Mad Catz Black Ops Stealth Mouse Review

Human input devices (especially the mouse) are very much akin to musical instruments. They are both designed to take the coordinated movements of human hands and transduce them into a predictable yet marvelous output. For instruments the output are sound waves, but on a computer the output can be any imaginable manipulation of a virtual world. In both cases the benchmarks for quality are surprisingly similar. For example, what is it made of, is it well made, does it feel good, is it convenient to use, does it work well and does it look good? With these questions in mind, Benchmark Reviews reviewed the newest release from Mad Catz, the Call of Duty: Black Ops Stealth Mouse. Based on the Cyborg R.A.T. platform the Stealth Mouse adds some style that, for this reviewer, stirs up some new thoughts about the future of gaming mice.

At one time, in the very recent past, computer mice could be simply benchmarked and rated purely by their motion performance. This was a period when 5 buttons was considered many, and wheel-mice were still ubiquitous.It was also a time where simple left-right-up-down motions suffered from major technology inadequacies. It was a major breakthrough and milestone when mouse transduction could be quantified and compared. Essentially, transduction is what happens when ten inches of mouse movement gets converted to pixels on the screen. Early benchmarks proved that the accuracy of mice were limited by their movement speed, resolution and internal electronics. This showed everyone what needed to be improved to make a better mouse. It has been a few years and the current generation of gaming mice are the fruits of that study.

Mice have matured to the point where movement speed, resolution and electronics on almost any gaming product have surpassed all reasonable demands. So what will be the new benchmarks to propel yet another revolution and generation of mice. Like musical instruments, the core factors will always be manufacturing quality, performance, look and feel. Performance has reached an acceptable level, but there is still room for innovation. As such this review will focus more on the look and feel aspects since this is a largely untapped realm, ripe for discovery.

Cyborg Stealth Mouse Features

• Includes Limited Edition 1GB Dog Tag USB Memory Stick
• Includes download code for Bradygames Call of Duty: Black Ops mini guide.
• PrecisionAIM mode
• 5 programmable buttons and 3-position mode switch
• 15 user-definable commands
• Unique LED color for each mode
• Four user-definable DPI settings
• Programmable buttons
• Custom Macros
• Custom length adjustment for perfect comfort
• Aluminium Chassis
• 30 g of removable weights

CD74371200A1 Specifications

• DPI Range: 100-5600 DPI (25DPI steps)
• Acceleration: Up to 50G
• Polling Rate: Dynamic up to 1000Hz
• Tracking Speed: Up to 6 m/s
• Always on: Yes
• Mouse Feet: "Slick" PTFE
• USB: Gold-plated connector
• Cable: Braided
• Works with: Windows 7, Vista, XP and XP64

Manufacturer: Mad Catz Interactive
Product Name: Mad Catz Cyborg Call of Duty: Black Ops Stealth Mouse
Model Number: CD74371200A1/04/1
Price As Tested: $91.63 at Amazon / $99.99 at NewEgg

Full Disclosure: The product sample used in this article has been provided by Mad Catz.

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