Razer Mamba 16000

[Rumble]

Razer Mamba 16000
By Kyle “Rumble” Bousquet

It’s not often that you find a mouse that satisfies your performance needs, comfort, and aesthetic needs. Often you need to sacrifice one or even both of those things to find a mouse that performs just the way you want. For me those days are over. For years I would say “I want this mouse for its performance”, or “I want this mouse because it fits my hand better”, and “I want this mouse because it just looks cool.” Oh, did I mention you can use this mouse in both wireless and wired mode? Sure, that’s usually the kiss of death for gamers. They want nothing to do with a wireless gaming mouse, even though they’d all like to eliminate a wire from their desktop and have the movement freedom of the wireless mouse.



PERFORMANCE

As far as mouse performance goes, I have no complaints about the Mamba 16000. The tracking is provided by a 16,000 dpi 5G laser. It’s smooth and the variable dpi can be adjusted on the fly via the buttons behind the mouse wheel. The mouse wheel itself is smooth and pleasantly silent. Whether I am scrolling one click at a time through my email, or scrolling down a web page at breakneck speed, I don’t hear a peep from the wheel. It’s very nice. The side buttons are placed just right for the size of my hand. They are programmed through the Razer Synapse driver/software and can be assigned to nearly any task. Lastly the right and left mouse buttons are not silent but are very responsive and relatively quiet. They give decent tactile feedback.



APPEARANCE and QUALITY

So the mouse itself is based loosely on the Razer Death Adder design, but I feel like it surpasses that mouse in many ways. This mouse is part of the Chroma line from Razer. Its lighting consists of multiple LEDs and gives you a wide range of color and patterns. What really impressed me though was the rubber side panels just below the lighting. They are textured and give a superior grip when using the mouse. I can’t tell you how many mice I’ve thrown away after the plastic sized wore down to make the mouse look cheap. It’s not important to everyone, but I really do like my computer setup to always look sharp. The charging station that comes with it for wireless mode is also pretty cool. The mouse sits at a pleasant angle when on the base and lights up. It gives it a spaceship about to launch kind of feel. Last thing in this category I have to touch on is the venting on the front of the mouse. They are very reminiscent of the grill on a car. Those front mesh grills give the mouse a predatory feel and makes it just look wicked.



WIRELESS?

So what’s with the wireless thing? Yes, the Razer Mamba 16000 can operate as a wireless mouse. While my experience with a wireless mouse is limited to two offerings in the last 5 or 6 years, both suffered from what can only be described as sporadic disconnects and poor signal even when placed only a couple inches from the USB receiver/transmitter. Razer has done some fine work here on the wireless mode because I never had a single instance where the mouse disconnected. I also found the mouse always responded well, and there were no moments where I got lag of movement because of bad signal. Still not convinced? Don’t fret. This mouse can be plugged into the wire when you don’t want to go wireless. It magically becomes a wired mouse and that’s awesome.



CONCLUSION

So even if a wired mouse isn’t your thing, you shouldn’t necessarily pass this mouse by. I have found that for web browsing, casual gaming, and Photoshop this mouse is a dream in wireless mode. I can even game for a while in hardcore games without too much trouble. If I know I am going to game for a while and worry about a battery charge, I’ll simply plug it in to the wire and use it like I would any other gaming mouse. That said, I have had great success in using this mouse for wireless gaming even in World of Warcraft and Call of Duty where I game for hours on end. The company says the battery will last 20 hours of continuous gaming, and I have gotten 17 hours and 19 hours in my own tests. So it’ll get the job done.
What I love about this mouse is that it has all the performance you expect from a high end gaming mouse, amazing looks and features and it’s the first gaming mouse that I would and do use in Wireless mode. Razer adds a lot of gimmicks to its mouse products, some work great and others fall short, but this time I think Razer has a winner on its hands. The mouse has a suggested retail price of $149 but can be found on sale for less if you keep your eyes on Newegg, Frys and Microcenter. This mouse is expensive, but you get what you pay for, for a change. I’ve spent more money on a mouse before but the Razer Mamba 16000 seems like a bargain and I am way more impressed with it than the pricier mouse products I’ve tested. You won’t be disappointed with this mouse if you have the cash to drop on it.

Performance: 9
Appearance: 9
Quality of Construction: 9
Tech and Features: 9

Overall: 9

What can I say? I really like this mouse.

[DancingCorpse]

*rises from the dead*
/enable mouse-snob mode

But...it's laser and not optical....

/disable mouse-snob mode
*lowers back into the grave*