With the release of The Old Republic , it was time to dust off the PC and locate a proper mouse. My infamous Logitech Revolution is primarily used for design work, and something with more buttons would make MMO-ing just a bit easier.
After a vigorous search, the Roccat Kone+ caught my eye. Armed with its Easy Shift technology, it takes a 9-button mouse and turns it into an 18- button mouse perfect for saving the universe and playing some Team Fortress 2.
The Setup
While I’ve dealt with plenty of computer mice in my days, one thing that always seems necessary is the proper driver. The Roccat Kone+ mouse only supports the PC, which made my MacBookPro cry a little inside. Getting the proper driver for the PC only took a visit to the Roccat website while logged in to locate your mouse model.
Once you actually get into the driver, that’s when things become a little more complicated. I was hoping for premade customizations for some of the hotter games, but it seems that’s not the case. Users will have to figure out the (quite deep) customization schemes for themselves, and the driver isn’t as user-friendly as it could be. However, after a few moments of fiddling with the system, the depths of potential customization become apparent.
The Mouse
Each button on the mouse is completely customizable, leaving you with 18 open slots for gaming fun through Easy Shift technology – essentially the ability to assign two functions to each button. You switch functions in the same way as keyboard hotkeys – hold down one button while pressing another. It’s even easier to perform than the explanation makes it sound, and for me there was no learning curve to become used to.
One of the things that makes this mouse stand out are the LED lights that run up the top of the mouse; you can pick the colors and make your mouse look the way you want. (I went with a Hal Jordan green and was off to save the galaxy.) The scroll wheel, a major problem with some other mice, feels perfect – not too fast, not too slow. The placement of buttons below the scroll also made for some user-friendly design. The optical laser on the mouse can go upwards of 6000dpi, and can be changed on the fly between a variety of different settings. I was able to use it on my carpet.
Ergonomics
I was pleasantly surprised to see how well the mouse fit my hand. It had seemingly been designed for the man-hand demographic, and all buttons were simple enough to access. The mouse fits both left- and right-handed gamers comfortably. However, the weight is a little light for my tastes; although the K+ comes with a set of miniature weights to plug into the bottom of the mouse (a neat feature), they’re about the size of a watch battery and easily lost. I actually put all the weights in, and was still hoping for just a little more heft. Still, it was a pretty nice feel – far from cheap. The only other downside to the mouse is it’s not a wireless mouse, but this is far from a dealbreaker, since the cord is plentiful enough to fit any gaming type.
Overall
The Roccat Kone + is a very solid mouse, an all-in-one-package for most gamer needs.While not the easiest to set up, and not Mac-compatible, the mouse seems geared more toward the hardcore gamer. With a little bit of patience and some free time, this is one of the nicer-looking mice on the market.