Gaming Mouse Group Test

Logitech G3

The Logitech G3 is a rarity, in that despite being fairly small and low to the desk surface it sits on, it actually comes with 6 configurable buttons. Those are your traditional left, right click and centre mouse buttons as well as a button on either side and a sensitivity control button right in the middle. The obvious problem for a mouse designed like this is whether the buttons will feel too close together or too uncomfortable to press.

I liked the look and feel of the mouse. The sides of the Logitech G3 are made of a textured rubber that makes it easy to grip and hold. The design on the top is rather cat-like - a stripy, reflective, silvery black that looks cool and isn’t too outrageous.

The mouse is suitable for both right and left handed gamers as it doesn’t have the right-hand-favouring-ergonomic-curve you find in certain mice. The base of the mouse is fairly simplistic too, where three pads made of Polytetrafluoroethylene (try saying that three times quickly) will provide you with contact to your mousepad. My only initial concern with the design was whether I would be able to comfortably use the button on the far right, it felt a little awkwardly positioned.

The software for Logitech mice is a pretty standard affair. It’s called SetPoint and allows you to change the button configuration for your mouse, the mouse acceleration and the other generic settings you’d expect to find in mouse software. There is also an option to set up specific configurations for your individual games. I personally didn’t use this, since if I want to change my mouse settings I find it far easier just doing so in game.


One thing I did like about the Logitech software was the help guides. Here’s an excerpt taken from the guide's entry on comfort:

"Practice good work habits...
DO:

• Take frequent short breaks. Get up and walk around at least a couple of times every hour.
  
• Vary your tasks throughout the day. Do something different with your hands and arms for a while.
  
• Use a light touch on the keyboard and for better control of the mouse or trackball.
  
• Use software features to customize your mouse or trackball to help you reduce stress to your arm, wrist, or hand by minimizing repetitive or awkward motions."

With tips like that you’ll be avoiding RSI with no problem! Thankfully, Logitech didn’t offer up any suggestions as to what office workers should do with their hands and arms when not playing with their mouse.

The mouse appeared to work equally well on both hard and soft surfaces. It made slightly more noise on the harder surface and perversely, offered a little more resistance.

In terms of the most suitable hand style I would say this lends itself to someone who likes to rest their entire hand on the mouse. Its low style makes it more comfortable to just relax your hand across its body.

RTS & FPS

It’s always useful to have extra buttons when playing any game, especially an RTS. It’s all well and good having lots of different shortcuts mapped out on your keyboard, but the more you can assign to your mouse hand the less the workload becomes. I found the Logitech G3 coped happily with the RTS games. I even found that the sensitivity button came in useful - whilst playing Medieval 2 I flicked between settings when going from the battle screen to the map screen.


I got stuck into a bit of Dark Messiah and Battlefield 2142 to see how it coped. Once again the Logitech G3 proved itself to be a solid performer. I found myself using the button closest to my thumb quite a lot but struggled a little with the button on the other side. This was a problem that extended into my internet exploring, sometimes when I moved around my finger would accidental click it and I would get sent forward in my internet history.

The cheapest we saw the mouse on the net was at LambdaTek, costing £31.10. Although it isn’t the cheapest mouse we’re looking at today, it’s certainly great value. If you’re a fan of small mice but want the extra buttons then I can’t see a better option.