Mad Catz R.A.T. M Wireless Gaming Mouse

This product shows the innovation of the wireless gaming mouse industry, and seeks to make wireless gaming a viable option. It doesn't do that for any professionals, but an amateur like me finds it acceptable. The DPI sensitivity is good, the mouse wheel is better than most non gaming mice, and the thumb d-stick is legitimately good improvement. It's just not quite the full Mad Catz package, and a little quirky besides. I get the impression that while wireless gaming has come a long way, it still has further to go. First battery life is spotty and poor, using otherwise very reliable Duracell rechargeable AAA's. It suddenly loses power at 30% charge or so, and won't turn back on unless I wait an indeterminate amount of time greater than 10 minutes, whereupon it will then function fine for a good length of time before truly dying. Removing and rotating the batteries, repeatedly turning it on and off, nothing will persuade the mouse it has plenty of charge left except for waiting. This mouse should have AA's, the way it drains batteries. It's already pretty heavy because of it's beefy ye compact construction. Connection is not constant, and it will lag for a moment after you first move it. Gentle movements are a little tricky, because if it is Very slow, it won't read motion at all sometimes. Better to use the sniper button and adjust DPI. I had some surface reading trouble at first, and a cursor that would perpetually gently slide downward to the left, but this rectified itself after a while on the shelf. You will occasionally get a jumpy or unresponsive cursor, that might disconnect for seconds at a time, but this is occasional at best. Overall, mostly good performance, but has jumpiness and quirkiness as both an optical and wireless mouse. Most of the problems are brief, but no lasting persistent lag or such problems. The wireless dongle is essential, as my laptops Bluetooth could NOT pick this up. Which is a shame, because the wireless dongle is hard to safely remove from the bottom of the Mouse, where it's storage case bonds to the USB dongle with NUCLEAR FUSION. I literally cannot stress it enough, never put the dongle in the Mouse, it is nearly irretrievable without damage. Pliers cannot reach in, and I finally managed to retrieve it with the tip of a knife prying it out, whereupon the top of the plastic housing snapped off. Fortunately, the dongle is still functional, but I cannot put it back in or it will be lost forever. Another large problem is the software suite, which works perfectly, but is nearly irretrievable. Across multiple browsers, computers, and physical locations, MadCatz FTP server failed to respond at the MadCatz provided link, as confirmed by multiple sites where I checked the availability of the link. Ultimately, I tried downloading older versions of the drivers and software from several sites, and I also think I successfully connected to the MadCatz server from my Samsung S3 Phone, and downloaded it, transferred and installed. I have multiple versions of the software and am willing to share if other users have this problem. Now that we've addressed functionality, the physical product seems to be good. The aluminum body is resistant to multiple small drops, all button actuation is positive, except that double clicking has begun to set in Very early in the products lifetime. The mouse is inconvenient to pick up during use without pressing a sensitive button or shifting grip, and although professionals will increase DPI to prevent pickups at all, the workspaces of a mobile mouse often demand it. Adjustability is at a minimum, with a loosely locking palm length sliding support that honest didn't help or hinder at all, and I found was best left closed so as not to adjust in the middle of play. The mousewheel is excellent and tactile, but the actual rotation is less so. The mousewheel click is very good. The thumb d-stick is actually very positive , with the forward and back buttons above it leading to a very intelligent layout for seven functions on the thumb that are all distinct and do not require visually checking. It should be on larger mice. Overall I would not buy again, even at 50 to 60$ deals, because it is just not a fully evolved technology or product that cannot quite justify the price, although it is not at all a poor mouse. Just not worth your money yet. Perhaps Logitech has a more reliable product.