Posts Tagged ‘steelseries’
SteelSeries Xai HD Gaming Mouse Review: Amazingly Ambidextrous [Review]
Posted by: Gadget Boy in Gadget News, Technology on December 29th, 2009
An outlier in PC gaming, SteelSeries' gear won't outglow Chernobyl. It's unassuming and utilitarian, like ThinkPads. They take themselves a little too seriously. But Xai is possibly the best ambidextrous gaming mouse I've ever used, despite the ridiculous HD gimmick.
Price
It's $90, both MSRP and on Amazon.
Verdict
I generally don't like ambidextrous mice. SteelSeries says they spent three years researching the ergonomics on Xai, and while it sounds crazy, it worked. The form factor is so good it feels almost like an ergonomic mouse. Bucking the trend of growing fatter and more bulbous (have you seen some of Microsoft's mice lately?) for a more streamlined, average form factor, it's an amorphous enough shape that most people will like, and no one will hate (or, conversely, truly love). The one flaw is that you're going to hit the two periphery buttons that are on the opposite side of your thumb whenever you pick up the mouse to move it, so I wound up disabling them altogether.
Xai has a monochrome LCD carved into the bottom of its ass, which sounds excessive, but it's actually quite functional: You can adjust any setting, and any of your five on-board stored profiles (which includes macros, CPI settings, etc.), directly on the mouse (bye bye, crappy mouse software). It's supremely useful. Though if you're doing more than switching from one profile to the next, you'll want to wait until you're in between matches, otherwise you're gonna get killed since the whole process of saying, changing your CPI count to slow down or speed up the mouse can take up to 30 seconds.
An issue, though, is that you only have immediate access to two CPI settings—the triangle on top flips between two alternate CPIs per profile, meaning if you want to cycle through several different speeds, you've gotta turn the mouse over and switch to a whole different profile, so if you're an aggressive mouse speed switcher (like if you're a serious sniper), that could be a dealbreaker.
There is a certain amount of spec horseshit you're swallowing with all gaming mice, most commonly couched in terms of dots per inch. SteelSeries attempts to differentiate by more precisely referring to counts per inch, which is basically the same thing—the number of increments the mouse can read in one inch of movement. Real world—well in gaming anyway—it basically translates into how fast you can turn or move your cursor, which speeds up as you ramp up the CPI. As you can imagine, the speed gets progressively more pointless, with the current "standard" of 4000DPI being about as useful as tits on a boar. Xai's money spec, if you will, is that it processes 12,000 frames a second at 5,001 CPI at movement speeds of 150 inches a second using a 10.8MP "high definition" sensor.
Guess what? I didn't test that while playing Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2, Left 4 Dead 2 or Team Fortress 2, because no one moves their arm 150 inches a second. I will say, though, it tracks as well as—though not noticeably better than—any current generation gaming mouse, both on regular pads, and the 9HD special "HD" gaming pad SteelSeries has released for it.
If you want a gaming mouse you can use with either hand, I'd say you can't do better than Xai, though I might wait until it's a little bit cheaper. Also, I wish they'd drop the stupid, meaningless "HD" spiel. It's a mouse, not a TV.
Awesome ergonomics for an ambidextrous mouse
You can change any setting directly on the mouse
Changing settings on the mouse is a little slow
It's $90!
The HD thing is dumb
SteelSeries takes another stab at gaming headsets with Siberia v2
Posted by: Gadget Boy in Gadget News on September 18th, 2009
We also got a quick look at the new Xai and Kinzu gaming mice. The ambidextrous-friendly nature of the pair is nice, materials are great, and mousing around briefly on a fancy SteelSeries mousepad certainly felt effortless and accurate, but mouse technology is so wild these days it's hard to differentiate one multi-megapixel optical or laser sensor from another -- to these untrained eyes, anyway.
Filed under: Gaming, Peripherals
SteelSeries takes another stab at gaming headsets with Siberia v2 originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 18 Sep 2009 17:24:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
Permalink | Email this | CommentsSteelSeries Merc Stealth Gaming Keyboard
Posted by: Gadget Boy in Gadget News on September 8th, 2009
I am not really into MMO games, but I’m sure that you or someone that you love (or, in this case, not love at all) is into them. Clearly, he or she might be wanting a gaming keyboard like the Merc Stealth.
The Merc Stealth is made by SteelSeries, makers of the Zboard. The user won’t be able to fold up his or her keyboard with the Merc Stealth, but you have to admire its blue glow. By the way, that glow has two other options of purple and red, and four different illumination modes including subtle, ambient, intense, and off. (Yes, off is considering an illumination mode.)
All the keys on the Merc Stealth are programmable thanks to the SteelSeries Z Engine software. It has 34 gaming terrain keys that are tilted at an 11 inch angle, and they are comfortable as they are ergonomic. There are also many hotkeys for walking, running, jumping, crouching, and all other important moves in an MMO that have to be accessed quickly.
The Merc Stealth insures that a player character will more easily kick butt. It also features two USB 2.0 ports, plus gold-plated microphone and headset jacks that are connected to a gold-plated USB connector.
In short, what is not to like? You should be able to get the Merc Stealth at the SteelSeries site for $89.99.
Check out the Coolest Gadgets 2008 Gift Guides, Christmas shopping made easy.
[ SteelSeries Merc Stealth Gaming Keyboard copyright by Coolest Gadgets ]
SteelSeries Aion limited edition Zboard keeps MMO addicts stuck in the basement
Posted by: Gadget Boy in Gadget News on September 8th, 2009
[Via Coolest-Gadgets]
Continue reading SteelSeries Aion limited edition Zboard keeps MMO addicts stuck in the basement
Filed under: Peripherals
SteelSeries Aion limited edition Zboard keeps MMO addicts stuck in the basement originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 08 Sep 2009 02:20:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
Read | Permalink | Email this | CommentsSteelSeries Xai Gaming Mouse Is High Definition, Whatever That Means [Gaming]
Posted by: Gadget Boy in Gadget News on July 24th, 2009
Did you know it was gaming mouse season? It's the time of year when they come out of their Cheeto-packed burrows to mate. SteelSeries' Xai's mating call is its "high definition" sensor.
SteelSeries rails against the current gaming industry pseudo-standard of DPI (dots per inch) as a measurement of tracking speed, instead preferring to tout CPI, or counts per inch, so the money spec for the laser-powered Xai reads like this: It processes 12,000 frames/second at 5,001 CPI at movement speeds of 150 inches/second. Which makes it high definition. Okay!
Xai shares its ambidextrous grip—which supposedly took three years of research with pro gaming teams to deduce—with the slightly smaller, cheaper Kinzu that's essentially an optical variant. And both of them have seven programmable buttons, with driverless install.
And of course, there is a special mat just for high definition mice, the 9HD, though no word on how much it, or the mice, will cost. I would bet you the amount that they cost that they're not cheap, because then I would make a lot of money.
STEELSERIES INTRODUCES NEW HIGH DEFINITION GAMING MOUSE AND GAMING SURFACE
After extensive research with the world's top gaming teams, SteelSeries' innovative gaming mouse provides gamers with new levels of precision, accuracy and stability to enhance performance
CHICAGO – July 24, 2009 –SteelSeries, the leading manufacturer of gaming peripherals and accessories, today introduced the SteelSeries Xai Laser Mouse, SteelSeries Kinzu Optical Mouse and the SteelSeries 9HD hard plastic surface. The technology, shape, size, weight and feel of the SteelSeries Xai was designed with one purpose: to create an immediate advantage for gamers by enhancing a user's performance during game play.
"We spent three years methodically perfecting the SteelSeries Xai by researching mouse grips used by professional gaming teams such as Fnatic, SK Gaming and Evil Geniuses in order to create a level of performance that gamers have never experienced before," said Bruce Hawver, CEO of SteelSeries. "The SteelSeries Xai's High Definition sensor offers a huge improvement over the current highest-end gaming mice and it is designed with technical specifications that increase the level of performance results, especially during the most frantic and fast-paced games."
Research and development of the mouse was done in close cooperation with full-time professional gamers from the U.S., Europe and Asia to ensure that the SteelSeries Xai is a tool with a purpose – not just a gadget. The 10.8 megapixels/second sensor offers a huge improvement over the current generation of gaming mice by processing 12,000 frames/second at 5,001 CPI at movement speeds of 150 inches/second providing the user with High Definition tracking for unparalleled precision. Furthermore, the SteelSeries Xai offers unprecedented levels of personalization for the user, with unique SteelSeries sensor innovations like SteelSeries ExactAim, SteelSeries ExactRate, SteelSeries ExactSens, SteelSeries FreeMove and automatic lift distance calibration. SteelSeries Xai can be fully configured via a LCD menu system on the back of the mouse, where settings will be stored on the mouse thus eliminating the need for drivers and providing configuration capabilities on-the-go.
Some of the features of the SteelSeries Xai include:
Ambidextrous shape
7 Programmable macro buttons, 200 strokes per button
Driverless plug-and-play, with 5 profiles
Fully configurable via LCD menu system
100-5,001 counts/inchThe SteelSeries 9HD surface was designed to fully support the enhanced tracking capabilities of next-generation High Definition gaming mice. The finely textured surface consists of tens-of-thousands of light reflecting microscopic points, enabling the user to perform exceptionally precise mouse operations, including minimal movements as well as high velocity "slingshots."
In addition to the SteelSeries Xai Laser Mouse, SteelSeries is also introducing the SteelSeries Kinzu Optical Mouse. Based on the same shape as the SteelSeries Xai, but 7% smaller in size, the SteelSeries Kinzu processes 9,375 frames/second at 3,200 CPI and is compact, lightweight, and is in a league of its own when it comes to reliability and stability.
SteelSeries Xai, SteelSeries Kinzu and SteelSeries 9HD will be available August 2009.
About SteelSeries
SteelSeries is a leading manufacturer of gaming peripherals and accessories, including headsets, keyboards, mice, software and gaming surfaces, selling in more than 75 countries. SteelSeries has been on the forefront of professional gaming gear since its inception in 2001, thanks to continued innovation and product development in cooperation with leading professional gamers. All SteelSeries products are developed in co-operation with professional gamers to ensure optimum performance and durability. SteelSeries supports the growth of competitive gaming and electronic sports through professional team sponsorships and community support all over the world. For more information, please visit www.SteelSeries.com.
