I want a Diamondback, but then again there is the new Logitech. As nothing is officially announced yet, it could take at least two months before I will be able to buy it anyway, so it can’t be worth waiting, right?
Anyone in the same situation? BTW, does Diamondback have a button on each side of the wheel like MX500 do?
afaik, the razer mice are best suited to high sensitivity gamers, who like to be able to 360 with an inch of travel, etc. while logitech’s are better suited to low sens ppl.
mind you i’ve never tried a razer, that’s just what i’ve read. it would likely own ass for stuff like q3a, but i dunno if i’d want one for a game like et. could be wrong tho.
i love the mx500, it’s comfy and fairly precise. i figure if their next mouse is basically the same but with higher precision, that’s the bad boy for me 
I don’t understand how the DB can be more suited for high sens players. I know you haven’t tried it, but can you post a quote or link? Elaborate, please.
I love my MX500, but if there is something better which is worth the dough, I will at least consider it.
Some of you might have heard already, but GameSpot posted this a couple of days ago:
I’m not too crazy about MX518’s design, though, but that hardly matters.
sorry but i can’t for the life of me remember where i read that about the DB, but it was a reputable site which did a comparison of various mice.
as for the 518, that’s what i intend to wait for. i’m sold on it, sight-unseen.
I use a Diamond Razerback (Magma) Which I got from www.afterhours.co.uk (cheapest I could find).
I’ve used all the logitech, microsoft and Terratec mice.
The diamond razerback looks a bit “gimmicky” with its led to lite it up and it’s “Lan Party Party” but dont let that put you off. It performs very well.
It is ultra sensitive and I for one prefer low sens. You can turn it right down tho to suit your needs.
Biggest impact on your game will be the 1600dpi, which will make accuracy over mid to long range better. My overall accuracy has improved. Now keeping in mind I am an old man, my eyes are shot and my hands shake, my accuracy on avg is now on public servers high 30’s - low 40’s where as before with my MX510 I was a low to mid 30’s guy.
I have always been pants at close up stuff, but mid to long range has been my strength.
It works well on my Ice mat, and infact also on my desk and even a sheet of blank A4 paper.
Downside is that the mouse it’s really light, I prefer something heavier, and the side buttons a positioned so they are difficult use, but not impossible.
I’d say give it a go, but dont expect to fall in love with it straight away.
Here’s another review from GameSpot:
http://hardware.gamespot.com/Story-ST-16167-1699-x-x-x
I’ve had a Diamondback for about a week and a half now. It’s a really nice mouse, despite the drivers (see below).
It’s lighter than a Logitech MX310, but heavier than an MS Intellieye Optical (the symmetrical one). The shape reminds me of the old Logitech Pilotmouse+ (which is a good thing). It’s slightly steeper at the back, but not like the MX310 (which is more of a wedge shape, and not very comfortable).
The buttons are slightly misleading, I think - there are seven, including the wheel (or nine, if you include wheelup/down, which you shouldn’t). However, they’re really only usable with your thumb, as the ones on the other side are too small and badly positioned. Realistically, this gives you five buttons. I’m fine with this - I only need five, and I prefer having two thumb buttons to one thumb and one finger, which is what I had on the Logitech MX310 I was previously using. Your mileage may vary. No buttons either side of the wheel, btw.
So, the drivers then. Here’s a small blow-by-blow account of my attempts to get it working:
Wednesday:
Get mouse.
Try to install mouse. During install, a big ‘FAILED’ button appears when detecting mouse. Frown a bit, but notice that it hasn’t halted the install, so carry on.
Open the Razer control panel applet and try to set up sensitivity. Note that none of the settings seem to have any effect.
Try Windows XP’s mouse control panel applet and successfully turn sensitivity down and acceleration off.
Root around the device manager and discover that Windows XP hasn’t detected the mouse (hence the ‘FAILED’ above), and is using some standard HID mouse driver for it. Consequently, the control panel applet that was installed with the Diamondback drivers is doing bugger all.
Finish work, take mouse home, try to install it on home PC. Same results as above.
Browse the tech support section of Razer’s site and find nothing useful.
Go to bed, muttering.
Thursday:
Machine at work refuses to boot up - the windows install is corrupt. Frown a lot and stare accusingly at Diamondback. Decide not to try to use Diamondback at work again until driver crapness is resolved.
Get home, root around the internet, find a .inf fix for the Diamondback which allegedly fixes the ‘FAILED’ business.
Install .inf fixer, apply it to latest official drivers on Razer’s site and follow instructions on how to update the device in the device manager.
Razer control panel applet now works… sort of. Can adjust sensitivity and turn off on-the-fly sensitivity and acceleration, etc., but can’t reassign side buttons properly.
Browse the tech support section of Razer’s site again, and find an article on fixing the buttons.
Reinstall everything (including .inf fixer) after cleaning out old/temp driver directories etc, to no avail.
Send mail to Razer tech support with details of problem.
Friday:
Get home from work and check mail to find automated reply from Razer tech support saying someone will respond to query within 24 hours.
Spend rest of evening using mouse with no side buttons.
Saturday:
No response from Razer. Not expecting one over the weeked, anyway.
Sunday:
As above.
Monday:
Check mail at lunchtime.
Check mail in the evening and find one from Razer tech support. This time it’s only slightly automated and asks me to send an msinfo.txt to them with details of my problem.
Generate msinfo.txt using instructions in email, and repeat details of problem again via ctrl c and ctrl v.
Recieve another automated email from Razer a few minutes later stating that someone will email me in 24 hours.
Tuesday:
No response from Razer
Wednesday:
As above
Thursday:
Email from a Paul S at Razer, saying they’re looking into the problem. He suggests I try the beta drivers available on a third party site, while going to some length to explain that they aren’t supported by Razer.
Mutter to self.
Try beta drivers on top of existing ones. Install seems to go ok.
Razer control panale applet won’t start, complaining about not having the right files in certain directories. I find them and move them there.
Try control panel applet again. Everything seems to work, including side buttons.
Decide to take mouse back into work and try there tomorrow.
Friday:
Take mouse into work and install beta drivers from scratch. Discover that the device hasn’t been recognised again.
Uninstall everything, and reinstall the latest official drivers from Razer’s site. Device isn’t recognised again (no surprise there).
Apply .inf fixer, and update drivers. Mouse is now recognised, but no side buttons (as expected).
Apply beta drivers over the top of official ones, and everything works again, except the control panel applet, which has no effect on any of the settings (although they all work as I set them up initially).
Uninstall everything and delete temp files, rebooting each time. Reinstall everything as above, and find it all works this time, including the control panel applet.
If you can be arsed jumping through hoops like that for a while, you’ll probably like the mouse. If you don’t particularly want the side buttons for anything, it removes one of the hoops
I’m sure Razer will sort the drivers soon, in any case. If you’re left-handed I think it’s worth perservering with, because it’s much better than either of Logitech or Microsoft’s latest symmetrical mice. If you’re right-handed, you might be better off with a Logitech mouse.
God, what a nightmare! Atm I have enough problems trying to get my isp to sort out my ‘moonwalking’ whilst ingame, let alone buggering around with any mouse driver issues.
On a side note, I know a very talented gamer who bought one when it came out and just didn’t like it. Said it just didn’t ‘feel right’. - although that is of course very vague and a personal preference.
I had a razer mouse oncebefore with a very high dpi and couldn’t use it at all. I don’t know why but as I play generally what I would term a ‘low sens fps’ (ET), I prefer the lower dpi mice. My brain also has a problem with side buttons and it confuses me when i try to frag ppl. Consequently, the best mouse for me is the small lightweight MX300. Yes it is an old model, but I know a number of ppl who still swear by them and prefer them to the 310 simply on the grounds that it’s alot lighter and less bulky.
As with most things to do with gaming gear/cfgs etc, I think when thinking of buying a new mouse you have to think of what suits you/your specific style of playing/the exact type of game you play.
In addition, I know that some ppl prefer to use a mouse through PS2, whilst others prefer to use it through USB. And on the subject of USB, many people prefer to hack windows and get 500mhz refresh rate for their mouse. I tried to see what that would be like but it knackered up my USB orts completely as I didn’y have enough power on my borderline system 
In short, it’s probably best to steer clear of driver problems like wils stated above 
and remember that buying the ‘latest’ and supposedly ‘cutting edge’ hardware/accessories means nothing if they do not suit you personally.
I’ve configured Dragon Dictate to play E.T … forward … forward some more … FIRE ! … I said fire … *#@£ … (wait for respawn)
i have i mx300, and i needed new mouse…i bought Razor Diamond Back. i plugged it in and due to several hours of investegating tweaks, setups, driver bugs…and weeks of trying to adapt to this mouse…i finally gave it to my girlffriend… i simply cannot get the feel i want with that mouse. The design of the mouse is not bad… except the side buttons…wich are only annoying…it got really good mouse 1-2 buttons…and the feets are smooth and seems hard to wear out… but… the sensitivity and overall feel… nope… no go (i tried again some months after…gave up again)
i am definetly going to buy mx518 , sorry razor
man, you guys had major issues with the db.
my exp.,
took mouse home
installed mouse.
played et.
had a blast.
mouse works, acc went up…kills went up…
NCB happy.
I’m guessing not everyoen is suffering the same problems I was - if the drivers install properly for you first time, you shouldn’t have any further problems. The mouse itself is fine
In any case, some people don’t use the side buttons and won’t be bothered by them being incorrectly assigned, and even more people are probably happy using the windows mouse control applet to adjust the sensitivity. I’m just kind of picky - not to the point of upping my USB polling frequency, but I do want the drivers to work properly at the very least