Razer Nostromo or Naga?

[Fretty]

I had a hard time getting used to my gamepad and had it sidelined for quite a while. Might be an idea to get it out again as I have a new desk that I can use it better.

As for keyboard mappings...I was always an ESDF person and they keep defaulting keys to WASD. Why ESDF? I find I get a wider range of access. Not to mention ESDF is the natural typing rested spot.

Makes sense, but that must take a lot of remapping for each new game as I'm sure most of those keys are already associated with other actions, so not only do you have to remap ESDF for movement, you now have to remap whatever E and F were too.

[Rallick]

I had a hard time getting used to my gamepad and had it sidelined for quite a while. Might be an idea to get it out again as I have a new desk that I can use it better.

As for keyboard mappings...I was always an ESDF person and they keep defaulting keys to WASD. Why ESDF? I find I get a wider range of access. Not to mention ESDF is the natural typing rested spot.

Makes sense, but that must take a lot of remapping for each new game as I'm sure most of those keys are already associated with other actions, so not only do you have to remap ESDF for movement, you now have to remap whatever E and F were too.

It's usually only remapping 2 keys like you said. The E and F. At least most new games allow you to save and transfer configs from Character to Character.

[Vanraw]

As for keyboard mappings...I was always an ESDF person and they keep defaulting keys to WASD. Why ESDF? I find I get a wider range of access. Not to mention ESDF is the natural typing rested spot.

All you had to say was "I'm from Canada eh.".

[Rallick]

As for keyboard mappings...I was always an ESDF person and they keep defaulting keys to WASD. Why ESDF? I find I get a wider range of access. Not to mention ESDF is the natural typing rested spot.

All you had to say was "I'm from Canada eh.".

And not in the voice from that Grown Ups dood! I'm not from Saskatoon!

[Snowreap]

it takes about a week to get used to using your thumb to move well enough that it stops being a handicap. it's a struggle the first couple days, but the payoff is worth it.

-ken

[Zirak]

it takes about a week to get used to using your thumb to move well enough that it stops being a handicap. it's a struggle the first couple days, but the payoff is worth it.

-ken

I tried to switch to using the thumb pad for movement to free up those buttons on my Nostromo back when playing Warhammer but my brain refused to make the transition.

[Snowreap]

it's a *big* struggle the first couple of days, so much so that it's worth unbinding actions from the formerly-WASD keys because you will constantly hit them by mistake.

-ken

[Moristans]

I use the Naga and G13. You can write macros for either the Naga and the G13 so, between the two, I've mapped every Rift ability to a key, period. I put my keyboard to the side and have room on my desk for a 12 pack of beer, chips, and salsa.

The problem with the Naga is the size of the buttons and the location of some of the keys. It's easy to fatfinger or miss a key. Takes a lot of repitition and practice to work it effectively, but when you do, it's smooth as a baby's butt. I had a Nostromo for the longest time, but switched over to the G13 because it's easier to write macros and gives you more buttons to work with. The action of the buttons on the G13 blow compared to the Nostromo though and the extra few millimeters between buttons means it's that much easier to miss.

[Slamz]

I decided to spring for the Naga. My Logitech MX Revolution was great but was starting to have some issues so I figured rather than buy another one of the same, I might as well try something new, and I had been tempted by the 12 side buttons.


So far so good. The only problem I'm having so far is in the heat of battle it can be hard to NOT press side buttons. I have to remember not to squeeze my mouse with my thumb anymore because every comfortable thumb position contains a button. (Although I could, I suppose, unmap one of the buttons to be my "push mouse" button...)

It's nicely configurable with single-key remapping as well as macro support (seems identical to the G13 for that).

Mouse is smooth to operate and surprisingly comfortable. If you can get over the need to squeeze the mouse with your thumb, it's quite ergonomic.

They even did something I wish the G13 had when I was trying to get used to it, which is include a couple sets of little sticky things you can put on your keys to give it a "tactile" feel. So I can put a little sticky thing on the #5 side button and tell by feel if my thumb is positioned right.

They even produce add-ons for MMORPGs that support add-ons, that gives you a display that matches the shape of the mouse buttons (which does make things easier -- I made my own layouts to match the shape of the Nostromo and, later, G13).



edit:
The hardest thing with this mouse is holding down a button while needing to slide the mouse left. Once I reach the end of the pad and need to lift up the mouse to move it, it's hard not to press side buttons while holding down one of the main buttons.

Actually, I just realized I'm not doing myself any favors by putting my Vent talk key on the bottom. This forced my hand down the mouse which makes this maneuver much harder. If I leave my thumb resting in a more neutral position (towards the top of the numpad), this is a lot easier. May have to make #1 be my Vent key... I need a foot pedal. :-p

[Rallick]

I purchased the Naga as well. I like it. Very smooth. I haven't got around to setting up the buttons for anything but the defaults right now though.

I went from a Logitech G7 (cordless) to the Naga. My buttons were starting to stick a little and I was getting tired of changing the batteries

[Moristans]

Mouse is smooth to operate and surprisingly comfortable. If you can get over the need to squeeze the mouse with your thumb, it's quite ergonomic.

The hardest thing with this mouse is holding down a button while needing to slide the mouse left. Once I reach the end of the pad and need to lift up the mouse to move it, it's hard not to press side buttons while holding down one of the main buttons.

If you've never owned a Razer mouse before, it can be a bit tricky at first. My first Razer was the Lachesis and once I got used to it, it's really really much harder to go back to a typical mouse.

If you haven't used the "Tweak Performance" tab on the Naga Configurator, you are missing out. I've got mine set so that I can zip in any direction for any distance on the screen within about two inches on my mouse pad. That, and all it takes is a light touch with my middle and forefinger to move it anywhere. That was the trick with the Lachesis, not to actually lay your hand on the mouse and it seems to work with the Naga too, even though the Naga is a bit bigger and heavier.

I never run out of space on my mouse pad, never have to lift up my mouse for any reason, never get fatigued, and never accidently press a side button because the only time i set my thumb on the mouse is to press a button, not to move the mouse.

They even did something I wish the G13 had when I was trying to get used to it, which is include a couple sets of little sticky things you can put on your keys to give it a "tactile" feel. So I can put a little sticky thing on the #5 side button and tell by feel if my thumb is positioned right.

Yeah, i thought that was awesome too and spent a day just setting up the buttons on both my G13 and the Naga with stickies so i could just feel for the right buttons. They lasted less than a week though. I wiped most of them right off by using them so much. the only ones I had left were the ones I hardle used.

[Uncle Shags]

I'm having trouble with jump on my g13. With my thumb free I used to be able to jump while doing any other action. Now my thumb is for movement and I haven't found a key/finger that can be devoted to jump.

[Snowreap]

I use the thumbstick for jumping. the thumbstick itself is a button, if you press it "in", rather than up/down/left/right (or in addition to up/down/left/right if you want to jump while moving). when the G13 is new, the thumbstick button is very very stiff, but it gets a lot easier to press once it gets broken in.

for certain locations that demand very precise jumping (Warhammer Online had a lot of these) I often switch back to the keyboard for more control, but usually I just use the thumbstick.

-ken

[Skelas]

I set the far left bottom key to jump and then use my pinky finger to jump. Just another one of those things with the G13 that you have to do for awhile.

[Slamz]

I always just set the middle button in the second row (G11) to jump and then left that as a blank spot in my MMO overlays.

I'll have to try moving that to the stick though, like Snowreap says. I didn't like it because of how hard it is to push the joystick but maybe I just needed to deal with it until it got broken in.

If you have any unused mouse buttons, you could try mapping it there too.

[Bulgy]

I see how the G13 has a stick for movement, but what controls rotation?

[Snowreap]

for me, my mouse controls it. I habitually move around with my right mouse button held down -- so much so that if I want to look to the sides I'll turn sideways and strafe to continue moving in my original direction.

-ken

[Skelas]

I use a combination of holding the right mouse button, moving the mouse, and the thumb stick. It's really very intuitive.

[Breand]

The thing with the Naga, and I was trying to explain this to Chuu, is that it is totally ergonomic as far as leaving your thumb free to press buttons. It is a new way of holding a mouse, that again, needs a bit of getting used to. But by laying your middle and forefinger down on the two mouse buttons, and letting your palm rest on the bottom of the mouse, the mouse moves naturally with your hand movements...there is no dragging, adjusting etc..no "room" to run out of on a mouse pad and it actually gives you much more pinpoint control of it.

I can't even imagine playing without it now. Granted SWTOR has 2 dozen abilities, all of which you use and to me there was no other option BUT to use one.

[Snowreap]

that kind of mouse wouldn't work well for me because I don't move my mouse with my hand, I move it with my fingertips (specifically my pinky and thumb). my wrist rests on a stationary cushion so my hand is mostly motionless except for a bit of side-to-side pivoting. the bulk of my mouse movement comes from my fingers. my palm actually doesn't touch the mouse, unless I'm moving it down.

Razer calls this the "fingertip grip": http://www.razerzone.com/mouseguide/ergo...gertipgrip. they say that it gives you the most control and agility, but at the cost of the worst hand fatigue and learning curve, when compared to other grip types.

I learned to mouse on Sun2 and Sun3 Unix workstations. the mice on those machines had three buttons and were relatively flat (not more than 3/4" tall) so holding them on the sides with thumb and pinky was natural. and because they were optical mice and had to be used on specially imprinted reflective mouse pads, you also learned to be economical with movement, since the mouse wouldn't work if it went off the edge of the pad.

-ken

[Slamz]

Neat link ^

I use the "fingertip grip" too. The Naga is actually listed under the "claw grip" for preference.

The problem, still, is that no matter what precision level you use, sometimes you just need to keep moving left -- there's some guy on a horse running circles around me shooting at me with a bow while I turn and throw axes at him. Eventually I run out of mouse pad and have to pick the mouse up and move it.

This is actually fine with the Naga....the trick is learning not to use so much thumb pressure to pick it up and move it. The buttons aren't THAT sensitive. You can easily pick up the mouse and move it without mashing any of the buttons. It's just that in the heat of the moment, it's hard not to squeeze it enough to mash buttons.

...which is why I made button #1 into my push-to-talk key. Worst case, I activate push to talk while shifting my mouse.

It would not be a good location for a "Self-Destruct" button.

[Snowreap]

I saw that Razer has another mouse with 6 thumb buttons arranged in a hex. that might work for fingertip-grip users if you 'home' your thumb in the space in the middle of the hex.

-ken

[strife]

I've been very tempted to get a naga cause of all the thumb buttons.. but I'm in love(I mean, in a relative sense) with my Microsoft Sidewinder X8. It's a big mouse but so comfortable.

I use a huge mouse pad(as I'm sure most of you do) so never have issues falling off, and very seldom have to pick up my mouse to move it back towards the center.

The Razer with the hex is (conveniently) named the Razer Naga Hex and looks very tempting... appears they are hard to find as they are on backorder through razer and going for more than retail on ebay($80 retail, the cheapest buy it now on ebay is at $130 + $9 shipping)

[Zirak]

Trackball.

[Skelas]

http://www.amazon.com/Razer-RZ01-0075010...304&sr=8-1