USB receiver. As a result of these updates, you get shortened battery life when compared to the original MX Revolution. While it’ll still last a few days of standard use before it starts begging for more juice, it’s a far cry from the 7+ days that you’d get out of a single MX Revolution charge, but this is counter-weighted by the new, on-the-fly charging setup for the Performance Mouse MX, which comes in the form of a USB charging cable (which also comes with an adapter to charge in a standard wall socket) that allows you to charge the mouse while continuing to use it.

As one has come to expect of Logitech’s premium mice, the Performance Mouse MX’s build quality and use of high quality materials give it a fantastic feeling in your hand. Add that to the ergonomics and you’ve got what is possibly the most comfortable and reliable mouse on the market right now.

[Product Page]

Scores

Price: 8
Priced at $99.99 (direct from Logitech) it is hard to seriously consider this mouse over the gaming equivalent that you could get for around the same price. However, considering the reliability of the Logitech brand, you’re paying for quality and longevity. And, if you have the patience to wait for a nice discount, you should have no trouble getting the mouse for much less than sticker price.

Setup/Install: N/A
Other than just plugging it in, you can install the optional Logitech software. That’s it.

Ease of Use: 10
While not mandatory to the mouse’s function, Logitech’s software suite offers you tons of settings ranging from simple button rebinds to advanced gaming profiles and program-specific button layouts. The best part of all this? It’s impressively simple to work with. The software is very well laid out and has a very fresh and clean user interface.

Performance: 7
Despite the lower-than-others DPI count, you have to remember that the Performance Mouse MX isn’t designed exclusively for gaming. And with Logitech’s fantastic wireless, Unifying, and Darkfield technologies, this mouse is packed with high-performing features, not just good looks. However, due to the poor placement of its thumb buttons, it becomes difficult to use them without accidentally pressing others which can become a little frustrating.

Features: 10
While the removal of a charging dock is a disappointment, this new setup allows you to keep using the mouse even while it’s charging, so no time is lost waiting on the mouse’s battery to return from the dead. All the cables and adapters even come in a nice carrying pouch that keeps the mouse mobile.

Overall: 8 Olives

At GameCom today, Razer revealed the newest addition to their keyboard lineup. The BlackWidow is a mechanical gaming keyboard (the very first, according to Razer) that allows for longer life of the keyboard and also faster response times and a more tactile feel to the key presses. And, if you opt for the Ultimate edition, you get backlit keys and extra ports on the keyboard for your mouse and headset.

The BlackWidow comes in two flavors: standard and ultimate, priced at $79.99 and $129.99, respectively. The keyboard is scheduled to ship out on September 21st, so get those pre-orders in!

[Press Release]

Logitech announced today the next generation of their G-series line: a new headset, mouse and keyboard to drool over.

“The new G-Series products give every gamer a competitive advantage. Whether it’s a headset with 7.1 surround sound, a mouse with 13 controls, or a keyboard with an LCD that displays critical in-game stats, everything about the new G-Series lineup helps you win, no matter what game you love to play.” — Elliott Chin, Logitech’s senior manager of product marketing for gaming.

The freshly announced G930 headset looks poised to either replace the G35 or hold a nice spot just above it with its wireless technology and $159.99 price tag. Next, is the G700 wireless gaming mouse priced at $99.99, which seems to fill the spot just above the G500 and compete with the Razer Mamba. And finally, we come to the G510 keyboard which, at $119.99, looks to be an updated G15 Rev. 2.

[Press Release]

While, water-cooled memory isn’t quite a complete fad, Kingston is trying to change that with their new HyperX H2O line. The DDR3 modules utilize a simple tube that water passes through to keep the sticks cool. Kits come in both dual-channel (4GB) and triple-channel (6GB) variations starting at $157 and $235 respectively, with 2,000MHz (also 2,133MHz) speeds and CL9-11-9-27 timings at 1.65 volts.

[Press Release], [Product Page]

One port that rules them all! USB is the most widely used port in existence, so it only makes sense to honor the great history of the early days of USB in this month’s Retro Review.

The USB was created to essentially be a user-friendly interface to connect devices to your PC. Before the USB, there was obviously the legacy ports (parallel, serial, PS/2, etc.), which are sadly still being used today by the few and the proud. Back then, you only had one of each port, sometimes two. So if you had multiple devices with the same port, you’d have to get an expansion card with more serial or parallel ports on it. Also, parallel devices required custom drivers and serial devices had to be configured properly (baud rate, parity, etc.)

In short, this was all just a pain in the rear end, but along came the USB.

The Universal Serial Bus interface was invented by Ajay Bhatt of Intel and development began in 1994. USB 1.1 was, in fact, not the first revision. USB 1.0 was introduced in 1996 with a transfer rate of 12 Mbps, as well as a lower transfer rate of 1.5 Mbps for lower bandwidth peripherals. USB 1.1 wasn’t brought into the world until 1998. It had the same transfer rate of 12 Mbps/1.5 Mbps as USB 1.0 and even though it wasn’t the first ever USB revision, it was the first revision to be widely adopted.

How did it become widely adopted? Well, a part of it had to do with issues that were fixed from 1.0, but one of the biggest reasons was…wait for it…the Apple iMac.

When USB started showing up on Windows machines, many people didn’t really make the move over to the new interface right away, simply because they still had their legacy ports. The iMac was the first computer to include USB ports, but no legacy ports. This pretty much forced users to start using USB devices.

USB 2.0 was introduced in 2000, with a transfer rate of 480 Mbps, forty times faster than USB 1.1. USB 3.0 was unveiled in 2008, with a theoretical rate of 4 Gbps. What will the future of USB bring us? How much longer until USB 3.0 becomes the standard? When will USB 4.0 be out? Will USB even last? A lot of questions can be asked, but one thing’s for sure: USB 1.1 is what started a revolution.