Technical characteristics
Sensor: double, with laser backlight, 5600 dpi
INTERFACE: USB 2.0
ACCELERATION: up to 50 g
Moving speed: up to 6 m/s
Buttons: 2 main, 2 lateral, 2 sensitivity adjustments, 1 to change profiles
WEIGHT: from 139 (without cargo) to 161.5 g
Price (for October 2009): 2700 rub.
For any more or less advanced player, the choice of mouse is one of the most intimate classes. Not only the pleasure of the game, but also its effectiveness will depend on how competently selected. There are, of course, people who do not pay attention to the mouse at all and play what they have to. But it is worth comparing their results with the results of a person who plays at about the same level, but uses a normal mouse, and all points over I will stand by itself.
Three companies are now holding the leadership of mice now under the production of mice. Logitech with its Gaming Mouse line and a promoted mouse G9. Razer with a whole brood of beautiful gaming rodents. And also Microsoft, in the bins of which there are excellent Sidewinder gaming mice, including wireless X8, which for game mice, which need a very high sensor update, is very rare. The fact that the fourth character will also wedge into this dashing three, no one even thought. All vacancies seemed to be already busy – and here Cooler Master has released Sentinel Advance, which included in a separate game line of CM Storm.
The development of the device lasted about two years, the engineers were advised by famous e -sportsmen. Recently, the mouse finally got to Russia – and we immediately got Sentinel Advance in our tenacious paws. We have almost the entire edition playing professional gaming mice, so we can compare, analyze and draw appropriate conclusions.
Stroke on the wool
We will not paint the appearance of the mouse in detail, you already see everything perfectly in the pictures. It is better to tell you about what photos do not convey. Sentinel Advance housing is rubberized, only the top panel with keys is made of standard smooth plastic. According to the tactile sensations, the mouse resembles G9 – only here the side buttons are also covered with rubber.
The back of the device comes to naught very smoothly, forming a kind of ledge. He props a brush at the base, and during the game the palm lies almost completely on the mice, and not on the table. Two side buttons are located so that the thumbs of the thumb with standard grip is exactly between the buttons, as on the Razer Deathadder, – reaching both is equally convenient. In the games of the buttons at the end of the mouse, almost all players use (in shooters they usually hang on them either switching/reloading/zoom, or squatting, or a tactical challenge, in strategies – various teams, in role -playing games – scrolling dialogs and spells), so that This moment is especially important.
On top, clearly in the center, there is a display on which the values of current permits are displayed. The display is drowned in the depths, and the plastic covering it is made a flush with the body. It looks very unusual and beautiful – the display seems voluminous – but the functionality has suffered a little: to see the monitor, you need to almost completely remove the hand from the mouse, and even look at it from above.
Two buttons right in front of the display adjust the permission along their axes, that is, the sensitivity of the mouse along the X axes and Y is adjusted independently. There are no problems with these buttons: you can press even during a hot fight. At first, the possibility of independent adjustment of sensitivity seems completely unnecessary, but, having experimented a little with the settings, we realized that it was very convenient. In the same shooters in sniper mode, we placed sensitivity along the X axis, and on Y – lower. This gives this as follows: you can move the sight very quickly, catching the enemy into it, but there is no annoying jump in vertical.
Don't make an elephant from a fly
Despite the fact that the mouse itself is large, its front and central parts are quite narrow. The grip area is even in the G9, which is considered a mouse for players with small brushes. At first, we were afraid that the fingers would constantly slip out because of this. But there were no problems: the ends of the mouse are narrowing to the base, so if the thumb tries to move upward to the index, then it rests against the body and remains in place. Because of the same design feature, the mouse can be almost no longer compressed: it just dangles in a palmous cup.
What we especially liked – a collection of weights. The mouse itself weighs only 139 grams, but it can be reported to five metal tablets of 4.5 grams each – as a result, Sentinel Advance will gain weight up to 161.5 grams. The cover of the cargo compartment opens very tight, but there is nothing wrong with that – usually you load the mouse once for its entire mouse life.
The main buttons are also tight. Their sensitivity is much lower than that of G9, but slightly higher than that of Sidewinder X8. Sens about-somewhere at the level of Razer Mamba. In shooters, this sometimes interferes a little – you can’t quickly press the button many times in a row. In strategies and RPG, on the contrary, it allows you to more clearly position the canvas of units and prevent “fake clicks” when designating the path.
The mouse wire has a fabric braid (exactly the same as the G9). For most, this means only that the chances of gaging the cable are much lower. But for those who have pets, the moment is much more important. The cord cord is too tough for cats, most dogs and many parrots. Of course, they can gnaw, but they will spend a few minutes on it – there is a chance to prevent a tragedy. The usual plastic cord of homemade beasts dissect from one or two bites.
Numerical hallucinations
Another feature of Sentinel Advance is the possibility of configuring profiles. To do this, the set includes appropriate software. The interface is extremely simple, the purpose of all points is clear from the name, the adjustment for the most part is carried out by sliders, but it is allowed to drive the exact numbers into the corresponding windows. Each profile can be assigned a small label of the game for which these settings are designed: the logo will be displayed on the mouse display.
Fans of shooting will like Rapid Fire Mode: here you can configure shooting mode. For example, hang on some of the buttons a double, triple or even ten-tenth shot, and even determine the interval between the departure of each bullet. No online games lovers have not forgotten: there are pre -prescribed profiles and a whole system of macros and scenarios for the most popular MMORPG. Of course, they will have to spend some time on their development, but it's worth it.
And the most remarkable is the opportunity to maintain all your work in the mouse itself. Sentinel Advance has built 64 KB memory, into which you can download up to five sets of settings. They switch even during the game with a small button right in front of the wheel – while the color of the LED changes, which shines through the mouse shell through a perforated plastic insert. You can find fault here only one thing: if you look at the device from above, the LED itself is visible. But a mouse with built -in memory can be taken to a club or at competitions and play there at home – no drivers will have to be set.
The results of the races
We have Voodoodreams Casino stated objective facts. Now a few words about subjective. No matter how much smart words we write, to understand whether Sentinel Advance is suitable for you, you can only hold the mouse in your hand. In the process of testing, the editors of “Gambling” chased a mouse in games of different genres for several tens of hours (most in strategies and shooters) and revealed the same laws.
Players with a wide palm and massive fingers are not very convenient. The thumb constantly closes the side buttons, the width of the mouse is insufficient for a comfortable grip, the index and middle fingers are hung too far ahead. But those who have a brush of medium and small sizes, play and work with Sentinel is no less convenient than with G9 or with any mouse Razer. The grip is dense, the fingers do not strain. Some testers noticed that with Sentinel a hand gets tired a little less than with other mice. The reason, apparently, in the above-mentioned bevels, because of which the mouse does not need to be squeezed at all, but you just need to hold your palm.
Too low the sensitivity of the buttons and, on the contrary, the high sensitivity of the scroll wheel was noted at the beginning of testing almost all participants in the action. But after a day, this claim disappeared – both you quickly get used to both.
* * *
We will not give any recommendations: we will advise a specific game mouse, not knowing the features of the structure of the player’s brush, his style of the game, and just preferences, – occupying an ungrateful.
But one fact is indisputable. Cooler Master got a manipulator, which immediately got into the highest division and began to play on the same field with the best gaming mice of our time. If after a while it does not turn out that Sentinel Advance has some kind of assembly flaws that destroy it after a couple of months of a tense game (this is unlikely, the assembly is very good), then we can assume that more excellent mouse on the game Olympus has become more. We are from this only in the plus – there is something to choose from.
[Break]] Three magic letters
One of the most important characteristics of modern mice is DPI (dots per inch, the number of scanned points per inch surface). It is this value that shows the resolution of the sensor – and it depends on it how actively you will have to wield the mouse and how quickly the brush will get tired. The higher DPI, the usually better. For example, if you move one inch (about 2.5 cm) a mouse with DPI 3200, then the pointer on the screen will move to 3200 points, that is, it will run diagonally from one corner of the twenty -four -inch monitor to another. And if you move the mouse from the DPI 1000 to the same distance, then the cursor on the screen will move to only 1000 points – this is about half the monitor.
If you reduce DPI during the game (and almost all game mice allow you to do this on the fly), you will get a visual effect of a decrease in sensitivity: when the mouse shifts at the same distance, the sight or cursor on the screen will move to a lower distance.
On the one hand, it is convenient when you need to change sensitivity right during the battle and there is no way to climb into the settings. However, with a decrease in DPI, you automatically reduce the accuracy of movements. Therefore, the best option is to leave the maximum DPI, but to reduce sensitivity with software, for example, through the mouse settings menu in the game or in the operating system (program sensitivity is usually called sensitivity or just a sensory so as not to confuse it with DPI).
Do not forget that in order for the mouse to work to the fullest, she just needs a normal game carpet. There are now a huge number of such. Prices for more or less decent starts from three hundred rubles. Good carpets usually have a rubberized base so as not to slide on the table, and a rag or porous upper coating for smooth mouse movements.
Fans of the shooters most often choose carpets with a soft upper coating, strategists prefer more rigid (it is more convenient to hide the cards in RTS and work with a canvas of unit – accuracy here is not very important where the speed is more relevant). The same Cooler Master specially for gamers releases excellent carpets of the series CM Battle Pad – Fat and soft for the shooters is well suited CS-M FPS Tactics Pad , And for strategies – a hard rug HS-M Battle Pad SSK with a rubber base.
The magnificent four
Talking about a new game mouse, one cannot fail to mention its direct competitors. If your favorite gaming rodent, which you consider to be the limit of perfection, do not panic, does not fall into our selection – this does not mean that your choice is bad or we are too stupid: we only talk about those mice that we ourselves are constantly using in network battles.
Razer
Most models have a characteristic flattened body and large buttons. Side buttons are often absent. Razer mice has a very peculiar way of holding, the so -called grip with fingers. Some consider it unusually convenient, but someone, on the contrary, does not like it terribly. The only thing, according to the majority, is inconvenient to work with Reazor mice, you just need to play with them.
Microsoft Sidewinder
This series of very large and rather heavy mice, perfectly suitable for people with big palms. Require a dense grip and the ability to greatly bend the thumb because of the somewhat strange placement of the side buttons: they are located above the other and at the same time usually find themselves under the pillow, but under the second phalanx of the thumb. Despite this, many players consider Sidewinder an ideal mouse for strategies and RPG.
Logitech G9
Extremely popular among e -sportsmen and among ordinary players mouse. Small, with very sensitive keys, a wheel that can be allowed into the mode of continuous rewinding (without forgiveness), and with interchangeable casings – there is one rubberized and one of the rough plastic. Nevertheless, people with big hands G9 very often do not like: she has a rather narrow grip, and the mouse itself is short, in a large palm she is simply lost.
A4Tech
A whole galaxy of game mice classes lower than the already mentioned three, but very popular due to an excellent combination of price/quality. For little money, A4Tech offers semi -professional manipulators, among which there are mice as a classic species ( X-710MK And she is similar), and “pancakes” in the spirit of Razer (for example, XL-740K ). Unfortunately, many models have one unpleasant drawback: the wire is too thin and about an active game of active game is ground at the entrance site to the mouse body.