• On TV.com: Sexy summer bodies photo gallery
August 11, 2008 4:15 PM PDT

NZXT's new Avatar mouse: license to pwn

by Dong Ngo

Avatar: the no-more-excuses gaming mouse.

(Credit: NZXT)

It's always been my pet peeve in gaming when the guy on the other side blames the equipment (i.e. "I have bad lag" or "my mouse skips") for his defeat, making my pwnage a little less glorious. Well, get a new mouse, I say.

And not just any mouse, a good gaming mouse.

NZXT, a company that makes accessories for gamers, released on Monday the newest of those mice. Called Avatar, the mouse is designed to provide gamers with significant enhancements in gaming with a few breakthrough features.

First, it sports a 2600dpi optical sensor, providing maximum sensitivity and responsiveness to yield unparalleled onscreen accuracy. To put this in context, most optical mice have a sensor with 1000dpi or less. The Avatar also has an LED dpi indicator that gives the user improved usage and feedback. It also incorporates a four-speed dpi switch that enables you to go from slow movement--perfect for sniping--to quick attack movement in a matter of seconds.

Secondly, the Avatar comes with a great deal of customization. It has seven programmable keys that can be assigned specific functions to accomodate different genres of games such as first-person shooter, real-time strategy, or MMORP all within the macro and profile settings.

Last but not least, the Avatar boasts a very ergonomic design that allows for hours of continuous play. It's also simple to install: all you need to do is plug it into any available USB port.

This sounds like a great gaming mouse. There's a catch though: it's not cheap. You can get the Avatar now for about $60, which is relatively hefty considering you can get a regular optical mouse for one-third the price or even less. However, glorious victories or honorable defeats never come cheap. You should know that by now!

Dong Ngo is a CNET editor who covers networking and network storage, and writes about anything else he finds interesting. You can also listen to his podcast at insidecnetlabs.cnet.com. E-mail Dong.
Recent posts from Crave
Poll: Why don't you have an iPod or MP3 player?
Oppo's affordabe high-end Blu-ray player is here
iPhone 3GS jailbreak, 'purplera1n,' hits Web
Apple patents point to haptics, fingerprints, RFID
Friday Poll: We the ppl--imagining a digital 1776
Gadgettes 144: The Childhood Nostalgia Episode
Duet D8 is no iPhone clone
Rocking out with stereo Bluetooth
Add a Comment (Log in or register)
by mythrilfan August 12, 2008 2:32 PM PDT
Sounds like marketing speak to me. I would never buy that without reading any real reviews first.
Reply to this comment
by bradgwart August 13, 2008 10:25 AM PDT
there's nothing special about this mouse that you can't find better done on a razer (or as much as i don't like them, logitech). 2600 dpi isn't impressive and hasn't been in years. mythrilfan is right, go read a real review and don't listen to the lines people are payed to write. then go read some reviews of the razer mice.
Reply to this comment
advertisement

About Crave

The name says it all. Crave is our blog about gorgeous gadgets and other crushworthy stuff. If you would like to contact Crave with a tip or comment, please write to: crave@cnet.com

Add this feed to your online news reader

Crave topics

Making sense of Windows 7 upgrades

faq The basics and the fine print on Microsoft's options for those eyeing the next operating system from Redmond.
• Full Windows 7 coverage

Road Trip 2009: Big Sky Country

CNET News reporter Daniel Terdiman takes his car full of gadgets to the Rockies and the Great Plains in search of tech, science, nature, and more.
• America's Fortress: Cheyenne Mountain

Inside CNET News

Scroll Left Scroll Right