Saitek Cyborg Mouse

The question is, does all this flash and gadgetry actually make a difference? Is it worth about 40 of your hard-earned pounds (or sixty of your dollars, if you're in the states), or are the features just gimmicks designed to part you from your cash?

Generally the improvements work well. The basics are there--all the buttons are as responsive as you'd hope, and the tracking works well. The extra buttons are sensibly placed, and the four-way thumb button works admirably. It's placed just far enough out of the way (especially given the weird-looking extension to the base on the inside) to not be pressed accidentally when things get heated, but close enough that it's the natural choice for oft-used secondary gaming functions.

The mapping features are also rock-solid. Playing World of Warcraft we mapped gear and form changes to the side-button (on a feral druid, as it happens) and found it made some tough grinding slightly easier and a little bit less of a chore. It's also possible to have several different mappings saved, so if you want to switch from one game to another, or from one WoW class to another if you're that way inclined, it's possible to change your key layout with a push of the face button, which helpfully changes colour to indicate which state it's in.

The final feature seems the most gimmicky. The body of the mouse houses a motor as well as the other gubbins, so that you can manually change the size of the mouse in your hand. The rear half of the shell slides backwards and forwards, giving you a range of a couple of centimetres. This is actually surprisingly useful, and not just if you happen to share the machine in question with someone else. Shifting the size up from the default (which is already actually fairly big) did make the whole thing more comfortable for us.

Overall, we'd recommend the Cyborg to anyone looking to get a slightly more tricked-out pointing device; it works well, managing to give your right hand a little bit more control without forcing you to think of new ways to play to take advantage of its features.