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Razer's Taipan might be your ideal Mac gaming mouse
When it comes to gaming mice, it's not entirely surprising that it's close to impossible to find a mouse that even remotely fits the aesthetic of Apple. The Razer Taipan is one of the rare gaming mice that is offered in such a shade, and if I'm being completely honest, its creamy white paintjob is one of the things I love most about it. But it's not all about looks, and thankfully -- aside from a few niggles -- the Taipan is great piece of gaming hardware in function as well as form. Specifications 8200dpi 4G laser sensor Ambidextrous form factor 9 programmable Hyperesponse buttons 1000Hz Ultrapolling Up to 200 inches per second / 50g acceleration Length: 124mm / 4.88" Width: 63mm / 2.48" Height: 36mm / 1.42" Price: US$79.99 Design The Taipan is an ambidextrous mouse, meaning it's symmetrical. Whether or not you'll appreciate this design choice is a matter of personal preference, but if you're used to something like the SteelSeries Rival or Razer Naga, it will take some getting used to. The color of the review unit, as previously mentioned, is a gorgeous white, though the Taipan is also available in black. The mouse surface, save for the rubberized grips on either side, is glossy, which can often spell trouble for gamers with particularly sweaty hands. Luckily, the grips are extremely comfortable and contoured in such a way that even long, intense play sessions didn't cause me any tactile trouble. If you're absolutely against the idea of a glossy mouse, the black version of the Taipan has a matte finish, which may be more to your liking. In terms of aesthetics, It's an undeniably appealing design from front to back. At just 36mm tall, it's significantly flatter than the 43mm height of Razer's own Naga, and it's also longer. The sleeker form is great for big hands, and while I've had cramping issues with many mice in the past, that was not a factor in my testing of the Taipan. There's a pair of programmable buttons on either side of the mouse, above each of the rubberized grips. The fact that the mouse is ambidextrous means that while one set of buttons is easy to tap with your thumb, the set on the opposite side is, well, a bit useless. This is really my only complaint about the Taipan's design, as I found myself accidentally tapping the unused side buttons with my ring finger at random times. It was more of an issue early on, but over time my grip adapted and I was able to mostly avoid it. Functionality Precise and accurate, the Taipan is classic Razer performance at its best. It employs dual sensors to provide faultless accuracy no matter the play surface. Soft mat, hard mat, tabletop -- it doesn't matter to the Taipan. It's like a world-class runner who doesn't care if they're running on concrete, gravel, grass, or a pond. The instant DPI adjustments work flawlessly even with zero programming, but if you're willing to get your hands dirty and customize your experience in Razer Synapse 2.0, you'll get an even more personalized feel. It's fantastic. Conclusion The Taipan is short on goofy extra features, but as a pure gaming mouse, it's hard to beat. It's sleek and solid with remarkable accuracy in virtually any setting, and the fact that Razer takes Mac gaming seriously enough to provide the full Synapse 2.0 experience on OS X is like icing on an already delicious cake. A single precariously-placed side button is really the only thing that kept my time with the Taipan from being perfect, but that shouldn't stop you from making it a top priority in your search for a new gaming mouse. Rating (3.5 out of 4 stars)
CyberPower reveals Fang III Taipan SLI gaming notebook
CyberPower is one of the better known builders of gaming desktops, but the company also makes supercharged laptops capable of running the latest GPU-punishing titles. The Fang III Taipan is its latest portable offering, and it carries both high-end components and a high-end price. The default configuration will set you back a heart-stopping $1,819, but the 2.4GHz Core i7, 16GB of DDR3 RAM and pair of Geforce GTX 670Ms in an SLI arrangement ensure you're getting your money's worth. There's also a 60GB SSD and 1TB hard drive under the hood so you don't have to choose between performance or storage. You can also pair up a couple of SSDs in a RAID if that's your thing. To get the most out of all that power there's a 17.3-inch 1,920 x 1,080 LED panel and an Onkyo sound system with a subwoofer for your aural enjoyment. Obviously, the Taipan is only portable in the loosest of sense considering its bulky 8.6-pound frame, but we doubt anyone would really want to carry roughly $2,000 worth of computer with them in public anyway. Heck, if you really wanted to trick this thing out with 32GB of RAM, a 3.0GHz Core i7, 1TB of SSD storage and a pair of GTX 680Ms you could easily top $5,000. Hit up the source link to configure your own.
Check out Razer's Mechwarrior Online 'Artemis' prototype and other peripherals
Razer's E3 booth was fully stocked with both retail and prototype peripherals this year, the most interesting of which was the Artemis, an experimental controller array designed specifically for MechWarrior Online. The prototype, designed and built in a month, features a flight stick on the right, an array of buttons on the left and a 10 inch screen in the middle. Razer hopes to have a retail version of the peripheral ready sometime this year.The rest of the booth was populated by the company's ambidextrous, 8200 dpi Taipan mouse ($79.99, July), a Battlefield 3-branded, helicopter-style Blackshark headset ($129.99, July) and the Blade laptop, all of which can be seen in the gallery below.%Gallery-157589%
Razer rolls out Taipan ambidextrous gaming mouse, we go hands-on
It's not the mouse we expected to see here at E3, given what slid through Uncle Sam's FCC fingers a few weeks ago, but Razer has unveiled its new Taipan gaming mouse here at E3 2012. Apparently, Razer has learned to love lefties from the jump with its most recent rodent, as the Taipan is an ambidextrous unit suitable for any gamer. The outside of the Taipan is swathed in tactually-pleasing matte black plastic, with a glowing Razer logo in the palm rest and a clickable scroll wheel ringed in similar neon green lighting. It's got nine programmable buttons in all: right and left click, the clickwheel, plus two buttons just south of the scroller and two more embedded in each of the Taipan's flanks.%Gallery-157358% In addition to its ergonomic design, it's got one 8200 dpi sensor under the hood to precisely track two-dimensional movements, plus a second optical sensor for z-axis tracking -- so it knows when you've lifted the mouse off your desk and keeps your cursor right where you left it. Furthering this focus on ultra precise mousing, the Taipan is a 32-bit peripheral and has a 1,000Hz polling rate, which means your cursor moves exactly when you want it to. Naturally, it uses Razer's Synapse 2.0 technology, so after initial set-up the Taipan brings your settings to any new PC as soon as you plug it in. It goes on sale next month for $79.99, and if you're lookin to learn more in the meantime, check out the PR after the break.%Gallery-157361%
