Steelseries Sensei MLG edition review - by my fiance

[Binge]

I'm super proud of my fiance's first review, and I hope you all enjoy it!

In my review of this mouse, my overall goal was to not only to marvel at the specs it boasts, but to quantify how well the mouse and its accompanying software operate from a personal use perspective.  Like many of the gaming lords of the design team, I want a mouse that can be quick to respond, long-lasting, and be customizable for multiple types of gaming situations. Sitting in my winning chair, several questions come to mind:  Is it easy to program, and easy to learn?  Are there any bugs in the software?  Does the device appear well-made and classy in person?  How much force does it take to depress the buttons?  And perhaps, since I’ve been wondering, did I become a better… winner?

http://www.rwlabs.com/article.php?id=749

[hotlikedimes]

Review is taking a while to load, so haven't read yet! But I have a Sensei and I love it. I think it's a little over kill, and next time would consider the Kana, but the LED's are amazing, the drivers are super super great and easy to use and the finish is awesome, so at the end of the day I'd probably go with the sensei again.

[Binge]

It's got some large pictures, and a great breakdown of all of the features.  Color me proud

[Hyde]

Nice detailed review, and I must agree the LED is amazing.  But I always wonder why can't they make a Kana with Sensei's internal?  Like with a laser sensor and multi-color LED.

Why do gaming company always assume small mouse = cheap, bigger mouse = expensive.  If you look at Kinzu -> Kana -> Sensei.  It's almost like saying people with small hand must be poor and people with bigger hand must have money to buy a better mouse.  Or all claw/fingertip users must be poor and plam grip users must have more money.

I would've bought a Sensei if it was Kana's size.  Too bad the only claw/small laser mouse out there are the Logitech G9X and Thermaltake Theron and that's it.

[akuJIWA]

Nice detailed review, and I must agree the LED is amazing.  But I always wonder why can't they make a Kana with Sensei's internal?  Like with a laser sensor and multi-color LED.

Why do gaming company always assume small mouse = cheap, bigger mouse = expensive.  If you look at Kinzu -> Kana -> Sensei.  It's almost like saying people with small hand must be poor and people with bigger hand must have money to buy a better mouse.  Or all claw/fingertip users must be poor and plam grip users must have more money.

I would've bought a Sensei if it was Kana's size.  Too bad the only claw/small laser mouse out there are the Logitech G9X and Thermaltake Theron and that's it.

What about CM Storm Sentinel and Spawn? Weren't they small sized? I had actually been searching around mouse for myself, and currently using Sensei, the normal one at least. It's a very good mouse, next to it is the IME 3.0. I can never use a smaller mouse..

Have anyone ever tried those Corsair K60 and the RAT?

[Hyde]

Uh CM Storm Sentinel is kind of a long and narrow palm grip mouse.  I'd say it's probably a medium or large size mouse.  IME 3.0 is also consider as large I believe.  lol so maybe you just have large hands so everything seems small.

Spawn is actually a good choice but it has optical sensor, I'm trying to find one with laser sensor.

I've tried Corsair M60 in store, it's not bad just a bit big for me, might be ok size for you BUT I have a feeling you're probably palm grip so might not be a good choice for you.  Also RAT is not bad just a bit heavy, but I heard it's also one of those love or hate mouse lol.

[akuJIWA]

Uh CM Storm Sentinel is kind of a long and narrow palm grip mouse.  I'd say it's probably a medium or large size mouse.  IME 3.0 is also consider as large I believe.  lol so maybe you just have large hands so everything seems small.

Spawn is actually a good choice but it has optical sensor, I'm trying to find one with laser sensor.

I've tried Corsair M60 in store, it's not bad just a bit big for me, might be ok size for you BUT I have a feeling you're probably palm grip so might not be a good choice for you.  Also RAT is not bad just a bit heavy, but I heard it's also one of those love or hate mouse lol.

Hmm.. I'm a palm grip player so most probably those aren't really suitable for me.. the IME 3.0 is the closest to the perfect mouse I can have, currently just using sensei because my IME 3.0 just died on me. Aren't opticals really good for gaming? As the mousepads is screwing with the laser sensor.

[vun]

Hmm.. I'm a palm grip player so most probably those aren't really suitable for me.. the IME 3.0 is the closest to the perfect mouse I can have, currently just using sensei because my IME 3.0 just died on me. Aren't opticals really good for gaming? As the mousepads is screwing with the laser sensor.

Sensor choice depends on what sort of gamer you are, really. If you're a low sensitivity gamer I would recommend optical as laser is prone to skipping at higher speeds and some of them have built-in acceleration. If you're a high sensitivity gamer I'd say it doesn't really matter, laser is probably your best bet for high sensitivity due to the higher dpi and if the sensor has acceleration you won't really notice it.

As for the review; the software bit just got me more excited as I'll most likely get one for Christmas, hopefully not the MLG edition though because I'm not really a big fan of the branding there.

[akuJIWA]

Hmm.. I'm a palm grip player so most probably those aren't really suitable for me.. the IME 3.0 is the closest to the perfect mouse I can have, currently just using sensei because my IME 3.0 just died on me. Aren't opticals really good for gaming? As the mousepads is screwing with the laser sensor.

Sensor choice depends on what sort of gamer you are, really. If you're a low sensitivity gamer I would recommend optical as laser is prone to skipping at higher speeds and some of them have built-in acceleration. If you're a high sensitivity gamer I'd say it doesn't really matter, laser is probably your best bet for high sensitivity due to the higher dpi and if the sensor has acceleration you won't really notice it.

As for the review; the software bit just got me more excited as I'll most likely get one for Christmas, hopefully not the MLG edition though because I'm not really a big fan of the branding there.

Hmm, I use around 500 cpi/dpi, with windows pointers 3, is that considered low?

[vun]

Hmm.. I'm a palm grip player so most probably those aren't really suitable for me.. the IME 3.0 is the closest to the perfect mouse I can have, currently just using sensei because my IME 3.0 just died on me. Aren't opticals really good for gaming? As the mousepads is screwing with the laser sensor.

Sensor choice depends on what sort of gamer you are, really. If you're a low sensitivity gamer I would recommend optical as laser is prone to skipping at higher speeds and some of them have built-in acceleration. If you're a high sensitivity gamer I'd say it doesn't really matter, laser is probably your best bet for high sensitivity due to the higher dpi and if the sensor has acceleration you won't really notice it.

As for the review; the software bit just got me more excited as I'll most likely get one for Christmas, hopefully not the MLG edition though because I'm not really a big fan of the branding there.

Hmm, I use around 500 cpi/dpi, with windows pointers 3, is that considered low?

That is considered fairly low, I assume you use low sense in-game as well since it doesn't make sense to tune down your windows pointer speed and then ramping up game sensitivity.
Windows pointer speed should always be left at 6 as any other setting will cause some form of trouble, though I won't go into depth on that here as it's not all that relevant to the thread.
If you're interested in more info on mouse settings and what to look for if you want a mouse that suits you well; pm me or hit me up on IRC.
Though it also depends on what sort of games you play, some games require more precise settings than others.

[hotlikedimes]

I play at 7200 dpi

[Hyde]

LOL that's insanely high.  But yeah I usually do 6/11 then do 1300 dpi.  I prefer to leave the windows setting at 6/11 this is kind of why I prefer to have a laser mouse so I can do more fine adjustment.

Most optical mouse's native dpi usually isn't right for me so I'd have to adjust from windows setting after.  Which in term gets close but not exactly the same.

For example, I use the following:

Razer Naga dpi choices:  100, 200, 300 .... all the way up til 5400, 5500, 5600.
CM Xornet dpi choies:  500, 1000, 2000.

6/11 + 1300 dpi = feels most natural (Razer Naga)
3/11 + 2000 dpi = close but not quite the same (CM Xornet)
7/11 + 1000 dpi = close but not quite the same (CM Xornet)

This explains what the windows slider does (Found it online):

slider  pixel/count
1/11  =  1/16(ok)
2/11  =  1/8(ok)
3/11  =  1/4(ok)
4/11  =  1/2(ok)
5/11  =  3/4(every 4th count ignored = inconsistent)
6/11  =  1(ok)
7/11  =  3/2(every 2nd count gives 2 pixel movement = inconsistent + pixel skipping)
8/11  =  2(pixel skipping)
9/11  =  5/2(inconsistent + pixel skipping)
10/11 =  3(pixel skipping)
11/11 =  7/2(inconsistent + pixel skipping)

[hotlikedimes]

people use my mouse setup and are like DAFUQKID. I just laugh.

[akuJIWA]

Hmm.. I'm a palm grip player so most probably those aren't really suitable for me.. the IME 3.0 is the closest to the perfect mouse I can have, currently just using sensei because my IME 3.0 just died on me. Aren't opticals really good for gaming? As the mousepads is screwing with the laser sensor.

Sensor choice depends on what sort of gamer you are, really. If you're a low sensitivity gamer I would recommend optical as laser is prone to skipping at higher speeds and some of them have built-in acceleration. If you're a high sensitivity gamer I'd say it doesn't really matter, laser is probably your best bet for high sensitivity due to the higher dpi and if the sensor has acceleration you won't really notice it.

As for the review; the software bit just got me more excited as I'll most likely get one for Christmas, hopefully not the MLG edition though because I'm not really a big fan of the branding there.

Hmm, I use around 500 cpi/dpi, with windows pointers 3, is that considered low?

That is considered fairly low, I assume you use low sense in-game as well since it doesn't make sense to tune down your windows pointer speed and then ramping up game sensitivity.
Windows pointer speed should always be left at 6 as any other setting will cause some form of trouble, though I won't go into depth on that here as it's not all that relevant to the thread.
If you're interested in more info on mouse settings and what to look for if you want a mouse that suits you well; pm me or hit me up on IRC.
Though it also depends on what sort of games you play, some games require more precise settings than others.

iRC? Where?

And I had to use 3 on mouse pointer because I don't like the mouse speed outside of gaming if they are different speed, would prefer closer dpi, so they all move the same.

[vun]

Hmm.. I'm a palm grip player so most probably those aren't really suitable for me.. the IME 3.0 is the closest to the perfect mouse I can have, currently just using sensei because my IME 3.0 just died on me. Aren't opticals really good for gaming? As the mousepads is screwing with the laser sensor.

Sensor choice depends on what sort of gamer you are, really. If you're a low sensitivity gamer I would recommend optical as laser is prone to skipping at higher speeds and some of them have built-in acceleration. If you're a high sensitivity gamer I'd say it doesn't really matter, laser is probably your best bet for high sensitivity due to the higher dpi and if the sensor has acceleration you won't really notice it.

As for the review; the software bit just got me more excited as I'll most likely get one for Christmas, hopefully not the MLG edition though because I'm not really a big fan of the branding there.

Hmm, I use around 500 cpi/dpi, with windows pointers 3, is that considered low?

That is considered fairly low, I assume you use low sense in-game as well since it doesn't make sense to tune down your windows pointer speed and then ramping up game sensitivity.
Windows pointer speed should always be left at 6 as any other setting will cause some form of trouble, though I won't go into depth on that here as it's not all that relevant to the thread.
If you're interested in more info on mouse settings and what to look for if you want a mouse that suits you well; pm me or hit me up on IRC.
Though it also depends on what sort of games you play, some games require more precise settings than others.

iRC? Where?

And I had to use 3 on mouse pointer because I don't like the mouse speed outside of gaming if they are different speed, would prefer closer dpi, so they all move the same.

On freenode, you can message me directly, my name is still vun there, or find me in #geekhack and #deskthority.

[tauburn]

i might get one of those eventually. they look so nice

[Hyde]

Aside from Sensei being 1 size too big for my hand.  I think Sensei RAW looks reallyl nice 

[tp4tissue]

I'm still partial to something with 800dpi 1:1 tracking, no acceleration.

[TheQsanity]

Cool Parrot! I used to run max dpi but I go like 3k now. For photoshop I do 100-800

[Vintage]

Nice review. 

The sensei is nice IMO, especially the matte coated RAW version. Too big for my hands though, I prefer smaller mice. Not sure why the premium mice are usually bigger than lower-end ones.