OCZ Equalizer Gaming Mouse

Performance

I have tested this mouse on a large variety of gaming grade mouse mats, both with and without the drivers installed. In order to get an overview of the performance of the mouse I tested it in both in Counter Strike: Source (CS:S) and Battlefield 2 (BF2). The difference between the two games is the input method which the game relays on. CS:S Uses DirectInput which means that the input from the mouse isn't filtered at all by the operating system, this has some benefits because you only have one error source when testing the mouse and that is the CS:S engine itself.

Tracking

To start off with I just plugged in the mouse and entered Counter Strike: Source. To start off with I used the maximum resolution of 2500 DPI, the mouse was highly unstable and stalled even when playing with a medium to high sensitivity. At low sensitivity this mouse was absolutely horribly stalling even when making relatively slow 180-degree turns. I was a bit surprised by this because I thought that the new Agilent sensor would be better at coping with acceleration than its almost two-year-old predecessor.

Even with the proper drivers installed and tweaked, this mouse performed poorly in every scenario, even at high sensitivity it was hard for me to get a decent gaming experience with this mouse. The problem area with this mouse is the immature laser sensor, it might be 2500DPI but it really doesn't matter when it produces inconsistent and irregular data. During my testing I noticed both positive and negative acceleration depending on DPI setting and the speed of my movement.

The fact that the mouse stalls even when moving the mouse relatively slow makes me wonder if OCZ even had the decency to have proper gamers test this product before release. This mouse is the perfect example, in my opinion, of how a nice concept is ruined by the race for a high DPI rating. The shape and feature-set of the mouse is good but it's completely ruined by an immature laser sensor with major tracking problems. I can't help but think how much better this mouse could have been if OCZ had picked a laser sensor with a lower DPI rating, with better tracking or a medium to high DPI optical sensor.

Gaming Features

This mouse allows the user to change the DPI setting by the push of a button located on top of the mouse at the scroll-wheel. Besides that this mouse has a "Triple-Threat" button which should fire three shots in rapid succession. I tested this feature in both CS:S and BF2 and the results were somewhat erratic. With some weapons in CS:S this feature just makes the weapon shoot three shots in relative slow succession compared to a gamer pressing the fire button three times in a row. After some extensive testing I found that this feature is utterly useless, in all cases I was able to click either faster or with a better timing than that the "Triple-Threat" feature could produce. The odd thing about the button is that it doesn't fire the shots faster than what an average gamer can muster. I can only recommend that you spend a little time learning the recoil pattern of the guns instead of using the "Triple-Threat" function of this mouse.

General Use

Since this mouse features both a forward and backward button browsing with this mouse was a pleasant experience. In regular desktop use the "Triple-Threat" button functions as a standard double-click button. The lack of performance doesn't show with general desktop use. One of the things that bothered me was the precision when doing general photo shop work. It seems that the sensor is unstable on black surfaces and has huge tracking problems on mats which top-cloth layer has a fine structure.

Comfort

The OCZ Equalizer has a normal ergonomic shape, it's quite small compared to other ergonomic mice such as the Logitech MX-series or Razer DeathAdder / Habu. When you grip the mouse you immediately get the feeling that this mouse isn't intended for people with relatively large hands, like me. The side buttons are placed too far back on the mouse to be comfortable. One of the things that annoyed me about this mouse is the profile of it. Because it's relatively high at the back it's hard to rest your hand upon it.

Durability

When it comes to durability the OCZ is definitely above average. The buttons are firm and seem quite durable, and the build quality is quite good. OCZ has even been so kind as to ship this mouse with a total of 6 spare mouse feet, this is of course pleasant because it means that you can change them if you damage the ones already on the mouse.