titleDeciding on a mouse can be an overwhelming process with literally hundreds to choose from as far as gaming mice alone. Seeing as how the mouse and keyboard are the only two things you interact with while on the computer, having the right mouse is very important. Selecting the right mouse for you can be a daunting task, but knowing where to start is even harder. There are still quite a few entry level mice on the market, and Gigabyte has kindly send over their version, the Force M7 Thor. Let’s take a look at this affordable piece of hardware and see how it holds up.

Product Name: Gigabyte Force M7 Thor

Review Sample Provided By: Gigabyte

Review By: Brennon

Pictures By: Brennon

Specifications

Interface

USB

Tracking system

Advanced Laser Sensor

Sensitivity

6000dpi (The hardware based sensitivity up to 5600dpi)

Frame Rate

12,000 frames/second

Maximum Tracking Speed

150 inches/ second

Certificate

CE/ FCC/ BSMI/KCC

Color

Black

Cable Length

1.8m / Gold-plated USB connector

Dimension

(L)137*(W)78*(H)41 mm

Weight

110g

Support OS

Windows XP/ Vista/ Windows 7

Maximum acceleration

30G

Switch Life (L/R click)

5 million times (Left/right click)

Packaging

The packaging for this mouse is surprisingly simple compared to what I am used to. It is a simple cardboard display with a window on the front showing off the product. Inside we can see the mouse and most of its features without even taking it out of the box.

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On one side of the box there is a QR code along with some detailed product specifications. On the other side of the box you can find a shorter, simpler list of specifications in quite a few different languages. There is no doubt whose product this is, as the name Gigabyte only appears on every surface. On the bottom you can find your important product information like model number, serial number, and UPC code. There is also a small message about being compatible with only Windows XP, Vista, and 7. Sorry Mac users, this mouse has two buttons.

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Once opened, we can find the mouse nestled safely in a smaller plastic container for transport with the wire tucked safely behind and out of sight.

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Features

The first thing you notice when removing the mouse from the package is its long hourglass shape. The Force M7 Thor is certainly larger than most mice. It’s not particularly wider, or even thicker, but a far as length, I think it is easily the longest mouse that I have used. I will touch more on this later. The mouse has an interesting shape in which it is wide at both the top and the base, but in the middle it gets rather thin in comparison.  Your fingers, depending on how you place them, can rest easily in the indentations left on either side of the mouse with this design and allow for easy lifting.

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The layout is rather simple, and there are only five buttons to be used. On top of the usual Left, Right and Mouse wheel buttons, there are also two buttons located on the left side of the mouse. These are the two buttons generally defaulted to going forward or backwards a page in your internet browser.

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The laser featured in the mouse is one that boasts and 12,000 frames per second image processing and 6000 DPI. There is also a small button and three LED lights on the top of the mouse that control on the fly DPI. There are three settings that will be indicated by the number of LED lights that are lit up. One is for low, two is for medium, and three is for high. You can adjust the setting on the fly hitting either up or down on the DPI button.


Software

This particular mouse does take advantage of software, both drivers and a program you can install that has some simple features. It has drivers that come on the mouse and install relatively quickly after plugging it into your USB slot. The USB by the way is gold plated, not that it gives any added benefits.

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The software for the mouse is very simple and easy to obtain. You can find it on the product page at Gigabyte’s website and it comes as an executable in a zip folder. Once the executable is installed the program can be run from your desktop. All of the buttons on the mouse besides left click are customizable. You can select from a list of simple commands such as cut and paste, volume control, and even the ability to close the current window. You can also select the option to set any of the buttons to a key bind. When key bind is selected it will let you hit the key on your keyboard that you want the mouse button to represent. If you mess something up or you want to change all of the buttons back to stock settings, there is a default button that resets all of the entries.

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The other half of the software is labeled sensitivity. In this section you can customize the on the fly DPI settings that the mouse has. Each setting (Low, Medium, and High) can be selected and altered individually. These settings aren’t bound by any rules, so your low setting can be the highest actual DPI if you are the type of person that wants to watch the world burn. Again there is a button that says default that is supposed to set the DPI settings back to stock, but I couldn’t get this default button to work. It would act like it was changing the settings, and change the numbers on display, but if you change your DPI on the fly again, they aren’t actually different. The only way I found to restore them was to set them all back manually.


Performance

The Thor sports an Avago-9500 sensor and thus doesn’t experience any Z-axis tracking issues like my everyday personal mouse the Razer Naga. The sensor boasts a 6000 DPI maximum which is eons above what any sane human being would use, but it has the ability should you want to try it. I found myself most comfortable with a DPI of around 1600, but the lower DPIs were incredibly useful when Photoshop editing. I did experience a slight amount of positive acceleration on both soft and hard surfaces in my testing, but it wasn’t enough to be overly noticeable or disturbing to gameplay. In fact, I didn’t notice the acceleration at all until I made a point to test for it. This is typical for the Avago-9500, the same sensor used in the SteelSeries Sensei and the Corsair mice among others.

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The mouse itself is rather large and felt odd in my hand for the first day or two of using it. Once used to the bigger mouse I was right back at home. The only issue I did have was that I felt that I needed to pinch the mouse with my pinky finger to keep it from dragging, and as a gamer that doesn’t pick my mouse up off the mouse pad when playing; this was something that felt new and awkward to me.

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The buttons, though few and very simple, all did their job effectively. The left and right click buttons were probably the biggest surprise. They are the longest part of the mouse, and I expected to have to stretch my fingers down to the tip to be able to click, but I was able to press them almost in the center of the mouse.  The mouse wheel is rubber and easy to grip, but it isn’t studded like many mice today, though this wasn’t an issue. I found that the mouse wheel did wiggle a bit back and forth which is another thing that I am not used to and don’t commonly see, but it was more of an annoyance to my-self diagnosed OCD than an issue. The two side buttons are easy enough to reach and I didn’t have any issues with them. In fact, being able to customize what they do using the software is awesome because I use them as talk keys for Ventrilo, and constantly going forward and backward in my browser is too big of a price to pay to converse with friends.

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Overall and Final Verdict

Overall I think that the Thor is a great mouse for what it is meant to be. It is a great entry level mouse that serves the purpose well. The Avago-9500 sensor isn’t too bad and it doesn’t experience any z-axis issues, and there is only a slight amount of acceleration, almost unnoticeable. The buttons are easily accessible and comfortable to press including the mouse wheel, though it does tend to wiggle some. The mouse itself can be a bit strange to get used to as it is much larger than other mice on the market, but that is easily solved with time invested in using it. With only a $30 price tag, I don’t think you can find a better entry level mouse. This price point puts it up against the Cooler Master Xornet which is a great mouse, but for the same price you are getting an arguably better sensor (laser vs optical) and you have more flexibility as far as sensitivity adjustments. You may be able to spend $10 more and get something like the DeathAdder or the MX518, but for someone just looking for their first mouse, this is a great place to start.

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fv2 thor_realrecomended

 

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Author: Fildy

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