• Log InLog In
  • Register
Liquid`
Team Liquid Liquipedia
EDT 08:33
CEST 14:33
KST 21:33
  • Home
  • Forum
  • Calendar
  • Streams
  • Liquipedia
  • Features
  • Store
  • EPT
  • TL+
  • StarCraft 2
  • Brood War
  • Smash
  • Heroes
  • Counter-Strike
  • Overwatch
  • Liquibet
  • Fantasy StarCraft
  • TLPD
  • StarCraft 2
  • Brood War
  • Blogs
Forum Sidebar
Events/Features
News
Featured News
[ASL21] Ro24 Preview Pt2: News Flash10[ASL21] Ro24 Preview Pt1: New Chaos0Team Liquid Map Contest #22 - Presented by Monster Energy18ByuL: The Forgotten Master of ZvT30Behind the Blue - Team Liquid History Book20
Community News
Weekly Cups (May 30-Apr 5): herO, Clem, SHIN win0[BSL22] RO32 Group Stage1Weekly Cups (March 23-29): herO takes triple6Aligulac acquired by REPLAYMAN.com/Stego Research8Weekly Cups (March 16-22): herO doubles, Cure surprises3
StarCraft 2
General
Weekly Cups (May 30-Apr 5): herO, Clem, SHIN win Rongyi Cup S3 - Preview & Info Team Liquid Map Contest #22 - Presented by Monster Energy Blizzard Classic Cup @ BlizzCon 2026 - $100k prize pool What mix of new & old maps do you want in the next ladder pool? (SC2)
Tourneys
Sparkling Tuna Cup - Weekly Open Tournament RSL Season 4 announced for March-April StarCraft Evolution League (SC Evo Biweekly) WardiTV Mondays World University TeamLeague (500$+) | Signups Open
Strategy
Custom Maps
[M] (2) Frigid Storage Publishing has been re-enabled! [Feb 24th 2026]
External Content
The PondCast: SC2 News & Results Mutation # 520 Moving Fees Mutation # 519 Inner Power Mutation # 518 Radiation Zone
Brood War
General
so ive been playing broodwar for a week straight. ASL21 General Discussion [BSL22] RO32 Group Stage Gypsy to Korea Pros React To: JaeDong vs Queen
Tourneys
[Megathread] Daily Proleagues [ASL21] Ro24 Group F Escore Tournament StarCraft Season 2 [ASL21] Ro24 Group E
Strategy
What's the deal with APM & what's its true value Fighting Spirit mining rates Simple Questions, Simple Answers
Other Games
General Games
Stormgate/Frost Giant Megathread Starcraft Tabletop Miniature Game Nintendo Switch Thread General RTS Discussion Thread Darkest Dungeon
Dota 2
The Story of Wings Gaming Official 'what is Dota anymore' discussion
League of Legends
G2 just beat GenG in First stand
Heroes of the Storm
Simple Questions, Simple Answers Heroes of the Storm 2.0
Hearthstone
Deck construction bug Heroes of StarCraft mini-set
TL Mafia
Mafia Game Mode Feedback/Ideas TL Mafia Community Thread Five o'clock TL Mafia
Community
General
US Politics Mega-thread The Chess Thread Russo-Ukrainian War Thread NASA and the Private Sector Things Aren’t Peaceful in Palestine
Fan Clubs
The IdrA Fan Club
Media & Entertainment
[Manga] One Piece [Req][Books] Good Fantasy/SciFi books Movie Discussion!
Sports
2024 - 2026 Football Thread Formula 1 Discussion Cricket [SPORT] Tokyo Olympics 2021 Thread General nutrition recommendations
World Cup 2022
Tech Support
[G] How to Block Livestream Ads
TL Community
The Automated Ban List
Blogs
Loot Boxes—Emotions, And Why…
TrAiDoS
Broowar part 2
qwaykee
Funny Nicknames
LUCKY_NOOB
Iranian anarchists: organize…
XenOsky
FS++
Kraekkling
ASL S21 English Commentary…
namkraft
Electronics
mantequilla
Customize Sidebar...

Website Feedback

Closed Threads



Active: 1993 users

Ergonomic Mice VS. Ambidextrious

Forum Index > Tech Support
Post a Reply
1 2 Next All
renaissanceMAN
Profile Joined March 2011
United States1840 Posts
July 30 2012 18:30 GMT
#1
Hey guys, got a question:

I'm looking to buy a new Razer mouse, and I've narrowed it down to two choices:

Imperator

OR:

Taipan

My question is this: Which should I get? I know it sounds obvious, but I've owned two gaming mice in my lifetime. My trusty Razer Copperhead, which lasted me almost 7 years, and now my Steelseries Xai, which while only ~4 years old, is well worn and not adequate for gaming anymore; I'm retiring it to my office.

I'm interested in the Imperator because I've heard that the ergonomic mice are slightly more comfortable. However, I'm also interested in the Taipan because its newer, and I've heard that the Imperator has some issues with its tracking system.

I use a Razer Goliathus Speed Edition mousepad if anyone is wondering.

If anyone could give me any advice, experience, feedback with either mice, I'd greatly appreciate it.

On August 15 2013 03:43 Waxangel wrote: no amount of money can replace the enjoyment of being mean to people on the internet
Elairec
Profile Joined June 2011
United States410 Posts
July 30 2012 18:34 GMT
#2
Personally for me, and what I have heard from others is that ergonomic mice cant be easily lifted (I have the tendancy to lift my mouse now and again to readjust positioning) so ambidextrous mice are more my style. I wanted to get the Taipan a couple days before it came out, but Razer blocked my card after having a typo in my mailing address, so I went with the Sensei. I still want the Taipan though =\ its badass
essencesc2
Profile Joined May 2012
United States18 Posts
July 30 2012 19:32 GMT
#3
i really think that Logitech mice are better quality, having used several razer and logitech mice. the G9x is REALLY nice, currently i use the Mionix Naos 5000, its a really nice mouse from a small company. look outside of razer, into other companies.
renaissanceMAN
Profile Joined March 2011
United States1840 Posts
Last Edited: 2012-07-30 19:36:33
July 30 2012 19:35 GMT
#4
On July 31 2012 04:32 essencesc2 wrote:
i really think that Logitech mice are better quality, having used several razer and logitech mice. the G9x is REALLY nice, currently i use the Mionix Naos 5000, its a really nice mouse from a small company. look outside of razer, into other companies.


I like Razer. As I said before I owned a Copperhead which I used daily for almost seven years. My current Blackwidow Ultimate broke a key (it was actually a small plastic part on the back which held a support bar in place), I emailed Razer's support, and they sent me replacement keys with instructions on how to properly install them.

I'm not opposed to buying something else, but I've had a great experience with Razer products; they also work (drivers) with my Mac laptop, which is a plus.
On August 15 2013 03:43 Waxangel wrote: no amount of money can replace the enjoyment of being mean to people on the internet
iDope
Profile Joined October 2010
Saudi Arabia223 Posts
July 30 2012 19:41 GMT
#5
I use a Razer Orochi (Ambidex) with my laptop and an Imperator on my desktop. And to be honest I'd totally go for the Taipan. Ambidextrous mice seem nicer to hold (oddly) and I also like the weight (slightly heavier for the size) of the Orochi. But as far as handling the mouse goes yes I think ambidextrous mice are better.
sawedust
Profile Joined December 2010
United States506 Posts
July 30 2012 19:50 GMT
#6
On July 31 2012 03:30 renaissanceMAN wrote:
Hey guys, got a question:

I'm looking to buy a new Razer mouse, and I've narrowed it down to two choices:

Imperator

OR:

Taipan

My question is this: Which should I get? I know it sounds obvious, but I've owned two gaming mice in my lifetime. My trusty Razer Copperhead, which lasted me almost 7 years, and now my Steelseries Xai, which while only ~4 years old, is well worn and not adequate for gaming anymore; I'm retiring it to my office.

I'm interested in the Imperator because I've heard that the ergonomic mice are slightly more comfortable. However, I'm also interested in the Taipan because its newer, and I've heard that the Imperator has some issues with its tracking system.

I use a Razer Goliathus Speed Edition mousepad if anyone is wondering.

If anyone could give me any advice, experience, feedback with either mice, I'd greatly appreciate it.



Both have PTE laser sensors, so they're going to be a lot more inaccurate opposed to the DeathAdder and the Abyssus, both of which have been proven to have flawless sensors. The DeathAdder would fall under the ergonomic section, the Abyssus in the ambidextrous.

If you're not familiar with the PTE issue, what happens is every time you lift your mouse off the mousepad to readjust, the cursor will move/jerk/twitch somewhere on the screen. This causes a lot of accuracy issues and generally is undesirable when it comes to having a great mouse. A mouse like the CM Storm Spawn doesn't move your cursor with a 1CD lift-off distance; it will stay in place as you readjust your mouse.

The more important thing to consider is your grip style. If you're a palm gripper or really need the extra buttons, go with the DeathAdder. It's one of the best palm grip mice I've ever used; only one that could probably beat it is the G400. If you're a claw or fingertip gripper, go with the Abyssus.
renaissanceMAN
Profile Joined March 2011
United States1840 Posts
Last Edited: 2012-07-30 19:55:16
July 30 2012 19:52 GMT
#7
On July 31 2012 04:50 sawedust wrote:
Show nested quote +
On July 31 2012 03:30 renaissanceMAN wrote:
Hey guys, got a question:

I'm looking to buy a new Razer mouse, and I've narrowed it down to two choices:

Imperator

OR:

Taipan

My question is this: Which should I get? I know it sounds obvious, but I've owned two gaming mice in my lifetime. My trusty Razer Copperhead, which lasted me almost 7 years, and now my Steelseries Xai, which while only ~4 years old, is well worn and not adequate for gaming anymore; I'm retiring it to my office.

I'm interested in the Imperator because I've heard that the ergonomic mice are slightly more comfortable. However, I'm also interested in the Taipan because its newer, and I've heard that the Imperator has some issues with its tracking system.

I use a Razer Goliathus Speed Edition mousepad if anyone is wondering.

If anyone could give me any advice, experience, feedback with either mice, I'd greatly appreciate it.



Both have PTE laser sensors, so they're going to be a lot more inaccurate opposed to the DeathAdder and the Abyssus, both of which have been proven to have flawless sensors. The DeathAdder would fall under the ergonomic section, the Abyssus in the ambidextrous.

If you're not familiar with the PTE issue, what happens is every time you lift your mouse off the mousepad to readjust, the cursor will move/jerk/twitch somewhere on the screen. This causes a lot of accuracy issues and generally is undesirable when it comes to having a great mouse. A mouse like the CM Storm Spawn doesn't move your cursor with a 1CD lift-off distance; it will stay in place as you readjust your mouse.

The more important thing to consider is your grip style. If you're a palm gripper or really need the extra buttons, go with the DeathAdder. It's one of the best palm grip mice I've ever used; only one that could probably beat it is the G400. If you're a claw or fingertip gripper, go with the Abyssus.


I was worried about this, but I had read somewhere that if you change a certain setting on the mouse to its maximum, this doesn't happen. Can anyone confirm/deny?

I'm a claw/fingertip gripper, all of the mice I've owned have been ambidextrious.

Should I make the switch though?
On August 15 2013 03:43 Waxangel wrote: no amount of money can replace the enjoyment of being mean to people on the internet
Deleted User 135096
Profile Blog Joined December 2010
3624 Posts
July 30 2012 20:01 GMT
#8
On July 31 2012 04:50 sawedust wrote:
Show nested quote +
On July 31 2012 03:30 renaissanceMAN wrote:
Hey guys, got a question:

I'm looking to buy a new Razer mouse, and I've narrowed it down to two choices:

Imperator

OR:

Taipan

My question is this: Which should I get? I know it sounds obvious, but I've owned two gaming mice in my lifetime. My trusty Razer Copperhead, which lasted me almost 7 years, and now my Steelseries Xai, which while only ~4 years old, is well worn and not adequate for gaming anymore; I'm retiring it to my office.

I'm interested in the Imperator because I've heard that the ergonomic mice are slightly more comfortable. However, I'm also interested in the Taipan because its newer, and I've heard that the Imperator has some issues with its tracking system.

I use a Razer Goliathus Speed Edition mousepad if anyone is wondering.

If anyone could give me any advice, experience, feedback with either mice, I'd greatly appreciate it.



Both have PTE laser sensors, so they're going to be a lot more inaccurate opposed to the DeathAdder and the Abyssus, both of which have been proven to have flawless sensors. The DeathAdder would fall under the ergonomic section, the Abyssus in the ambidextrous.

If you're not familiar with the PTE issue, what happens is every time you lift your mouse off the mousepad to readjust, the cursor will move/jerk/twitch somewhere on the screen. This causes a lot of accuracy issues and generally is undesirable when it comes to having a great mouse. A mouse like the CM Storm Spawn doesn't move your cursor with a 1CD lift-off distance; it will stay in place as you readjust your mouse.

The more important thing to consider is your grip style. If you're a palm gripper or really need the extra buttons, go with the DeathAdder. It's one of the best palm grip mice I've ever used; only one that could probably beat it is the G400. If you're a claw or fingertip gripper, go with the Abyssus.

Taipan uses the A9818 which means inconsistent +/- accel issues, the second senor used is for 'advanced calibration', whatever that means :D. Also PTE does have the z-axis bug but that was sort of fixed. One thing however, dynamic dpi scaling is probably the dumbest idea on a sensor due to the fact that it cannot compute the scaling changes fast enough (massive neg accel perceived when using higer CPI settings).

Honestly Taipan is the better bet, closer to the Copperhead, and decent performance. Also people who have reviewed the Taipan say that the new build construction/quality is quite good (goes for the Taipan and Ouroboros).
Administrator
sawedust
Profile Joined December 2010
United States506 Posts
July 30 2012 20:27 GMT
#9
On July 31 2012 05:01 wo1fwood wrote:

Taipan uses the A9818 which means inconsistent +/- accel issues, the second senor used is for 'advanced calibration', whatever that means :D. Also PTE does have the z-axis bug but that was sort of fixed. One thing however, dynamic dpi scaling is probably the dumbest idea on a sensor due to the fact that it cannot compute the scaling changes fast enough (massive neg accel perceived when using higer CPI settings).

Honestly Taipan is the better bet, closer to the Copperhead, and decent performance. Also people who have reviewed the Taipan say that the new build construction/quality is quite good (goes for the Taipan and Ouroboros).


Thank you humbly for the correction. wo1fwood knows what he's talking about.

On July 31 2012 04:52 renaissanceMAN wrote:
Show nested quote +
On July 31 2012 04:50 sawedust wrote:
On July 31 2012 03:30 renaissanceMAN wrote:
Hey guys, got a question:

I'm looking to buy a new Razer mouse, and I've narrowed it down to two choices:

Imperator

OR:

Taipan

My question is this: Which should I get? I know it sounds obvious, but I've owned two gaming mice in my lifetime. My trusty Razer Copperhead, which lasted me almost 7 years, and now my Steelseries Xai, which while only ~4 years old, is well worn and not adequate for gaming anymore; I'm retiring it to my office.

I'm interested in the Imperator because I've heard that the ergonomic mice are slightly more comfortable. However, I'm also interested in the Taipan because its newer, and I've heard that the Imperator has some issues with its tracking system.

I use a Razer Goliathus Speed Edition mousepad if anyone is wondering.

If anyone could give me any advice, experience, feedback with either mice, I'd greatly appreciate it.



Both have PTE laser sensors, so they're going to be a lot more inaccurate opposed to the DeathAdder and the Abyssus, both of which have been proven to have flawless sensors. The DeathAdder would fall under the ergonomic section, the Abyssus in the ambidextrous.

If you're not familiar with the PTE issue, what happens is every time you lift your mouse off the mousepad to readjust, the cursor will move/jerk/twitch somewhere on the screen. This causes a lot of accuracy issues and generally is undesirable when it comes to having a great mouse. A mouse like the CM Storm Spawn doesn't move your cursor with a 1CD lift-off distance; it will stay in place as you readjust your mouse.

The more important thing to consider is your grip style. If you're a palm gripper or really need the extra buttons, go with the DeathAdder. It's one of the best palm grip mice I've ever used; only one that could probably beat it is the G400. If you're a claw or fingertip gripper, go with the Abyssus.


I was worried about this, but I had read somewhere that if you change a certain setting on the mouse to its maximum, this doesn't happen. Can anyone confirm/deny?

I'm a claw/fingertip gripper, all of the mice I've owned have been ambidextrious.

Should I make the switch though?


I can't answer the first question, perhaps wo1fwood can.

For the second question: As a claw-gripper myself, I'd recommend the CM Storm Spawn if you're looking for an ergonomic gaming mouse and want to give it a shot. The design is surprisingly well thought out once you get adjusted to its shape and size. The only other ergonomic fingertip/claw grip mouse I can think of is a naked G9x. All the other fingertip/claw grip mice are ambidextrous like the Abyssus and Mico.
Cyro
Profile Blog Joined June 2011
United Kingdom20326 Posts
July 30 2012 20:30 GMT
#10
Both have PTE laser sensors, so they're going to be a lot more inaccurate opposed to the DeathAdder and the Abyssus, both of which have been proven to have flawless sensors.


Deathadder sensor is not flawless, it has atleast one issue with spinning fast circles (more noticable the lower sens you go) which makes the cursor drift to one side (left or right) depending on clockwise or counterclockwise spinning, and IIRC abyssus cant get a firmware update that prevents jitter or something.

Pretty much every sensor avalible has much worse issues though, especially that one in question for those mice.
"oh my god my overclock... I got a single WHEA error on the 23rd hour, 9 minutes" -Belial88
renaissanceMAN
Profile Joined March 2011
United States1840 Posts
July 31 2012 14:23 GMT
#11
On July 31 2012 05:01 wo1fwood wrote:
Show nested quote +
On July 31 2012 04:50 sawedust wrote:
On July 31 2012 03:30 renaissanceMAN wrote:
Hey guys, got a question:

I'm looking to buy a new Razer mouse, and I've narrowed it down to two choices:

Imperator

OR:

Taipan

My question is this: Which should I get? I know it sounds obvious, but I've owned two gaming mice in my lifetime. My trusty Razer Copperhead, which lasted me almost 7 years, and now my Steelseries Xai, which while only ~4 years old, is well worn and not adequate for gaming anymore; I'm retiring it to my office.

I'm interested in the Imperator because I've heard that the ergonomic mice are slightly more comfortable. However, I'm also interested in the Taipan because its newer, and I've heard that the Imperator has some issues with its tracking system.

I use a Razer Goliathus Speed Edition mousepad if anyone is wondering.

If anyone could give me any advice, experience, feedback with either mice, I'd greatly appreciate it.



Both have PTE laser sensors, so they're going to be a lot more inaccurate opposed to the DeathAdder and the Abyssus, both of which have been proven to have flawless sensors. The DeathAdder would fall under the ergonomic section, the Abyssus in the ambidextrous.

If you're not familiar with the PTE issue, what happens is every time you lift your mouse off the mousepad to readjust, the cursor will move/jerk/twitch somewhere on the screen. This causes a lot of accuracy issues and generally is undesirable when it comes to having a great mouse. A mouse like the CM Storm Spawn doesn't move your cursor with a 1CD lift-off distance; it will stay in place as you readjust your mouse.

The more important thing to consider is your grip style. If you're a palm gripper or really need the extra buttons, go with the DeathAdder. It's one of the best palm grip mice I've ever used; only one that could probably beat it is the G400. If you're a claw or fingertip gripper, go with the Abyssus.

Taipan uses the A9818 which means inconsistent +/- accel issues, the second senor used is for 'advanced calibration', whatever that means :D. Also PTE does have the z-axis bug but that was sort of fixed. One thing however, dynamic dpi scaling is probably the dumbest idea on a sensor due to the fact that it cannot compute the scaling changes fast enough (massive neg accel perceived when using higer CPI settings).

Honestly Taipan is the better bet, closer to the Copperhead, and decent performance. Also people who have reviewed the Taipan say that the new build construction/quality is quite good (goes for the Taipan and Ouroboros).


The Taipan is what I'm leaning towards right now, mainly because it's a ambidextrous mouse, and all of the mice I've used to this point have been that way. Still wondering if anyone has had any personal experience with the Imperator.

As far as the sensor issues go, I'd heard that they could be quite bad, but as of late, it seems that they're pretty much fixed? Can anyone confirm/deny?
On August 15 2013 03:43 Waxangel wrote: no amount of money can replace the enjoyment of being mean to people on the internet
Demicore
Profile Joined October 2011
France503 Posts
July 31 2012 17:59 GMT
#12
I own an Imperator, no experience with the Taipan.

I usually use small ambidextrous mice but I fell in love with the Imperator after putting my hand over one in a store because I love its shape, but then my experience with other ergonomic mice is limited to the G400 and the G500 (don't like them, they're too "high" for me; I use a fingertip/claw grip so my index is nearly at the highest point of the mouse and it's extremely uncomfortable).

Material is great (neat rubberized sides); it's pretty light; drivers are functional (they feel a bit clumsy but they fulfill their role). My pet criterium is the buttons and the Imperator has the smoothest and nicest to click buttons of all the mice I've ever tried.

Unfortunately I can't really help you when it comes to judging tracking because that's not something that really matters to me; I tend to not notice all the particularities people talk about on specialized forums, although I can't say if I'm less sensitive to them or if that's just because I'm a high sens RTS player while most of the hardcore testers seem to be low sens FPS players.

People say the Imperator used to have jitter which I never noticed, then Razer implemented "Dynamic DPI Scaling" in the firmware to correct it, which lowers the DPI when the mouse is moving very slowly to correct the jitter problem, which I never noticed either (except when I purposefully set out to test it in Paint).

I've read a lot about the Taipan and it seems to be an excellent mouse. I have a Logitech g9x equipped with a similar sensor with the same accel problem and I don't notice it, but then I don't notice much when it comes to tracking ;D

Frankly it seems that you prefer ambidextrous mice so you should probably go for the Taipan. The Imperator certainly doesn't beat it in most "performance" criteria.
"I love male nipples in starcraft; the two go together so well." ~Tasteless
MisterFred
Profile Joined October 2010
United States2033 Posts
Last Edited: 2012-07-31 18:40:22
July 31 2012 18:37 GMT
#13
Honestly, I don't think it'll matter. Normally I'm a huge proponent of ergonomic mice, ever since I bought my Mionix Naos 3200 and found out just how comfortable a pinky rest is. Most comfortable mouse I've ever owned.

But looking at the pictures of the Imperator, the ledges for ring & pinky fingers look more like notches in the side of the mouse than genuine ledges you can rest fingers on. So I'm guessing they're more for holding the mouse in a grip rather than for laying your fingers on them. So I don't really see the Imperator as an ergonomic mouse in the way my super-comfy Naos 3200 is, and I don't really see much benefit in the shape for the Taipan vs Imperator question. Although looking at the pictures, this likely also means that all the people above suggesting than the Imperator will be harder to pick up to readjust because it's ergonomic are dead wrong.

Between the two, I'd suggest the Taipan, purely for the reason that it weighs slightly less. But honestly, both look rather unappealing to me, and functionally they'll be pretty identical. Demicore above implies in his last sentence that there's some sort of 'performance' criteria to be looked at. There isn't. He's right that there's pretty much no difference between the performance of most laser mice. For all intents and purposes the Taipan and the Imperator 2012 are the exact same mouse with a slightly different shell.

As for the tracking system issues you read about, the mice will perform identically. The "twin sensor" system is pretty much a marketing joke. The main sensor of both mice is an Avago 9818, which is pretty similar to any other Avago 9500 or 9800-based mice (Steelseries sensei, xai, Mionix Naos 5000, several other 'flagship' laser mice from other companies). The second sensor basically just reads what surface you're using to cover up some of the deficiencies the Avago 9500 and 9800 sensors have on various surfaces. Traditionally these laser sensors work better on hard surfaces rather than cloth, which causes some minor problems for them. That's the other tracking issue you might have heard of. All of the top end laser mice (Avago sensors) have a small amount of acceleration built in at the hardware level. This is actually the reason that Razer's earlier laser mice all used Phillips sensors rather than Avago, but it seems now they've bowed to Avago's superiority in other aspects. Also, Avago can give Razer those stupidly high DPI settings no reasonable person will ever, ever use but look good on a technical specification marketing bullet-point list.

Anyway, all that is probably more technical than you wanted. TL;DR, they're the same damn mouse. Get whichever shape looks better in the gallery pictures on the razer site. And don't assume the Razer lasers will be any better than the Razer optical mice.
"The victor? Not the highest scoring, nor the best strategist, nor the best tactitian. The victor was he that was closest to the Tao of FFA." -.Praetor
Ropid
Profile Joined March 2009
Germany3557 Posts
July 31 2012 19:11 GMT
#14
For myself, I always suffered from RSI, sometimes more, sometimes less, anything starting from a numb feeling in a finger up to actual pain. Thinking back, I have used about nine different mice starting sometime in the 1990s. The big ergonomic mice seemed to make it worse for me, and small ambidextrous mice seem to be better. I cannot explain why the ergonomic shapes would be worse for me. Perhaps the small mice can be gripped in many different ways, and the hand and fingers can be in the position that feels best in a particular gaming session, while the ergonomic mice force the hand to always grip it in a certain way.
"My goal is to replace my soul with coffee and become immortal."
MisterFred
Profile Joined October 2010
United States2033 Posts
Last Edited: 2012-07-31 19:26:11
July 31 2012 19:25 GMT
#15
My advice for RSI is generally three-fold:

First, use your arm to move your mouse not your fingers or wrist. Take a look at your mouse as you move it. Are your fingers/wrist staying still relative to your forearm, which is moving with your mouse? If so, good. Is your forearm staying still while your hand & fingers bend and flex, moving the mouse this way and that? That's bad.

Second, lower your DPI. Often people have problems when they set their DPI above 2000 (or just whatever is too fast for them). I play at 1600DPI, which is actually considered pretty high/fast. Lower DPI is generally better for most people. Try 800/1200 or so for awhile and see how it feels. A lower DPI means that you have to move your mouse farther for the pointer to move on the screen. This increases precision and reduces stress that causes RSI. Why? Broad motions use large muscles as nature intended and it's actually easier to stop where you want because you don't have to hit as small an area on your desk for the mouse pointer to hit the corresponding area on the screen you wanted to aim for. Small, incremental motions done repeatedly (the result of high DPI where the mouse moves a very small distance) uses small finger&hand muscles which actually have to strain more to achieve the precision necessary for gaming. You hand will also grip the mouse tensely if DPI is set to high, as it strains to perform exactly the right tiny movements, Broad motions lead to a more relaxed hand.

Third, get a light-weight mouse. Heavy mice bad. This generally means corded rather than wireless, but even corded mice have different weights.

Also, take a long rest with NO computer use if possible - get your hand/wrist feeling fully healthy. Then keep up good habits.

Does mouse shape make a difference for repetitive stress injury? I have no idea, to be honest.
"The victor? Not the highest scoring, nor the best strategist, nor the best tactitian. The victor was he that was closest to the Tao of FFA." -.Praetor
Holy_AT
Profile Joined July 2010
Austria978 Posts
July 31 2012 19:30 GMT
#16
Does anyone know if the Taipan is smaller then the razer lachesis ?
I use a claw gripp and thus prefer a smaller mouse. I use the razer abyssus on my laptop and I really like the size but I miss buttons on it especially when I play FPS games.I have the razer lachesis on my PC but it feels a bit to long.
If anyone knows if the razer Taipan is smaller then the lachesis please comment about itl
sapht
Profile Blog Joined August 2010
Sweden141 Posts
July 31 2012 20:25 GMT
#17
Hand-shaped for palm grip. Small and flat for claw grip. Claw grip for skinny arms, so claw grip for me (and most koreans), where logitech mini optical has dominated, motivating this thesis.

I'm using Razer Salmosa right now, which I think has been replaced by the slightly clunkier lachesis. I used diamondback prior to that, but it a bit big and heavy in comparison.

I still play FPS using palm grip, though.
You can use control groups to train units without even looking at your base.
Demicore
Profile Joined October 2011
France503 Posts
Last Edited: 2012-08-02 04:54:30
August 02 2012 04:44 GMT
#18
On August 01 2012 03:37 MisterFred wrote:
Honestly, I don't think it'll matter. Normally I'm a huge proponent of ergonomic mice, ever since I bought my Mionix Naos 3200 and found out just how comfortable a pinky rest is. Most comfortable mouse I've ever owned.

But looking at the pictures of the Imperator, the ledges for ring & pinky fingers look more like notches in the side of the mouse than genuine ledges you can rest fingers on. So I'm guessing they're more for holding the mouse in a grip rather than for laying your fingers on them. So I don't really see the Imperator as an ergonomic mouse in the way my super-comfy Naos 3200 is, and I don't really see much benefit in the shape for the Taipan vs Imperator question. Although looking at the pictures, this likely also means that all the people above suggesting than the Imperator will be harder to pick up to readjust because it's ergonomic are dead wrong.

Between the two, I'd suggest the Taipan, purely for the reason that it weighs slightly less. But honestly, both look rather unappealing to me, and functionally they'll be pretty identical. Demicore above implies in his last sentence that there's some sort of 'performance' criteria to be looked at. There isn't. He's right that there's pretty much no difference between the performance of most laser mice. For all intents and purposes the Taipan and the Imperator 2012 are the exact same mouse with a slightly different shell.

As for the tracking system issues you read about, the mice will perform identically. The "twin sensor" system is pretty much a marketing joke. The main sensor of both mice is an Avago 9818, which is pretty similar to any other Avago 9500 or 9800-based mice (Steelseries sensei, xai, Mionix Naos 5000, several other 'flagship' laser mice from other companies). The second sensor basically just reads what surface you're using to cover up some of the deficiencies the Avago 9500 and 9800 sensors have on various surfaces. Traditionally these laser sensors work better on hard surfaces rather than cloth, which causes some minor problems for them. That's the other tracking issue you might have heard of. All of the top end laser mice (Avago sensors) have a small amount of acceleration built in at the hardware level. This is actually the reason that Razer's earlier laser mice all used Phillips sensors rather than Avago, but it seems now they've bowed to Avago's superiority in other aspects. Also, Avago can give Razer those stupidly high DPI settings no reasonable person will ever, ever use but look good on a technical specification marketing bullet-point list.

Anyway, all that is probably more technical than you wanted. TL;DR, they're the same damn mouse. Get whichever shape looks better in the gallery pictures on the razer site. And don't assume the Razer lasers will be any better than the Razer optical mice.


Hm, Taipan has the Avago sensor you mentioned while the Imperator has the PTE actually, but thanks for the detailed answer anyway ;D
"I love male nipples in starcraft; the two go together so well." ~Tasteless
MisterFred
Profile Joined October 2010
United States2033 Posts
Last Edited: 2012-08-02 11:56:51
August 02 2012 11:55 GMT
#19
On August 02 2012 13:44 Demicore wrote:
Show nested quote +
On August 01 2012 03:37 MisterFred wrote:
Honestly, I don't think it'll matter. Normally I'm a huge proponent of ergonomic mice, ever since I bought my Mionix Naos 3200 and found out just how comfortable a pinky rest is. Most comfortable mouse I've ever owned.

But looking at the pictures of the Imperator, the ledges for ring & pinky fingers look more like notches in the side of the mouse than genuine ledges you can rest fingers on. So I'm guessing they're more for holding the mouse in a grip rather than for laying your fingers on them. So I don't really see the Imperator as an ergonomic mouse in the way my super-comfy Naos 3200 is, and I don't really see much benefit in the shape for the Taipan vs Imperator question. Although looking at the pictures, this likely also means that all the people above suggesting than the Imperator will be harder to pick up to readjust because it's ergonomic are dead wrong.

Between the two, I'd suggest the Taipan, purely for the reason that it weighs slightly less. But honestly, both look rather unappealing to me, and functionally they'll be pretty identical. Demicore above implies in his last sentence that there's some sort of 'performance' criteria to be looked at. There isn't. He's right that there's pretty much no difference between the performance of most laser mice. For all intents and purposes the Taipan and the Imperator 2012 are the exact same mouse with a slightly different shell.

As for the tracking system issues you read about, the mice will perform identically. The "twin sensor" system is pretty much a marketing joke. The main sensor of both mice is an Avago 9818, which is pretty similar to any other Avago 9500 or 9800-based mice (Steelseries sensei, xai, Mionix Naos 5000, several other 'flagship' laser mice from other companies). The second sensor basically just reads what surface you're using to cover up some of the deficiencies the Avago 9500 and 9800 sensors have on various surfaces. Traditionally these laser sensors work better on hard surfaces rather than cloth, which causes some minor problems for them. That's the other tracking issue you might have heard of. All of the top end laser mice (Avago sensors) have a small amount of acceleration built in at the hardware level. This is actually the reason that Razer's earlier laser mice all used Phillips sensors rather than Avago, but it seems now they've bowed to Avago's superiority in other aspects. Also, Avago can give Razer those stupidly high DPI settings no reasonable person will ever, ever use but look good on a technical specification marketing bullet-point list.

Anyway, all that is probably more technical than you wanted. TL;DR, they're the same damn mouse. Get whichever shape looks better in the gallery pictures on the razer site. And don't assume the Razer lasers will be any better than the Razer optical mice.


Hm, Taipan has the Avago sensor you mentioned while the Imperator has the PTE actually, but thanks for the detailed answer anyway ;D


That's the old Imperator. The new one is the Imperator 2012, which is the model to which I was referring, and the one renaissanceman linked. Though I would assume the outer shell is similar, if not the same.
"The victor? Not the highest scoring, nor the best strategist, nor the best tactitian. The victor was he that was closest to the Tao of FFA." -.Praetor
Demicore
Profile Joined October 2011
France503 Posts
August 02 2012 18:34 GMT
#20
Nah the Imperator 2012 still has the PTE!

Only the Taipan and Ouroboros have the Avago one in Razer's range.

(here are some good threads over at OCN)

Cheers.
"I love male nipples in starcraft; the two go together so well." ~Tasteless
1 2 Next All
Please log in or register to reply.
Live Events Refresh
Sparkling Tuna Cup
10:00
Weekly #126
Classic vs ByuNLIVE!
herO vs TBD
CranKy Ducklings223
TKL 182
IndyStarCraft 159
LiquipediaDiscussion
[ Submit Event ]
Live Streams
Refresh
StarCraft 2
Lowko377
TKL 182
IndyStarCraft 159
SortOf 135
ProTech118
StarCraft: Brood War
Sea 13291
Calm 6605
Horang2 3726
Bisu 2001
Jaedong 1348
EffOrt 535
Aegong 483
Shuttle 482
Killer 447
Stork 382
[ Show more ]
Hyuk 308
Larva 286
Mini 274
Light 213
Soma 198
actioN 168
Snow 148
ggaemo 142
ZerO 136
Soulkey 127
hero 97
Rush 76
Hm[arnc] 45
Sharp 42
Mind 41
sSak 40
HiyA 38
JYJ 37
sorry 36
Backho 36
Shinee 30
[sc1f]eonzerg 28
Free 27
soO 20
Terrorterran 18
ajuk12(nOOB) 18
Sacsri 17
Movie 16
zelot 15
Noble 14
GoRush 12
Icarus 6
Dota 2
qojqva514
Pyrionflax328
Gorgc109
Counter-Strike
olofmeister4749
fl0m2352
Other Games
singsing1913
Liquid`RaSZi893
B2W.Neo577
XcaliburYe364
crisheroes233
hiko197
XaKoH 148
RotterdaM142
Mew2King72
QueenE60
ArmadaUGS26
ZerO(Twitch)10
Organizations
Counter-Strike
PGL10266
StarCraft: Brood War
UltimateBattle 955
Other Games
BasetradeTV665
StarCraft 2
Blizzard YouTube
StarCraft: Brood War
BSLTrovo
sctven
[ Show 14 non-featured ]
StarCraft 2
• HappyZerGling 92
• CranKy Ducklings SOOP4
• AfreecaTV YouTube
• intothetv
• Kozan
• IndyKCrew
• LaughNgamezSOOP
• Migwel
• sooper7s
StarCraft: Brood War
• iopq 2
• BSLYoutube
• STPLYoutube
• ZZZeroYoutube
Dota 2
• WagamamaTV52
Upcoming Events
PiGosaur Cup
11h 27m
Replay Cast
20h 27m
Kung Fu Cup
23h 27m
Replay Cast
1d 11h
The PondCast
1d 21h
CranKy Ducklings
2 days
WardiTV Team League
2 days
Replay Cast
3 days
CranKy Ducklings
3 days
WardiTV Team League
3 days
[ Show More ]
uThermal 2v2 Circuit
4 days
BSL
4 days
Sparkling Tuna Cup
4 days
WardiTV Team League
4 days
BSL
5 days
Replay Cast
5 days
Replay Cast
5 days
Wardi Open
5 days
Liquipedia Results

Completed

CSL Elite League 2026
RSL Revival: Season 4
NationLESS Cup

Ongoing

BSL Season 22
ASL Season 21
CSL 2026 SPRING (S20)
StarCraft2 Community Team League 2026 Spring
Nations Cup 2026
PGL Bucharest 2026
Stake Ranked Episode 1
BLAST Open Spring 2026
ESL Pro League S23 Finals
ESL Pro League S23 Stage 1&2
PGL Cluj-Napoca 2026
IEM Kraków 2026
BLAST Bounty Winter 2026

Upcoming

Escore Tournament S2: W2
IPSL Spring 2026
Escore Tournament S2: W3
Acropolis #4
BSL 22 Non-Korean Championship
CSLAN 4
Kung Fu Cup 2026 Grand Finals
HSC XXIX
uThermal 2v2 2026 Main Event
uThermal 2v2 Last Chance Qualifiers 2026
RSL Revival: Season 5
IEM Cologne Major 2026
Stake Ranked Episode 2
CS Asia Championships 2026
Asian Champions League 2026
IEM Atlanta 2026
PGL Astana 2026
BLAST Rivals Spring 2026
CCT Season 3 Global Finals
IEM Rio 2026
TLPD

1. ByuN
2. TY
3. Dark
4. Solar
5. Stats
6. Nerchio
7. sOs
8. soO
9. INnoVation
10. Elazer
1. Rain
2. Flash
3. EffOrt
4. Last
5. Bisu
6. Soulkey
7. Mini
8. Sharp
Sidebar Settings...

Advertising | Privacy Policy | Terms Of Use | Contact Us

Original banner artwork: Jim Warren
The contents of this webpage are copyright © 2026 TLnet. All Rights Reserved.