After the
extravagant aesthetics of the World of Warcraft-branded mouse, SteelSeries has returned to
its roots with a pair of ambidextrous high-definition mice. The laser-powered Xai grabs the major price tag of just under $80, and in exchange offers a 10.8-megapixels per second sensor, up to 5,001 CPI, and a design engineered in accordance with the whims of professional gamers. Most intriguing is the built-in LCD menu system, where you can fully configure the mouse and then store those settings within the peripheral itself, making for a consistent experience across multiple computers. The Kinzu is the slightly smaller, LCD-deprived optical brother of the Xai, and will set you back a more conservative $34.99 when the two mice, alongside a freshly polished new gaming surface, become available in August.
posted Jul 24th 2009 12:20PM
What? no pics of the LCD?
took me 5 minutes to find this pic
http://www.steelseries.com/images/40/2170-2663.jpg
thats the LCD....what use it has...i couldn't tell you.
I'll stick with my razor.
@Grammar Delinquent So you use your mouse to shave? I gotta get me one of those.
It's used to set the CPI without a driver.
I'm still perfectly content with my 4-year-old g5 anyway..
Yeah I think at this point it's become pretty pointless to upgrade the dpi or responsiveness of mice since we probably surpassed your ability to control the input that precisely (or the limits of the mousing surface) a long time ago.
On a side note, this makes me feel old but am I the only one who thinks these look like the original intellimouse???
I don't really care about this. I'm just trying to confirm that this stupid comment system is going to remember me this time.
Not only does the comment system remember you, i remember you, in my heart.
your comment is thereby;
Rock Solid, Heart Touching
LMFAO! I love Asus...
I think that you might want to correct the CPI with DPI... unless there is a new thing that I am unaware of. Aside from that I'm not impressed with the design at all. No non slip surface for extended game play, works for both left and right handed users so the feel will not be natural.. and it looks like the classic Microsoft optical mice with more buttons and the guts of a high end laser mouse. For that price I'd rather go with a Razer Lachesis.
Aoi
Most coatings fail under a real gamers use. I peeled off the coating on my G9. now it's glossy, classy, and always looks nice.
CPI is actually correct, it stands for counts per inch.
I have no idea how it's different to DPI though, but apparently it's a more "correct" term, or something like that...
Meh. I'm happy with my Lenovo mouse that I found in my attic a few years ago.
G9's bettah!
Adam West icon for the win!
I bet the finish comes off these mice as well
Why would you think that?
$80 for a mouse??
Does it come with drugs to keep you high after the purchase as well??
I wonder if it just saves the keystroke data, so that they are fully compatable macros. If that is so i am totally getting one of these to work with cad. That way i can save my custom macros to my mouse when i go out to the field and work on other computers. No need to try and load my macros every time. I only have 5 or so i pretty much cant live without. Im surprised there arnt more mice marketed to engineers. Is it that they just dont care about the preformance of there hardware? I notice so many that struggle day to day with the crappy dell and hp stock workstation mice, some of them even ball mice, if only they knew there was something better out there.
It's really pissing me off. Steel Series keeps pointing out that optical sensors are superior for FPS gamers, and they're right. It's refreshing for a company to understand and be honest about this. Yet they continue making their higher end offerings laser, and deprive the optical mice of FPS friendly features. It's just plain dumb, and it's making me really hesitant to pick up one of their mice.
On second thought, that laser versions looks like it might actually buck the trend of lasers having tracking issues. I'll wait for some reviews and user feedback, but I might get one to replace the disaster that was my Death Adder.
Hurray for left handed mice!
Which is better SteelSeries or Razer for mice?
Not sure about SteelSeries but I have a Razer DeathAdder I bought a year ago and I love it! Great for gaming.
IMO, SteelSeries.
I have tried the Copperhead, Mamba, Lachesis, Ikari Optical, and Ikari Laser
And the Ikari's (Especially the Laser) top them all.
The comfort is outstanding, the cord is braided so it's soft. No lag, very fast response time.
And the glide is perfect. Well it'll be much much better if you pair it with a SteelSeries SX or their cloth mousepad.
Recession antidote?
very nice. hope to get one soon.
I have a SteelSeries Ikari Laser. It's a great mouse, generally speaking I find it superior to the Razer mice I've had, and light years ahead of that Logitech junk. The only problem I've had with it is that after about 6 months, it's registering about every 7th click as a double instead of single. Annoying. Dealing with RMA now.