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After my wireless mouse finally stopped charging anything and the temporary £5 replacement mouse was just terrible, I decided to take a look at the Razer DeathAdder Chroma.

I went with Razer since they are generally a brand that's well known and known for reasonably good hardware. Luckily on Linux, we don't have to deal with their terrible software (I've seen first-hand how terrible their Windows software can be).

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I suffer from a permanent injury in my main hand/wrist, which hurts the longer I use a mouse, but surprisingly the DeathAdder Chroma is incredibly comfy. One of the features is "Ergonomic Shape" and they certainly aren't lying about it. It's been a real pleasure to use for both work and play and really does the job perfectly. This has been the longest my hand hasn't been annoyingly painful after prolonged mouse-use in years.

It fits the hand well and the material doesn't feel cheap. Many mice have awful solid and cold basic plastic, whereas the DeathAdder Chroma has a slightly rough feeling to it which also gives it a good bit of grip in your hand for the more intense gaming sessions. The rubber side grips also help dramatically with this, it gives me a real feeling of actual control over it.

It doesn't come with hundreds of useless buttons attached to it to give it some ridiculous "MMO" or "gamer" label, but it does have two extra buttons on the side. Personally, I find those two extra buttons extremely useful for web browsing as forwards/backwards buttons, and as handy extras in online FPS games for things like throwing a grenade. Their button placement for the extra side buttons is right on the mark too, ample room to rest your thumb with minimal movement needed to access the extra buttons.

It has a 10,000dpi optical sensor, which is incredibly smooth and precise. I've tried it on a number of different surfaces and it's had no issues at all. A problem I had with my last two mice in FPS games was where the sensor seemed to bounce off tiny crumbs, dust and whatever else my desk had on it, making my aim all over the place. My testing with the Razer DeathAdder Chroma shows just how good the sensor is, with crazy accuracy and no random twitches.

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While I'm not really fussed about the lighting on the mouse wheel and the back of the mouse, it's still a nice touch and it is perfectly configurable on Linux. With thanks to the 'razercfg' tool, adjusting colours, DPI and more is incredibly easy. I used the Arch AUR-git package and it made the setup a breeze, I just had to enable it afterwards with systemd without issues.

An absolute world of difference compared to the various mice I've had before. I highly recommend it. Mine was on sale too in a local store, so double win there. Well worth the money in my books. Article taken from GamingOnLinux.com.
Tags: Hardware, Review
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I am the owner of GamingOnLinux. After discovering Linux back in the days of Mandrake in 2003, I constantly came back to check on the progress of Linux until Ubuntu appeared on the scene and it helped me to really love it. You can reach me easily by emailing GamingOnLinux directly.
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mrboese May 4, 2017
I have a Roccat Kiro. Although the reviews are mixed, it works fine for me. The mouse stores its settings internally and there is software to configure it on Linux.
nitroflow May 4, 2017
I can vouch for the Roccat Tyon I have, but they also have cheaper and less featured mice although all with great sensors which is what matters such as the new Roccat Kone Pure with the Owl Eye sensor which has received great praise. Don't know about their support though(like this one with the owl eye) as the guy that worked on the linux drivers stopped doing so. As for cheaper options(hello Samsai!) chinese mice like the redragon m902 or the james donkey 325 have great reputation and use AVAGO sensors.
Cybolic May 4, 2017
I've got a Roccat Nyth myself, after my R.A.T. 9 developed hardware issues in both mouse and receiver. Before that I had two Logitech MX 1000, which have excellent ergonomics and a nice scroll wheel. The R.A.T. 9 was extremely comfortable and the horizontal scroll was a great feature, but the Roccat Nyth is the first time I've been truly in love with a mouse :D
I know most people probably look at the modular side buttons and think it's a ridiculous gaming gimmick, but pairing it with Linux's virtual desktops/workspaces and general keyboard friendliness opens up a plethora of opportunities to be able to do practically anything regardless of whether I have both hands on the keyboard or one on the mouse. It really is amazing :D (though it is a bit sensitive to specks of dust)

EDIT: Oh, and the software is frakking perfect ;)


Last edited by Cybolic on 4 May 2017 at 6:54 pm UTC
nitroflow May 4, 2017
Quoting: CybolicI've got a Roccat Nyth myself, after my R.A.T. 9 developed hardware issues in both mouse and receiver. Before that I had two Logitech MX 1000, which have excellent ergonomics and a nice scroll wheel. The R.A.T. 9 was extremely comfortable and the horizontal scroll was a great feature, but the Roccat Nyth is the first time I've been truly in love with a mouse :D
I know most people probably look at the modular side buttons and think it's a ridiculous gaming gimmick, but pairing it with Linux's virtual desktops/workspaces and general keyboard friendliness opens up a plethora of opportunities to be able to do practically anything regardless of whether I have both hands on the keyboard or one on the mouse. It really is amazing :D (though it is a bit sensitive to specks of dust)

EDIT: Oh, and the software is frakking perfect ;)

I can adjust volume, mute, play/pause, cycle up and down gnome desktops, bring out activities overview and push to talk on discord all with a single profile with my tyon!
harshbarj May 4, 2017
Price seems about right. I paid about $60 usd for my Logitech MX510 about 13 years ago. Still using it to this day. Best $60 I have spent on a mouse. Though I have replaced the USB cable 4 times now, and replaced a switch, and repaired another switch. Man I love that mouse :D.
Spud13y May 4, 2017
Quoting: rudzhaYou did some research before your purchase, right?
I'm looking for a new Linux "gaming" mouse, because my Saitek/Mad Catz R.A.T. 7 is falling apart.
Can you suggest any other brands and mice that work well with Linux and/or have Linux support?

I bought this Pictek mouse (link. It has a nice array of DPI settings that you can change with a click of a button on top of the mouse so you don't need hardware. I've had it on Debian Testing, Solus, and Antergos with no problems. Don't know how high quality it is. I can make due with a $5 mouse for gaming.
wolfyrion May 4, 2017
Quoting: WorMzyI'll add my voice to the chorus of complaints about build quality -- I've had a number of Razer devices over the years, and they all developed faults (usually with the scroll wheels) over the course of a year or so. I'd recommend avoiding them and going with roccat instead (at least, for devices supported by the no-longer developed Linux configuration tool).

Thats the reason I dont purchase Razer anymore as well :)

Now I am using Corsair Products and I can say I am pretty happy with it...
Corsair Gaming K70 Mechanical Gaming Keyboard Cherry MX Brown and Gaming Mouse The M65 PRO RGB Black


Last edited by wolfyrion on 4 May 2017 at 8:13 pm UTC
Cybolic May 4, 2017
Quoting: nitroflow
Quoting: CybolicI've got a Roccat Nyth myself [...]

I can adjust volume, mute, play/pause, cycle up and down gnome desktops, bring out activities overview and push to talk on discord all with a single profile with my tyon!

Precisely! My Nyth desktop profile is set up to switch desktops, move windows between desktops, cycle volume up and down, mute on/off, play/pause and next/prev music, switch between tabs, press ctrl (excellent for zooming in various apps), press enter/escape (great for a quick dialogue response), do horizontal scroll, stop/reload/back/forward in web pages/file manager and alt tab cycle (with ctrl+alt tab as an extra bonus). Having all that readily available from a single profile is frankly amazing - and the buttons are easy to find and press as well! :D
Creak May 4, 2017
Is it Razer that said recently that they were interested in supporting Linux? I'm not able to find a news about it, but I'm pretty sure it was them... do you remember that?

Edit:
I think that it is simply this sticked forum post by an official Razer staff:
https://insider.razerzone.com/index.php?threads/welcome-to-the-linux-corner.20618/

If their Laptops get compatible with Linux... oh man, I'm gonna buy the shit out of them.


Last edited by Creak on 4 May 2017 at 11:14 pm UTC
14 May 5, 2017
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"It doesn't come with hundreds of useless buttons attached to it to give it some ridiculous "MMO" or "gamer" label, but it does have two extra buttons on the side."

Use the right tool for the job. I have the Nyth and it's just about perfect. I have large hands, so I use the wider attachment piece on the side. I like several side buttons, but I don't need all 12. The Nyth allowed me to put a blank strip in the middle so I can grip the mouse as hard as I want without mistakenly hitting buttons. The far rear buttons are too hard to quickly reach, so I have the double-wide buttons in those spaces. So, I end up having six buttons on the side. They get a lot of use in, yes, MMO GAMES, as well as FPS. Get used to switching weapons using mouse buttons and the keyboard becomes too slow.

So yeah, the Nyth deserves "MMO" and "gamer" labels.

Before the Nyth, I had the Logitech G600 and the Razer Naga before that. I thought that the Logitech was a really, really good mouse, but after about a year, my hand started hurting because of the way you have to grip the G600. Since there are three main click buttons instead of two, you lose the 'ring finger' to grip the right side of the mouse, leaving only your pinky. After about a year of my pinky doing the heavy lifting, I couldn't take it anymore. It was a bummer. That was the only reason I switched to the Nyth.
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