by Edgar - 10.19.08
I recently got my hands on the NZXT Avatar, NZXT’s first gaming mouse. For their first mouse, they did an amazing job packing in stuff in it. It’s the first mouse I see with 2600 DPI, for great precision. Being a fan of MMOs, I was sold with the seven programmable buttons. I have most of my skills mapped one way or another on my mouse when playing, and the two buttons extra were a welcome addition.
So, what does the Avatar have to offer? How about four DPI settings — 600, 1200, 1800, and 2600. You’re sure to have an advantage with FPS games at 2600, as the mouse moves into hyperspeed in that mode. I like 1800 better, as the other was a little too quick for my taste. There’s an advantage in having a higher DPI though, you don’t have to move your mouse as much to make your camera rotate in-game.
You can tweak your settings and map your buttons in an easy to use interface that comes bundled on the CD. Another neat thing is, you can change your DPI on the fly by pressing the back button and scrolling either up or down with the mouse wheel. There’s three LED showing you which DPI setting you’re on.
At first I didn’t like the feel of the mouse, but that must be because of its ambidextrous design. After an hour, though, I got used to it, and now it feels great.
So, like most mice, this one has two buttons on top (left and right click), a back and forward button on each side of the mouse, a scroll wheel which you can click, and two extra buttons under the wheel. The two extra buttons are special, they’re called macro keys.
You could use this to start a series of buffs in an MMO, and since all of your skills can be accessed through key shortcuts, you just need to insert them in the order you want them to trigger in this little window.
NZXT Avatar is an awesome mouse, especially for their first one on the market, but it has one flaw. The back and forward buttons are two big, and I keep pressing them by mistake in the heat of the action (even when I’m not in it). For example, I had to rewrite part of this review because I pressed the back button.
Even with this little problem — perhaps it’s that my hands are too big? — I recommend this mouse to any PC gamers out there.
+ Four DPI settings for great precision
+ Comfortable grip
+ Changing the DPI on the fly
+ Macro Keys
- The back and forward buttons are too big, and you can easily hit them by mistake
I’ve only been able to use my Razer Copperhead mouse, but I can vouch for its quality.
tehub - 10.19.08 9:02 pm
Nice review, I’d like to see more of this stuff on 4cr. I just recently bought a new mouse myself. I got XP from a friend and got it running via bootcamp (so cool!). I needed something other then the mighty mouse to play Teamfortress 2 (for obvious reasons, it sucks). I got just a basic Microsoft mouse, I think its called the comfort mouse 3000. Works fine for me. 4 way scrolling dosnt work very well though. But it right clicks!
Ian - 10.19.08 9:04 pm
Sounds like a great mouse for the price, maybe I’ll look up NZXT for my next gaming mouse a little further down the line… I just picked up a Razer DeathAdder (also for TF2, funnily enough) to go with my recently built gaming computer and have been loving it at 1800 dpi. The extra buttons do sound like they’d be a boon in more complex games though I’m perfectly content with my 5.
ExMachina - 10.19.08 9:33 pm
@IAN- I’m working on a couple other hardware reviews
Edgar - 10.19.08 9:57 pm
I’m fine with a 5 button mouse I got, perfect for all I needs. I don’t see why I should get this. =(
Shiro786 - 10.20.08 12:23 am
ExMachina: Haha, I didn’t know you read 4CR. =P
Not kept in touch much since KO died though. ;O;’
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On another note, the mouse does look quite attractive to me, although I’m in the same position as Ian in that I’m also running Bootcamp on my Macbook, and a friend of mine with a Razer mouse had problems changing DPI on his, for use on WoW, so I’m not sure it would be compatible. Maybe only when on Bootcamp, I guess? I’d have to check that out. =P
Only games I actually play on XP are shmups, IaMP & now Phantasy Star Universe though, no CS as of yet. =’(
Infy - 10.20.08 1:27 pm
Looks a bit odd, to me. The shape, atleast.
Best mouse I’ve used has to be the Razer Lachesis.
Krono6 - 10.20.08 1:32 pm