You won’t be fission for power with this radioactive
rodent
You’ve got to hand it to Gigabyte. If
you’re out to make waves in the peripherals market, calling your new mouse the
Uranium is a darned good start. Pitting this nuclear palm power against regular
Lithium-ion or USB-powered eco mice would be as fair as sticking Chuck Norris
in the ring with Nick Clegg.
Sadly, on closer inspection it seems
the health and safety bods have forced Gigabyte to use a pair of rechargeable
AA batteries rather than a mini nuclear reactor. It is a tailless rodent
though, and thanks to a 1,000Hz polling rate, it achieves a blistering 1ms
response time. If your gaming reflexes can spot any lag from this thing, get
yourself over to Top Gun training on the double.
Pitting
this nuclear palm power against regular Lithium-ion or USB-powered eco mice
would be as fair as sticking Chuck Norris in the ring with Nick Clegg.
Dual laser sensors give a maximum
sensitivity of 6,500 DPI, and although Corsair’s Vengeance M95 packs an 8,200
DPI eye, we’d wager the difference is greater on paper. Even set to 3,200 DPI,
the Uranium manages smooth, accurate motion with no jerkiness or glitches. A
quick flick of the rocker button behind the mouse wheel is all it takes to
change the sensitivity.
Despite its humble power source, you
needn’t worry about the Uranium running out of juice. Firstly, the batteries
will handle at least 50 hours of gaming on a single charge. Then, if your Pro
Plus-powered energy manages to outlast the Uranium’s, simply attach the
retractable cable from the wireless receiver for some mid-game refuelling as
you lay the smack down.
Ghost Recon
This isn’t your average charging
outlet, though. Gigabyte calls it the Ghost Macro Station, and as well as
enriching the Uranium with fresh power, it provides a live readout that tells
you which of the five profiles is selected, plus the mouse’s DPI, report rate
and battery life. You can navigate the screen and adjust these settings
independently of your PC, and the station’s internal memory houses your custom
presets and macros.
It’s certainly up there in the
coolness stakes, but the main Aivia Ghost software does everything the Ghost
Station can and far more besides. This makes the Uranium’s cablebound sidekick
little more than an OLED info panel, albeit one that lets the mouse offload
some energy-sapping tasks to help maintain its power reserves. Oh, and you can
upload a custom bitmap screensaver to the display as well. Break out the
Bollinger.
the
main Aivia Ghost software does everything the Ghost Station can and far more
besides.
Cynicism aside, the Uranium shapes up
well as a gaming companion. It’s big enough for those of us with proper-sized
mitts to get a comfortable grip, and although that battery-bloated belly means
you’ll be pushing around a meaty 170g, its slippery feet turn what could be a
tank into more of a Range Rover Sport.
A Range Rover without the luxury
though, as next to something like a R.A.T 7 the Uranium feels – and is – more
plasticky than many a standard office mouse. It’s well screwed together, but
for the money we’d rather ditch the superfluous screen in favour of a
freewheeling scroll wheel setting, a couple more thumb buttons and premium
materials to match that premium price.
A
Range Rover without the luxury though, as next to something like a R.A.T 7 the
Uranium feels – and is – more plasticky than many a standard office mouse.
|
Vital Statistics
·
Price: $163.7 ·
Manufacturer:
Gigabyte ·
DPI: 100-6,500 ·
Report rate:
1,000Hz ·
Programmable
buttons: 10 ·
Battery life:
50+hours ·
Weight: 170g
|
