A few weeks ago, we brought to you a review of CM Storm’s latest gaming peripheral, the Sirus Gaming Headset, which earned high marks. Today, we bring to you our review of another of CM Storm’s gaming peripherals, the Sentinel Z3RO-G Gaming Mouse, on a few sites called the Zero-G Gaming Mouse, which was released on July 4th of this year. 

Lets see if this mouse is a Yankee Doodle Dandy, or if it should be tied to a bunch of bottle rockets.

Packaging and What’s Inside

The mouse comes in a black and red box, repleted with a picture of the mouse looking evil (in a good way). Also on the box, almost to the point of overkill, is the notification that the mouse comes with a code to play Shattered Horizon for free.

Opening the front of the box you can see the Sentinel Z3RO-G resting in a hard plastic encasement. The back part of the front of the box shows you the different options available on the mouse.

Freeing the Sentinel from its prison, you find the mouse itself, and a disc that contains the software to get the most out of it.

The mouse itself has seven buttons in total. There are the standard left and right buttons, two thumb buttons on the left side of the mouse, two small buttons right below the mouse wheel (that is, towards the user’s palm) which increase and decrease the mouse’s DPI, and one on the far side of the mouse wheel which is used to change the mode of the mouse om the fly (more on that later).

You will also notice that the top of the mouse has an OLED screen, which is advertised to be use for putting Clan Tags on. Pretty cool. The mouse also has LEDs which appear on the top, and bottom front of the mouse. You have six different LED colors to chose from including purple, yellow, and blue. Please note that the last picture was taken from CM Storm’s website (the rest are our own photographs).

The Sentinel Z3R0-G utilizes a USB connection (and won’t play nicely if you try to jack it in through a PS/2 adapter). The cord of the mouse is braided, and is approximately 66 inches (1.67m) in length.

As with many high-end, gaming-specific mice, the Z3RO-G comes with five removable weights so that users can customize the hand feel to best suit their preferences. Each of these weighs 4.5 grams (about 1/6th of an ounce).

Next Page: Software

Packaging:

Specifications and Features:

The Steel Series Xai:

Next: Xai Overview

Packaging:

Specifications and Features:

The Spawn:

Next: Tests, Overview of the Spawn, Spawn Software and Conclusion

Overall, the Coolermaster suite had a lot of nice hardware ready for the marketplace. The private room that showed some “special” products was great! However, as these were all under NDA, we sadly can not elaborate anymore than that about them. Stay tuned for further updates and information, along with product reviews from Coolermaster.

Packaging:

Specifications and Features:

The M551:

Next: Usage and Conclusion.

Packaging:

Specifications and Features:

Continue to the next page for a closer look at the M571 and a size comparison.

Packaging:

The Cooler Master Storm Inferno:

Specifications and Features:

Inferno Software:

When you first start up the Inferno software, you will be greeted with this screen. Are you a casual gamer or a pro gamer? We will leave that option up to our keyboard warriors out there.

Once you finished debating on whether or not you’re a 1337 pro gamer, you will be brought to this screen. As you can see, there are a lot of options to play with already and this is only the first page! You can create your profiles from this screen in the top left. You will also be able to set motion sensitivity, clicking speeds and response times as well. You can also set your five DPI levels for fast switching once you are in a game. If you need to change button assignments, you can also do that from this screen. Now you see why we warned you about all of the options that flood your screen with this software. You can spend a lot of time in this section and not even scratch the surface of the full capabilities of the Inferno mouse.

With the above screen shot, you can work with your profiles. If you need to export a profile for a friend, or if you need to import a new one to test out, you can do that here. This screen will let you load up to four profiles on your Inferno mouse, so if you change computers, your profiles will still be with you. We think that is an extremely cool and useful feature and we were even more surprised when we tested it and it really worked! Nice job with this feature Cooler Master.

In the Storm Tactics section, you are once again exposed to a plethora of options. This is where you can set your scripts and macros to run after pressing the desired button combination that you’ve set. You will also be able to adjust how fast or slow the speed of your scroll wheel is, although, we are not sure why you would want a super slow or super fast scroll wheel speed; a speed somewhere in the middle has always been good enough for us. On the bottom right, you can also choose your style. For example, if you choose “Full Color”, all of the mouse lights will be fully lit at all times. However, if you choose “Rapid Fire”, the lights at the front of the mouse only come on when a button is clicked, almost like the toy ray-gun we all had as kids. This allows for a little more customization for the control freaks out there, and I suppose a playful gimmick as well.

Setting up your macros is pretty simple. All you need to do is know what you want your macro to be, click the “Start Record” button, and input your desired keys. When you are finished doing that, simply click “Stop Recording” and you now have a new macro (don’t forget to save it). You can also select whether or not you want it to loop, or just perform the macro once, and then select a macro button and profile to go with it.

Making a script is just as easy as making macros. It has virtually all the same options as the macro creation area.

From the “Library”, you can select the macro or script you would like to sync with your on-board memory. From here, you can easily add or delete macros and scripts from your mouse.

Size Comparison:

For our size comparison, we have chosen a Logitech G5 that we had sitting around the office.  As you can see, they are about the same size. You will also notice that the scroll wheel on the Inferno is about twice the width of the G5’s scroll wheel, which may be noteworthy for those with larger fingers. The CM Storm Inferno is big enough to fit your hand and make long gaming sessions comfortable and pleasant.

Usage:

The octagon shaped button will cycle through your four profiles when pressed. It will also change colors to let you know which profile you are on. The two buttons above are the on-the-fly DPI level changers. You can preset your DPI levels, or just use the default which seemed to cover the spectrum of what one would need while gaming. Also, at the top of the mouse, you have two more buttons on the sides. The left side button is the rapid fire button for your FPS games and the right side button is the macro button.

On the thumb side of the mouse (for right-handed folks of course), you have your normal “Forward” and “Back” buttons. The square button in the back is the “Tactics” button. All you need to do is hit that button, then press the combo you set up earlier in the software “Tactics” section, and you are good to go. The hard part is just remembering which combo goes with what you are trying to do. We had to go back and look a few times, but after awhile, we started to remember what we had set and things went a lot smoother.

Conclusion:

After a lot of time spent with the Inferno mouse, we were pleasantly surprised with all that it could do. The massive customization of the mouse and it’s buttons were interesting to say the least. The button combinations will be the hardest thing to learn with this mouse, but once figured out, we feel they can be a major asset in your gaming.

The Inferno software was very easy to navigate. The hardest thing is figuring out how you want to program all of your keys. Then, once you do that, you have to remember them. Other than the occasional mental roadblock, the multitude of keys and macros are really a great feature. The software also helps you sync up all of your options with the on-board memory in the mouse, which is really fast and easy to do. The button placements on the mouse are also easy to access and seem to flow well with the design and shape of the mouse. The red-colored light of the CM Storm logo, which comes out of the front grill, is also a nice aesthetic touch that hopefully the majority of people will be pleased with.

For a gaming mouse, this is very versatile and can be used to play a multitude of different game genres, from FPS’ to MMO’s. All of the custom key setups, with macros and scripts, help make MMO games a breeze. And with the on-the-fly DPI adjustment with a maximum DPI of 4000, this mouse is great for FPS gaming as well. Whatever you plan on using this mouse for, it can handle it. It has way too many customizable options to fail. We were extremely pleased with the Inferno mouse and would be happy to recommend it to anyone in the market for a great gaming peripheral.



The Cooler Master Storm Inferno gaming mouse receives the TechREACTION.net Gold Silicon Award!




For more information on the CM Storm Inferno see Cooler Master’s official product page.

This mouse is specifically designed for right handed users only. That means all you lefties are completely excluded from using this mouse. You’ll either have to deform your hand or attempt to cope with it, but really, just avoid this mouse altogether if you are. As you can see, the packaging is rather big. The contents are basic, a driver CD which you’ll never use (updated drivers that you can download off the Internet are much better), a manual and the mouse itself.

The mouse itself is meant for a complete hand-claw grab. That means your entire hand should be gripping a part of the mouse at all times. Unlike other mice, your palm should be completely rested on the Behemoth. Despite the large design, it will provide the most comfort to small/medium sized hands, as it provides more surface to grip onto. With larger hands, the tips of your fingers overextend the mouse a lot. The main point of the design is for comfort over long periods, and the OCZ Behemoth accomplishes that fantastically. I have no doubt that most people would agree after using the Behemoth for hours.

As far as extra buttons go, there’s the standard 5 and one for changing DPI profiles. This button is near impossible to hit in gaming situations, so I find it completely useless. The extra side button requires a decent amount of force to press, which makes it difficult. I wouldn’t select the Behemoth for extra button usage. On the bright side, the wheel scroll is very smooth, and middle clicking is no problem.

Yes. There’s fancy LED lights. And when opening the driver menu, they flash like crazy. I won’t go into details about them, but they can be turned off with some tweaking. The driver configuration program is simple, and very intuitive. Nothing much to say about it.

With the mouse comes an additional 5 magnetic weights that can be removed or added on at will; I find that keeping the entire set off is more suitable towards my needs. It’s easy to lose small additions, (I’ve lost two of them somehow).

To recap and conclude, this extremely low-cost mouse (yes, it’s very unpricey!) is suitable towards long-term, right-handed, not-caring about extra buttons, find comfort important, and are on a budget users.

A gaming mouse is a special and uneasy product to review. It’s hard to be objective as you cannot measure or benchmark its performance. I will try and make a comparison with an award-winning Logitech MX518 (mine is 5 years old, but still works very well), and perhaps will also mention some other popular gaming mice to give you an idea about the pros and cons of purchasing Sentinel Advance.

Specifications, packaging and accessories

Let’s start with some marketing stuff. This is what Sentinel Advance has to offer:

I believe the picture is self-explanatory. I will go into detail regarding each feature later.

The mouse comes in a sturdy (yet pretty small) cardboard box, also protected by a transparent plastic layer.

The mouse is well protected in its box. The packaging also has a neat feature due to its form: you can put your hands onto the mouse to get a ‘feel’ of its form in case you’re shopping in a retail store.

The accessories are: a set of back up teflon feet (in case those attached to the mouse wear off), a CD containing a driver and a manual and… a special PCI cover plate which works as an anti-theft device in case you’re attending a LAN party, a championship, or your 5 year old son just likes ‘borrowing’ your fancy gadgets.

Sentinel Advance also comes with 5 weights of 4.5 grams each which lets you fine tune the weight of the mouse in range of 0-22.5 grams (which I, personally, find extremely handy comparing to my old trusty MX518 which has no such system).

All right, let’s have a look at the mouse itself!

Taking a closer look

For a brief moment, I am letting the camera speak for myself. As you can see, the mouse is absolutely gorgeous. Solid black colour is a perfect choice in my opinion. I couldn’t resist turning the LEDs on for the picture, even though they were blinding the camera.

The mouse is made of black plastic with a huge piece of rubber wrapped around it. This is a simple yet an effective solution to keep a firm contact with your hand. However, the left and the right mouse buttons are not rubberised. It may be a drawback for some, but I didn’t see it as an issue, personally.

I’d like to mention the mouse cord. It’s 1.5 meters long, which is plenty in most cases, and features a nice woven coat, which is stiff yet pretty flexible and great looking. A nice touch in my book.

The LED lighting is fully customizable via drivers. You can pick one of eight colours (OctoShade technology at play) in total, you can also make them blink, fade, cycle… do just about anything you want!

As you see, the mouse also has a bight monochrome OLED display – this is something no mouse has had ever before. It displays your logo (you can create your own!), the current DPI settings for both X and Y axis, and helps you navigate among your profiles.

Just in front of OLED screen, there are two buttons for on-the-fly DPI switching. The placement is pretty decent, so reaching them is no problem, plus they are pretty ’stiff’ so accidental clicks are out of question.

Unfortunately, the wheel design isn’t as excellent in comparison. It’s easy to scroll, very quiet (however, it makes some feedback sound just to let you know that it’s actually working), but… it doesn’t support horizontal scrolling. It may be not a big deal for a gamer (my MX518 doesn’t support horizontal scrolling either), but it is surely a drawback for general use, especially for a modern high end mouse. MX Revolution with its thumb horizontal scrolling wheel is unbeatable in this case.

In front of the wheel you can see a profile switching button. You’ll never accidentally press this one, and it’s not really out of reach, so the designers did a good job once again.

Let’s have a look at the left side of the mouse.

Please excuse my inexpensive camera and lighting…

The thumb rest is quite large (comparing to MX518, a bit smaller than the one of MX Revolution, though), and should fit even quite large hands.

Have a look at the back and forward buttons. Personally, I find the positioning excellent, quite far from the thumb rest spot. They are easy to reach, although I believe you can’t beat the moving back and forward button mechanism of Razer Imperator. Still, I see nothing wrong with the current implementation.

The weight system can be found at the bottom of the mouse.

Talking about the form, the mouse is very comfortable in my opinion. But keep in mind, this is a right handed mouse. It is not symmetrical at all.

Comparing to MX518, I’d like to mention the palm rest, it’s quite noticeably larger, especially the right part of it. This is quite an unusual design, and a very smart one. This is something Logitech mice are missing in my opinion, and it’s perfect if you have hands that are slightly larger than average.

On contrary, the frontal part of Sentinel Advance is more narrow, so my ring-finger ends up hugging the side of the mouse instead of sitting on top of it, and it took some time to get used to coming from MX518. I can’t say that it’s making the mouse more comfortable, but it’s makes a firm grip (which might’ve been CM’s intention).

Both mice have about the same height. However, their forms are very different. Sentinel Advance is slightly bigger but more flat, which makes it some kind of hybrid between Logitech MX and Razer mice.

A couple more shots in the dark, just for fun:

Sentinel Advance mouse and Razer Lycosa Mirror keyboard make a nice combination.

Software

I am pretty sure that software is the reason why the mouse is called Sentinel Advance. Because, clearly, it’s extremely feature rich, and no other mouse comes close in this department.

Let’s have a look at the first screen:

There are 5 profiles available. They are all stored in on-board 64k memory. Actually, you don’t even need the driver after configuring the mouse, you can uninstall it and everything will work like a charm. Very convenient.

One can re-assign every mouse button’s function (but profile switch one), if necessary. Also, the software lets you set the DPI level for each of four ‘quick switch’ modes. Setting USB polling rate might come handy if you have issues with the default 1000Hz setting.

There is also a usual motion sensitivity slider which is, in fact, a motion speed setting from Windows Control Panel. I haven’t personally touched double click speed and button response time settings, the defaults are fine for me. It’s nice to have an option to tweak everything for yourself, though.


Colour control. A colour set for the frontal LEDs can be different from the colour set for the top ones. There are also 4 modes: you can have a solid light;  ‘breathing mode’ means that the LEDs will slowly get brighter until they reach their maximum value, then they start slowly dimming until they are off, rinse and repeat; “rapid fire” means that the LEDs will light up each time you click any button.

You can also upload your custom logo for the OLED screen here. It has to be a black and white image 32×32 pixels in size. A lot of them can be found on CM forums, you can also create your own that matches your team’s one, for example.

Macro tab. You can create macros (chains of actions assigned to a specific button) up to 43 actions (read: clicks / key strokes) long. There is no limitation on the number of macros you can create (as long as you have some free on-board memory). The progress bar indicates the on-board memory space taken. There are also a few execution modes, plus you can set delays for each action. This functionality should be sufficient for 99.99% macro loving gamers.

The script tab is very similar to the macro tab. Once again, you can have up to 43 actions (now with a command option added) per script, and as many scripts as can fit into the on-board memory.

The library tab is designed to let you save the macro and script libraries on your computer and upload them to your mouse if necessary. I’ve never seen any mouse software feature anything similar before.

Additionally, you can use the Sentinel software to update the firmware of the mouse. However, I haven’t had to use that option yet.

Usage experience

It took me around two days to get used to the form of the mouse coming from MX518. Sentinel Advance proved to be very comfortable in the every day use (however, I still consider the form of MX Revolution better, but that mouse has its own flaws).

I found the weight system very convenient. At first, on my soft mouse mat I used 3 weights out of 5 for every day work and games. However, when I switched to the hard mouse pad the mouse started gliding better so I used all 5 weights to slow the mouse down some. This is what I ended up with.

The sensor precision is excellent. It is much better than MX518 in this regard and I can not complain. However, there is a big draw back (eyebrow raising, I’d say): the mouse is very picky to the surface it is working on, and the best-in-the-world 5600DPI dual laser technology does not help.

Using a soft mat is a bad idea. Whenever you click any button on a soft mat, the cursor on the screen moves one pixel away in a random direction. This is terribly annoying for any graphics related work.

Not all hard mats work either. Some of them have a ‘drifting’ issue: even when moving in a straight line the cursor may randomly drift to a side at some point (and sometimes up to 10 pixels away) for no reason.

There is actually a thread on CM support forums regarding the choice of a perfect mouse pad. From my experience, I can say that a normal wooden table or a white sheet of paper works perfectly, so perhaps some mouse pad designers are over-engineering their products.

This seems to be a software issue, though, because some of the drifting issues were fixed with the software updates, plus there is a firmware update fixing the behaviour of the mouse on Razer mouse pads.

There are also some quirks with the drivers. Some installs don’t go well and mess up the settings badly. In case you’re affected, there is a driver install guide on CM forums (for those experiencing issues). I have not had to resort to that, though.

The polling rate setting in the drivers can also cause issues. The mouse creates some kind of cursor ‘deceleration’ effect, not moving far enough when you are, for example, trying to select something with a frame. It can get so ridiculous that if you’re just trying to select 4-20 pixels with a frame the cursor can actually move in the opposite direction. The fix is simple, though, change the polling rate a few times and it will go away. But it often comes back if you decide to open the drivers to change some setting.

Version 1.3 drivers brought another issue. Whenever you start the driver the motion sensitivity setting resets to 30% or so. That means you have to use 4000DPI setting instead of 1400, unless you decide to set the slider to the middle position again. And CM recommends not to touch the motion sensitivity slider at all since it may cause drifting issues. Driver version 1.2 is free of this bug.

I also had a very weird problem with static charge shocks coming from the grille around the OLED screen each time I touched the mouse after a break from work at the computer. CM representative told me they were not aware of such issue and told me to RMA the mouse, so I did. However, I know two more people with the same problem, so there is a pattern. Hopefully it is just a defective batch. Anyway, the issue doesn’t seem to be common at all.

Conclusion

Cooler Master Sentinel Advance creates a mixed bag of feelings. On the one hand, it looks really awesome, its form is very comfortable (so is the button placement), it has a great sensor and a very feature rich software. On the other hand, it requires a fitting mouse pad (and can drive you insane if you have one it doesn’t like), it does not support horizontal scrolling, and the software is still somewhat buggy (it may also be responsible for the mouse pad issue). CM is working on the software version 1.4 that should be out soon, but there is no change log or ETA yet.

Sentinel Advance gets 4 points out of 5 from me. Perhaps I am being generous, but once you work everything out the mouse works excellently.

Would I buy it again? Yeah, probably.

Thanks for reading.

NZXT’s Avatar gaming mouse is the company’s first foray into producing gaming peripherals.  Specs and Features include:

• Optimal performance — 2600 DPI Optical Sensor provides maximum sensitivity and responsiveness which yields unparalleled gaming accuracy. LED DPI indicator gives the user improved usage and feedback. 5.8 Mega Pixels/second with a max frame rate of 6469 ensures smooth fragging and accurate sniping. 4 Speed DPI switch enables you to go from slow sniper movement to quick attack movement in a matter of seconds
• Maximum Customization — 7 programmable keys allows gamers to customize their configuration specifically for First-Person Shooters, Real-Time Strategy, or Massive Multiplayer Online Role-Playing Games all within the macro and profile settings
• Ergonomic Design — Ambidextrous design gives full use to both right and left handed gamers. Rubber grip helps avoid slipping during intense gameplay and the small, light form factor allows for faster and quicker movements, perfect for any gamer on the go or playing on a laptop or notebook. A slim form factor makes it the perfect choice for finger tip gamers.
• Simple Installation — Avatar plugs into any available USB port
• Slim and small dimensions — Measuring at 36.8mm x 69.1mm x 128mm ( H x W x D ), the Avatar’s smaller form factor is the best choice for finger tip gamers and people who game on the go.

Packaging:
The mouse ships in a compact black and blue box with matted finish. It is different from the usual glossy box covers retail products usually come in, giving it a simple yet elegant look. This makes the box less resilient to the wear and tear of shipping however so the box arrived with some tears and dents on the corners. It’s not a big deal since the mouse is comfortably placed inside a smaller form-fitting box with a plastic cap in front of it. The product manual was slid inside the box flap, protected by a quarter-inch thick foam and the 80mm driver disc within it. I was beginning to think I was reviewing a Matryoshka doll.

Design:
The mouse is longer than what I’m used to. I use a Microsoft Basic Optical mouse for daily use and the Avatar is a good 2cm longer. It is lean, curvey, ambidextrous and uses a unibody design on the top plate with it extending the length of the mouse including the left and right clicks. It’s body is coated in thin rubber for grip and has a matted look similar to the packaging box. However it seems to attract dust quite easily, after only a minute out of the box, there were speckles of dust visible on the photo. In between the left and right cliker, a rubber scroller is present and behind it are two buttons used for increasing or decreasing DPI on-the-fly, perfect for switching between close-quarters and sniping FPS games. While the the rest of the mouse is matted, the bottom is shiny and the base is bordered by three teflon pads for comfortable gliding across any surface.  The mouse lights up a cool-blue LED color, not too strong that it could double as a night light but glows well enough to see where it is in a dark room.

Software:
Software installation is straightforward. You will be asked to plug-in the mouse in case you haven’t done so (installation will not continue if the Avatar isn’t detected). The software presents the user with 3 options: “Advanced Functions”, “Sensitivity” and “Advanced Settings”. In “Advanced Functions” you can change the polling rate, orientation, DPI, button assignments as well as a macro button assignment function(with a maximum of 20 key presses and release) and profile saving feature. “Sensitivity” option gives the user the ability to change the sensitivity of the X and Y asis separately as well as mouse pointer speed and acceleration. The last tab offers the ability to change the scrolling as well as the clicking speed.

Testing:
Testing and Comparison was made between the NZXT Avatar and a Microsoft Basic Optical Mouse in the following categories:
- Daily productivity (Office work, Web browsing)
- Graphic work (Photoshop and MSpaint)
- Gaming (Tested in Call of Duty 4 and Modern Warfare 2)

Performance
Productivity
Difference between the mice were barely noticeable. The side buttons helped in web browsing as they default to back and forward buttons. However, their placement makes it so that its easy to accidentally click one by mistake when moving the mouse. I in particular am very heavy handed, resting my ring finger where the right button is directly and would contantly hit it by mistake when I try to move the cursor to the left.

Graphic Work
The difference is more pronounced here. Complex shapes and curves are much easier to do. In MSpaint, pixel by pixel drawing is much more consistently spaced and doesn’t require as much movement.

(a) “The Pit” run with Microsoft Basic Optical Mouse

(b) “The Pit” run with NZXT Avatar Mouse at 2600DPI

Gaming
In Modern Warfare 2, testing was done in the Spec-Ops map, “The Pit” alternately with each run repeated 3 times trying to produce the lowest time:

As you can see from the score, the average with the Avatar is significantly lower.

Testing in Call of Duty 4 was done by 2 matches each alternating in a public server, however, due to the nature of public matches it is impossible to guage the difference objectively and attribute it solely to the mouse. Subjectively, I didn’t notice the difference until after the second run with the regular optical mouse after using the Avatar. I was unable to follow target trajectories with smooth accuracy and required much more movement and after the 4th run, I was able to utilize the on-the-fly DPI switching and changing my playstyle in the middle of the match. It took some getting-used-to but the results are impressive.

Final Thoughts:
I typically prefer mice with some heft and size in them, NZXT’s Avatar being light and longer than it is builkier, took me some time to adjust. I just feel that with its shape and design, a person with longer and leaner fingers could find it more comfortable than somebody like me who has wide and heavy fingers. The side buttons on the v2 revision of the NZXT are now much more recessed compared to the original version but I still manage to hit them by accident, especially the right side button when browsing online. I would much prefer it if the buttons were a bit lower so there is space near the top for me to rest my fingers without any accidental input. The hardware DPI switching and smooth movements are great features however, enough to convince me to ditch my basic Optical mouse.