The Gigabyte Aivia M8600 is a wireless gaming mouse that has the admirable aim to ensure you never run out of power.

Wireless mice are great, because we don't have to worry about trailing wires across our desks, and they generally give us a lot more freedom. One of their biggest problems, however, is reliance on batteries.

If you've got a mouse that uses standard non-rechargeable AA or AAA batteries, this can be an annoying expense, especially if they run out when you don't have any spares in the house, necessitating a frenzied rush to the shop just to move your cursor. A mouse low on power can also become unresponsive and erratic.

The Gigabyte Aivia M8600 Wireless Macro Gaming Mouse has addressed a number of these battery concerns. For a start, the M8600 doesn't rely on AA batteries. Instead, it has a Li-ion battery that is charged by placing the mouse on the charging dock, which also doubles as a wireless receiver.

The M8600 can also be plugged directly into a computer for charging (and simultaneous use) via a USB cable. Gigabyte claims you can enjoy 50 hours of continuous use with the M8600's battery, and it certainly retains its charge for a long time.

Even better, it comes with an extra battery, which you can install when your juice does start to run low. The standalone battery can also be charged in the dock, but not at the same time as the mouse.

It wouldn't look out of place as part of Batman's costume, with a matt black finish and rather severe angles.

Luckily it's a lot more comfortable to hold than we'd imagine, though still far from the most ergonomic mouse we've had a chance to test. It has a decent weight and feels well built, with buttons feeling firm and responsive.

The speed of the mouse can be quickly altered by pressing the plus and minus buttons on either side of the scroll wheel. There are three speed settings, represented by LEDs on the mouse, and each level is different enough from the last to make it worth switching for specific tasks or games, although it doesn't offer a great level of customisation.

Verdict

This mouse is expensive, but it's well designed and performs brilliantly.

Out of the gaming mouse triumvirate of the SteelSeries Sensei, Kana and the Kinzu, it is the latter that is designed to be the smallest.

The SteelSeries Kinzu V2 Pro Edition loses the two extra buttons on each side that the Katu and the Sensei enjoy. But it retains the comfortable, ambidextrous design of the other two mice, while being slightly smaller - though, crucially, still comfortable to hold.

Like the Katu, however, the SteelSeries Kinzu V2 Pro Edition feels rather lightweight, which gives it an unfortunate cheap feel that the Sensei mouse doesn't suffer from.

The centre button, just below the scroll wheel, switches between two CPI settings - less than the other mice, but still useful if you want to quickly change the sensitivity of the mouse on the fly.

The Steelengine software needs to be downloaded before you can fully customise the mouse. Straight out of the box, though, it's fast, smooth and responsive.

Verdict

The SteelSeries Kinzu V2 Pro Edition isn't a bad gaming mouse at all, but if you're really serious about gaming then it'll be worth paying a bit more for the excellent Sensei.

Overview

This Corsair Vengeance M60 mouse represents the next step for Corsair – peripherals.

Specifically, high-end peripherals designed for the gamer who's prepared to pay a little more for a rugged build and enhanced usability.

The Vengeance M60 FPS gaming mouse is a prime example of that – premium components, eight-button functionality, and all the extras like adjustable DPI buttons and a mega-low DPI 'sniper' button that's rapidly becoming the standard for a gaming rodent.

Corsair has a pretty impressive pedigree across a number of fields. The Californian company started out producing L2 cache modules, and today it's still go-to guy for performance RAM like the Vengeance and Dominator DDR3 ranges.

In recent times we've seen speaker systems, power supplies, PC chassis and USB flash drives all bearing the Corsair name, and by and large it signals a mark of the highest quality.

The specs for this new mouse are impressive, but can Corsair really pull off a flawless debut into the mouse market with the Corsair Vengeance M60?

Perhaps unsurprisingly, the answer's yes.

Verdict

There are two mice in Corsair's fledgling range – the M90 caters for the MMO gamer's needs, and as such sports fifteen programmable buttons.

This M60 sets its sights square and true on the first-person shooter afficionado, for whom split seconds and DPI figures are everything.

With that said, even the grouchiest CS:S gamer will be happy with the Corsair Vengeance M60's performance.

The jury's still out on whether DPI really makes a huge difference, but the M60's adjustable polling rate, high tracking speed and low-friction PTFE pads make for a noticeably smooth experience.

And if you're still hung up on that DPI comment, it's 100 dots higher than our previous darling of the rodent world, Mad Catz's Cyborg R.A.T. 7.

This is a mouse that lots of clever people have sat and thought about for a long time – that much is evident in its ergonomic design.

The sniper button feels well-placed enough that you'd actually use it, and the thumb rest blends perfectly into your mouse mat.

Having experimented with the M60 it turns out to be comfortable in all but the most improbable hand position, which is worth thinking about if you're such a pro gamer that you've analysed your own grip.

Show off.

You don't have to be Fatal1ty to expect more adjustable weighting though, and that's sadly off the menu with this mouse. All you get are three removable weights in the base, so you can make it lighter but not heavier is that is your bag.

Take an eyeful of the price tag and you'll understand why the Corsair Vengeance M60 doesn't offer this – it's clear that most of the money has been spent on its remarkable build quality – but it does lose ground to the similarly-priced R.A.T. 5 from Mad Catz here, which is far more adjustable by weight.

We liked

For a debut effort, the Corsair Vengeance M60 mouse is incredible.

It's hard to pick a fault with it if you're a FPS gamer. Primarily, you want a comfortable mouse that doesn't have a ton of buttons you'll keep accidentally pressing at a fair price, and Corsair's rodent ticks all those boxes with confidence.

The adjustable DPI and sniper button are useful additions in a layout that otherwise shows restraint, and it feels like it could survive a nuclear blast.

We disliked

It is missing out on more fully-adjustable weights and a free-rolling wheel, but the low price eases those concerns considerably.

Final word

Corsair's debut mouse hits the ground running – right to the front of the pack.

Ergonomically-designed gaming mice are nothing new to us here on PC Format. Ergonomically-designed gaming mice specifically tailored for the right-handed are likewise nothing new.

What is a little more unusual however is an ergonomically-designed, right-handed mouse specifically designed for one very niche way of holding said rodent. The CM Storm Xornet is such a mouse and has been tailored for those gamers who subscribe to the ‘claw’ grip.

There are essentially two ways of holding your mouse; the ‘palm’ grip is where the whole hand is rested on the mouse whereas the ‘claw’ grip is a far looser affair with the mouse held and manipulated purely with the fingertips and the thumb. There are minor variations in between, but these are the dominant styles.

Cutting down the mouse’s prospective purchasers by at least a half seems a little extreme, but fits in with the CM Storm pure gaming mentality. The Xornet may look like a notebook mouse because of its size but that’s down to the fact it doesn’t need to be held in the palm – only the fingertips actually rest on the mouse itself.

Design defined

As a proponent of the ‘claw’ grip I can tell you it’s a well-designed bit of kit. It’s easily moved, and the rubber grips are perfectly positioned for the thumb and fingers.

Strangely, as other manufacturers shout about crazy-high DPIs, the Xornet is content with a lowly 2,000dpi. Given the latest R.A.T. Albino is capable of 6,400dpi, the new CM Storm looks like it’s lagging.

But this is no laser mouse – this is an old-school optical number. A lot of people like the precision of the laser, but the twitchiness of the high-dpi optics can make for difficult gaming.

The Xornet is incredibly precise despite its lowly numbers, and is designed perfectly for the ‘claw’ grip. It’s not going to replace my R.A.T. but it’s still a bold wee mouse.

While a lot of gaming mice can really improve the responsiveness of your games, many of them fall into the trap of being feature-packed, while forgetting to be comfortable to use. This is especially true when you're using the mice for tasks other than gaming.

The Logitech Optical Gaming Mouse G400 doesn't have this problem. In fact, it's one of the most comfortable gaming mice we've ever tested. The rounded buttons (in - forgive the pun - sharp contrast to the sometimes uncomfortable harsh oblong buttons of the Rude Gameware Fierce 5000 DPI Laser Gaming Mouse V2) feel comfortable to use, and never rub against your fingers when not in use.

There aren't that many of them, so the Logitech G400 Optical Gaming Mouse is certainly not as customisable as the Rude Gameware mouse, or most other mice from SteelSeries, such as the SteelSeries Sensei Pro Grade Laser Mouse.

Two buttons either side of the scroll wheel increase and decrease the DPI sensitivity of the mouse on the fly - a great feature that enables us to tweak the sensitivity of the mouse without having to exit, or even pause, the game we were playing. The four default DPI setting you can scroll through (3600, 1800, 800 and 400 dpi) are varied enough that you'll notice a difference as you go through them.

If you want more precise control over the responsiveness of the mouse, you can alter the DPI through the software that comes with the mouse. Another button sets the mouse instantly to its default 800 dpi setting, while two buttons on the side act as forward and back buttons for web browsers and other applications. These buttons rarely get pressed by mistake when you're holding the mouse - a nice surprise after using mice with similar buttons that have caused mistakes.

Verdict

This mouse isn't going to be for professional game players, with its lack of customisable buttons. But for gamers who want greater control over mouse sensitivity while gaming, and who want a mouse for other tasks too, this is a very good input device.

It's not unusual for companies to release tie-in gaming peripherals with popular games. What is unusual is releasing peripherals long before the game is even out, but with the SteelSeries Diablo III Mouse this is exactly what has happened.

It could be seen as a bit of a gamble on SteelSeries' part - Diablo III is still around a year away from release, so there's some uncertainty about how it is going to be received. However it's a game made by Blizzard - the company behind the hugely successful World of Warcraft videogames, and with the popularity of the previous instalments in the Diablo series, this risk isn't really that big.

The SteelSeries Diablo III Mouse is essentially a re-skinned version of the SteelSeries Sensei Pro Grade Laser Mouse. If you don't have one of these, then this is no bad thing.

It's comfortable and responsive, with an ambidextrous design that works well in either hand. There are a number of differences between the Diablo III Mouse and the Sensei Pro Grade Laser Mouse, however. To begin with, there's the Diablo III branding, and unlike the SteelSeries World of Warcraft MMO Gaming Mouse: Legendary Edition the branding actually looks very nice, with the design understated in some places.

If it wasn't for the presence of the Diablo III icon, which naturally pulses red when plugged in, it would make for an attractive mouse regardless of gaming preference. The finish is also a pleasingly matt rubber - a very nice change from the SteelSeries Sensei Pro Grade Laser Mouse's shiny, plastic case.

Another nice change is the middle scroll wheel, which is now ridged, giving the appearance of scales. It looks good, but it also functions well by giving you greater control over scrolling. It does lack the built-in LCD menu of the Sensei. This might not have been essential, but it was useful for scrolling through various preset modes.

Verdict

Overall, the SteelSeries Diablo III Mouse is a great gaming mouse that is comfortable to use, and even with the Diablo III branding it still looks good no matter what you're doing or playing.

The Cyborg range of gaming peripherals has had a chequered past. We've seen some ropey gaming keyboards, with action so dead you'd be forgiven for thinking you were prodding Alan Turing himself, and some finger-crampingly bad gaming mice too. Until the Cyborg R.A.T. 7.

Looking less like the Microsoft Sidewinder/Vader's Codpiece and more like a deconstructed laboratory prototype, the R.A.T. is one of the most accomplished and comfortable mice we've ever clasped. Being able to manually adjust a surprising number of the R.A.T's constituent parts means you can tailor it to your hand. So long as you're right-handed, that is.

More dots

This latest version of the R.A.T. 7, the Albino Edition, comes in a rather pleasing white with black and grey detailing. It's not just a change in colour scheme, which is just as well considering you can pick up the vanilla R.A.T. 7 for £15 less.

Along with the new colour scheme there's a new sensor which will go up to 6,400dpi compared to the 5,600dpi limit of the standard R.A.T.

So it's still the same great mouse we previously loved, only with an increased dpi limit and a funky new skin. And as aesthetically-pleasing as the white seems, those buttons are going to get grubby after a few intense gaming sessions.

But if you want a great mouse spawned by GLaDOS, then the Albino Edition might be worth the £85 to you. For anyone with a standard R.A.T feeling a twinge of jealousy though, remember you can pick up Tipp-Ex for a quid.

The Rude Gameware Fierce 5000 DPI Laser Gaming Mouse V2 takes customisation to a new level. While it contains the usual programmable buttons, macros and on-the-fly DPI adjustment, it also comes with a number of weights that enable you to adjust how heavy the mouse feels.

Swapping between the weights demonstrates just how much of a difference this can make when using the mouse.

For day-to-day computing this isn't particularly revolutionary – although it's always nice to be able to adjust how your mouse feels – but for PC gaming it can make a huge difference.

Even though the mouse is covered in buttons, we found it very comfortable to hold, and its high DPI resolution and low response time made using it incredibly smooth.

We've tested a lot of gaming mice that are uncomfortable for using on your PC for other tasks, which often means you need a second mouse for when you're not gaming. However, the Rude Gameware Fierce 5000 DPI Laser Gaming Mouse V2 doesn't suffer from this problem, with comfort grips to the sides of the mouse that make using it very comfortable.

The long 7ft cord gives you almost as much freedom as a wireless mouse, without worrying about low batteries and input lag.

The software that comes with the mouse makes it easy to program buttons and macros.

Verdict

If you want full control over how your mouse looks, behaves and even feels, then the Rude Gameware Fierce 5000 DPI Laser Gaming Mouse V2 is worth the investment.

If you take your PC gaming as seriously as a sport then you want the best equipment to give you a competitive edge. A high-quality gaming mouse is as important to a professional gamer as an expensive racquet is to a tennis player.

SteelSeries has been steadily making its name as a specialist in PC gaming peripherals. The new Sensei gaming mouse has obviously had a lot of care and attention lavished on it to make it an excellent tool in a serious PC gamer's arsenal.

With a reflective metallic painted coat and amber lights that glow from within, the SteelSeries Sensei Pro Grade Laser Mouse certainly looks the part.

The metallic coating can be quite misleading, however. The mouse has a lightweight feel that can at first feel rather insubstantial. If you often use weights to hold down your mouse while gaming, then this isn't going to be for you.

The light weight and high DPI of the mouse makes it incredibly speedy and responsive. Even better, you can alter the settings of the mouse via the built-in LCD menu and save the settings as a profile. You can save a number of profiles – or download ones made by professionals – and quickly and easily switch between them.

The SteelSeries Sensei Pro Grade Laser Mouse also includes features such as the SteelSeries FreeMove and ExactSense features that tweak the mouse to be even more responsive.

Verdict

For quick-moving first person shooters in particular, this is a great choice of gaming mouse.

This mouse might have a bit of a mouthful of a name, but it's made by a company that takes gaming very seriously. This isn't a mouse for just working on spreadsheets – it has been designed with input from professional gaming teams such as SK Gaming and Fnatic Team.

While it's an officially licensed World of Warcraft mouse, its extra buttons and the ability to map commands and key presses to the buttons makes it suitable for MMO and RTS games.

The SteelSeries World of Warcraft MMO Gaming Mouse: Legendary Edition is ergonomically designed and feels comfortable to use, with all 11 buttons easily accessible.

On desk surfaces it doesn't feel as responsive as day-to-day optical mice do, so needs a mouse pad. While this might seem like a step backwards, if you're serious about PC gaming then you're going to want to have a gaming mouse pad.

When used with one of these, the precision and response of the SteelSeries World of Warcraft MMO Gaming Mouse: Legendary Edition was excellent.

Looks-wise this isn't going to be to everyone's taste – especially if you're not much of a World of Warcraft fan. The glowing lights look good, although they're slightly pointless, and the lightning bolt design looks a bit cheap.

Verdict

If you love World of Warcraft then you'll probably love this mouse, but if you're a casual gamer you'd be better off with a cheaper mouse.