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- Verified Buyer
Update: Even better. In my original review, I ask for one more button. With the software included for this mouse, you can actually get one more button out of it. Thanks to being able to use the one-click iterate through DPI modes, I can use one button as the DPI toggle, and I can use one of the two DPI toggle buttons. I can have CTRL, Shift, Alt, Page up, and Page down on my mouse. It is insanely productive, ergonomic, and useful. This is my favorite mouse ever. I've bought two now, and I hope to keep buying more in case they ever stop making them.I had a Redragon Lavawolf mouse for approximately six years. I used the device rigorously, daily, and easily achieved hundreds of thousands of clicks with it. If not breaking a million. It took one hell of a beating under my hand, and it stayed intact. Even though pieces of it were starting to wear off from raw mechanical abuse, I still have it tucked away as a backup mouse.That being said, I knew it was time to upgrade. I had originally been looking at other brands for something that could improve my workflow. Upgrading from a barebones logitech mouse to the Lavawulf gave me +2 buttons (not including the variable DPI, which I don't change very often for me, but is super useful for letting other people use my computer on rare occasion.) Those +2 buttons, over time, drastically improved my workflow, and also gave me a great deal of ability to function in games. I've always been dissatisfied with the majority of 10+ button mice on the market, as I'm not a serious MMO player, and very few games seem to make such an arrangement practical. Let alone most working environments. I wanted something with an accessible 2-5 buttons.Upon considering just how well my Lavawolf had served me, I returned to Redragon. And it took some searching, but I eventually found what I wanted. And that was this mouse.And I am very, very glad I did.This mouse features three buttons on the left side, where my lavawolf had two, and it has an additional button to the left of the left-click; this is titled an ACTION BUTTON or something for some reason. It's just another key input. The competing mouse I looked at had five buttons all on the left. And while I'm sure I could've gotten used to it, I think I made the better choice in terms of a practical workflow. Would I have liked to see them try to add one more button to this sort of configuration? Yes, actually, for a reason I'll state below. Am I dissatisfied? Not at all. All of the 9 buttons ont he mouse are programmable, but, you will probably only program four of them. As, the other five are your two clicks, your two dpi buttons, and your middle mouse button's click.PRO: Quality.The build quality is very good. The material has been improved from my original Lavawolf. Smooth in the hand, it doesn't seem to pick up skin-oils as easily, buttons feel firm and solid. The mouse is also larger, which is nice, because my hand completely covered the Lavawolf, almost touching my mat. Thumb placement is comfortable in various places. I can have my thumb on the left buttons when gaming for periods, though eventually it'll drop back down into the groove its intended for. Not a big issue. Perhaps ideally the buttons would be in the groove, somewhat? But then you have increased risk of unintended clicks. The button to the left of the left-click is, in my opinion, super ergonomic. My biggest problem right now is remembering its there, but once I do, it feels very smooth to use.PRO: Ergonomics and Functionality.How I use the mouse for workflow is Page Up, Right Ctrl, and Page down for the side buttons. And my button to the left of left-click is Right Alt. This gives me almost the full spectrum of keyboard shortcut executions from purely my right hand. Which is incredibly convenient. Even better, naturally fiddling with it has taught me keyboard shortcuts in browsers and applications that I wouldn't have known of otherwise. Not only that, but for gaming in games that allow Ctrl+ and Alt+ combinations, I now can use an extreme amount of keyboard inputs without moving my WSAD hand.PERSONAL CRITICISM: +1 More Button.The only improvement my workflow could really take, I believe, is +1 more mouse button, so I could utilize Right Shift in the same way. That's not as entirely necessary, as when I type, I can utilize the shift key very easily. But for shortcuts while I'm running the mouse, or for gaming, especially in games that allow Shift+ combinations, I could streamline my inputs even further.DRAWBACKS: Finding your Model and Associated Driver.The only serious drawback of the mouse is finding your drivers. The drivers themselves, while barebones, work very well. That's not the issue. The issue is, that the packaging for different mice is the same. My mouse came with product placement and advertising for a mouse that I didn't purchase. But, which fit the same packaging. Doubly so, there are no specific instructions to find your drivers. Trying to use that mouse's drivers didn't work, and fiddling through 'similar' drivers had to happen before I decided to just google search the product name off of this amazon sale page. THAT took me where I needed to go, and got me the right driver.I really don't want to have to knock the score for that... But, in the end, it is a pretty decent flaw that they should rectify. I did not have this problem with my Lavawolf, incidentally.
