Logitech G5 Mouse (931976-0403)

The Logitech G5 gaming mouse was designed for the hardcore gamer -- the one with deep pockets and a need to try the best of everything -- but it serves extraordinarily well as a practical mouse as well due to its high-end features. I have owned the mouse for about 6 months and in that time I've gamed, photoshopped, browsed the web, etc. and the G5 handles all these tasks with precision and ease.

Features
The G5 is a member of the new generation of laser-equipped optical mice to his the market in the past year; similar products are coming from Microsoft and Kensington. The G5 has 2000-dpi laser, which provides the highest level of precision of any mouse ever produced by Logitech (higher dpi => more precision). Designed for hardcore gamers, this mouse's key feature lies in the presence of two small buttons on the top of the mouse, located just behind the scroll wheel, which allow the user to adjust the sensitivity of the mouse on-the-fly. The feature was designed for snipers in video games, but serves just as much use in Photoshop, I find. The dpi can be adjusted, by default, to 800, 1200, or 2000 I believe, but these settings can be changed in the included Logitech manager software. As you adjust the sensitivity, a display on the left side of the mouse indicates which preset you are currently on by lighting one of three lights, a very useful feature. The scroll wheel on the G5 is clickier and requires more force to spin than your typical mouse, as it was designed for exact weapon-swapping in games. The 'ticks' of the scroll wheel are larger as well, which unfortunately provides less freedom when scrolling in everyday use, but it not a large concern for me. The wheel has side-scrolling capabilities and also sticks up higher than that on most other Logitechs, and unfortunately this makes it difficult to press the 'middle-mouse' button (the middle-mouse button is the scroll wheel itself, which can be pressed straight down on almost all optical mice) because the wheel wants to either go left or right, not straight down. Another important aspect of this mouse is the precision weighting system, which allows you to insert weights into a 1.5- by 1.75-inch card and slide it into the bottom of the mouse, allowing you to adjust the mouse's weight to your personal preference. This seemed like somewhat of a gimmick to me; I feel it is more important where the weight lies in a mouse than just how much it weighs. This card is really too small to allow you to distribute weight in order to balance out the mouse, and really serves little purpose in my opinion, though I'm sure another gamer would smack me in the face for saying this. The final feature of the mouse that is worth outlining is the USB cable; instead of attaching a standard rubber-coated USB cable, the one on the G5 is braided in nylon, making it far lighter and far less rigid than your standard cable. Like I said, this mouse was designed for gamers, but nearly all of its features serve for practical use.

Comfort
The Logitech MX-series mice have been the most comfortable mice around for the last few years; some people will disagree with me on this because for whatever reason, the HID (human interface device) market seems to polarize people more than the 2004 presidential election. I have owned MS mice; in fact, I'm using one to write this review because I forgot my Logitech G5 at work. I have a Kensington Studio mouse sitting in the other room. MS mice are all very clunky and heavy, though their scroll wheels are very nicely designed (though a little loose). Kensington has really dropped the ball in recent times with...well, pretty much all their new keyboards/mice. The G5, however, stands strong, incorporating the same shell as the tried-and-true MX mice. The feel is superb; far better than any MS mouse I have used. The G5's buttons are easy to press and allow you to stretch your whole finger across them, relieving pressure from your fingertips and providing better feel. The rubber grip on the side of the mouse, while typically smooth on other Logitechs, has been texturized on the G5, probably to reduce swamp-hand for gamers, and it seems to work well enough. Though the texture of this material took some getting used to, I now have come to love it. The Logitech G5 is the single most comfortable mouse on the market today, and I'll testify to that.

Software
The software package included for Windows is the Logitech Setpoint Manager utility, which allows you to customize the three sensitivity levels of the G5 mouse, and opens up several button customization options. Though a fairly advanced user, I find most of these additional features rather useless, but I can't argue that they shouldn't be there. The adjustable sensitivity presets are, however, a tremendous use to gamers and professionals alike. The software's interface is ugly, but it remains fairly simple to navigate. Unfortunately, on Windows, the mouse's sensitivity will not be adjustable unless the Setpoint software is installed, so in the eyes of the gamer, this mouse is not entirely plug-and-play. However, on a Mac, you plug it in and it just works, 100%. The sensitivity was adjustable as soon as I plugged the mouse into my shiny Macbook Pro. Unfortunately, the Setpoint software is not available for Mac OS, so the sensitivity presets cannot be customized, but that's fine by me as I had no problem with the default settings.

Durability
After 6 months of being beaten around in a laptop bag every day, my G5 has a few scratches here and there on the shell, but still works like a charm. The nylon cable shows no signs of wear, and the buttons still press as if I had just bought the mouse. The few scratches on the top only add to the 'hardcore gamer look' that this mouse shoots for.

Value
At a price of about $60, the G5 is all but cheap. However, to the more-than-casual user, it's entirely worth the expense. The unsurpassed precision, comfort, and customizeability make this mouse the best wired option on the market now, in my opinion.