Any long time reader has no doubt seen the Razer Deathadder before. We have used them in countless reviews including our writ-up on the new at the time 3500DPI version HERE. There is a reason for that though, over the years there hasn’t been a time that I didn’t have a Deathadder being used on my main PC or one of our test benches. The Deathadder is one of, if not the best mouse that Razer ever introduced. Because of that when we saw they introduced a Transformers edition I had to get my hands on one. Now that we have one, let’s take a closer look.
Product Name: Razer Deathadder Transformers Edition
Review Sample Provided by: Razer
Review by: Wes
Pictures by: Wes
Specifications
|
Sensor |
3500dpi Razer Precision 3.5G infrared |
|
Sensor Specs |
60–120 inches per second and 15g of acceleration |
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Left or Right handed |
Ergonomic right-handed design |
|
Interface |
1000Hz Ultrapolling / 1ms response |
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Buttons |
Five independently programmable Hyperesponse buttons |
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DPI Adjustment |
On-The-Fly Sensitivity adjustment |
|
Cable |
Seven-Foot, lightweight, braided fiber |
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Approximate Size |
127 mm / 5.00” (Length) x 70 mm / 2.76” (Width) x 44 mm / 1.73” (Height) |
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Approximate Weight |
148 g / 0.33 lbs |
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System Requirements |
PC / Mac with USB port Windows® 7 / Windows Vista® / Windows® XP or Mac OS X (v10.4 and above) Internet connection (for driver installation) At least 35MB of hard disk space |
Packaging
Much like the Transformers Vespula, the Razer Deathadder, they took the typical Razer packaging and added numerous Transformers details. In this case, because the silver Deathadder is the Megatron version Megatron is on the front of the packaging along with the Decepticon logo. It’s nice to see that they didn’t just create a standard box for the entire line. Outside of the Transformers decorations you still have Razers amazing packaging. The front of the box opens up to give you full view of the mouse, even letting you put your hands on it to get a feel for its shape. Around back you have a few key features highlighted on a photo of the Silver mouse.
Inside you have your pack of paperwork including the standard Razer certificate of authenticity and a pair of Razer stickers.
Software
The Deathadder’s software is exactly the same software that you use with all other Deathadder’s. I was kind of hoping to see a different skin used to match the Transformers theme. You still have all of the typical Razer functionality including the ability to reprogram all five of the buttons (number five is the scroll wheel). On top of that you can also reprogram the up and down scroll function of the scroll wheel if you need more adjustability. You can turn both the scroll wheel lighting and the Transformer logo backlighting on and off separately.
On top of the standard list of things that you can reprogram each button to do; you also have the ability to program any single key or a full macro.
One of my favorite features is the ability to set one of the buttons to adjust your sensitivity on the fly. The Deathadder is limited to only a few adjustments on the DPI itself but this isn’t a problem due to the on the fly sensitivity adjustment. You also have the option to adjust acceleration, double click speed, windows pointer speed, and X and Y sensitivity.
Performance
The Transformers Deathadder is exactly the same as the original Deathadder comfort wise. It’s a classic design that is perfect for people with large hands or who prefer a palm grip on their mice. The only thing different between the Transformers Deathadder and the original is the painted finish. Because of that there is a different feel to the mouse, but it’s not a bad feel. Sometimes a painted finish can make a mouse hard to hold on too, but in this case the shape of the Deathadder helps you keep a secure hold on the mouse.
Unlike almost all of Razer’s other mice, the Deathadder still sticks with its optical sensor. In my opinion this is one of the main reasons that the Deathadder is their best mouse. Some of their other mice have Z axis tracking issues due to the high DPI laser sensor used, the Deathadder has no such problems. You still have more than enough DPI with the sensor going up to 3500 DPI without the downsides of the other sensors. Performance on all of our mouse pads was amazing, but jumping onto our white table top surface didn’t work at all. You will have to run a mouse pad when you are at LAN’s with white tables being used. There does seem to be a slight amount of acceleration with it turned down on the software, you will notice in the software that you can turn it down to 1 but not off. Being so slight I didn’t notice this when gaming at all.
The Deathadder design is showing a little age when compared to a few of the mice that have been released recently. I would love to see it updated with a few more buttons being added with the left trigger button for quick access, similar to what they included on the Mamba. The side buttons are easy to reach and not to low that you will bump them when you don’t need to.
You have more than enough cord to reach the back of your PC. Razer gold plates the connection to prevent any corrosion issues in the future, not that I have ever seen that be a problem before. To help protect the cord it is wrapped in a sleaving, unlike some other mice the sleaving on the Deathadder is very snug and super smooth, you won’t have any issues with the sleaving catching on anything and causing any extra drag.
Here are a couple shots of the Transformers Deathadder paired up with the 3500 DPI Deathadder, as you can see other than the color they are the same.
Overall and FV
After spending a while with the Transformers Deathadder I was reminded why the Razer Deathadder is one of my favorite mice. The mouse is comfortable for anyone looking for a palm grip mouse. Because of the size you might not like it if you use other grip styles though. The side buttons are well placed and highly adjustable. The optical sensor used in the Deathadder is still a great sensor and other than the trouble using the mouse on the white table its performance was perfect. Z Axis tracking wasn’t an issue at all, unlike most other mice on the market. If you are a Transformer fan you really have to considering the Transformer Deathadder’s, their colors are eye catching and a welcome addition to the Deathadder.
