I received a brand new Razer Taipan. Mazel tov!
First look:
Razer's always been good at making stuff that looks great, this is known. Straight out of the box, this mouse doesn't disappoint in these regards. The shape and look reminds me of nothing Razer is usually selling, it seems they've learned we don't all pray to the claw grip or fingertip churches. It feels heavier and sturdier than what i'm used to with Razer mice. The front side of the mouse has grills, i'm thinking to make it look like a race car or something along those lines. It does look nice anyway.
First spin:
As soon as you plug the mouse, you can't miss the "swag" factor Razer is famous for. The scrolling wheel's edges that light up look very nice, and although the three headed snake logo dimming on and off is almost obligatory, it does look damn nice too. I downloaded and installed Synapse 2.0 and made an account. I was disappointed that i couldn't just use the account i already had on the Razer website, but that's just me nit picking i guess. Once i got that out of the way...
The settings:
Their (relatively) new Synapse 2.0 with the cloud storage for settings... The DAMN settings. So many settings. I spent maybe fifteen minutes setting up my shit. Why so many settings.
...ok it's actually not a bad thing. I like settings. Lots. So that's good. got it? Oh and the software was actually very nice and very simple to use, check it out:
I've actually had trouble with Synapse, the mouse wouldn't connect to it. So i extracted the drivers from the program itself and i'm running a fully functional Taipan without needing to run Synapse :) And when i need to change settings i go change the config in the software and close it again, and somehow it works as if Synapse was still running. Weird. Anyway moving on...
The Performance:
It's ambidextrous, has Razer's famous technology stuffs written all over the box, not much new here. To be sure what we're dealing with, best know what it's made of. If there's something i hate it's false advertising. Some makers advertise a certain amount of DPI higher than hardware capabilities, filling the void with software acceleration or other forgery. Fortunately it doesn't seem to be the case. Now, before i start voiding warranties, i checked google to see if someone else already did my homework for me. Of course, someone did. The sensor is an Avago S9818, and an additional optical sensor for further Z-Axis tracking. This choice of hardware is consistent with the advertised 8200DPI. The hardware in the Taipan is more recent than what is found in the two previous "4G" advertised Razer models.
Razer used to have major Z-axis detection issues and inaccurate tracking at high speeds with some of their first laser models, namely the Copperhead and the Diamondback 3G. The first main issue was unintended dynamic acceleration because of either bad firmware or hardware, which caused faulty tracking at high speeds. The other issue was tiny Z-Axis changes picked up as Y-Axis movement, causing cursor jumps on the screen. Problems could be caused by any type of outside vibration like a subwoofer, typing, putting too much weight with the hand when using it on a cloth mousepad or even just clicking on the mouse. They came a long way from those issues with what they branded the "4G Sensor" using something called Laser Doppler Vibromerty. I don't really understand it, but it seems to work a whole lot better, as my almost scientific test proves:
I tested side by side tracking with my friend's old Razer Diamondback 3G, and the difference in tracking consistency is very big.
Using Counter-Strike:GO's "Use raw input" option ensures all software mouse acceleration is disabled. Putting the mouse between two phone books (or other large heavy things) to ensure the covered distance stays the same. Then shooting a point of reference on a wall, swiping from one side to the other slowly, then back to the starting point at medium speed. Repeat for high speed.
The Diamondback was only off axis 5-10° at medium speed, but drifted at least 30° off the point of reference at high speed. The Diamondback 3G failed miserably.
The Taipan was off by less than 20 pixels at medium speed and maybe a hundred pixels at high speed. I'd say it's excellent, in comparison.
I did the test 4 times for each mouse and the Diamondback 3G was really inconsistent, while the Taipan was much better.
I tried swiping the Taipan as fast as i could, to see if it would fail to track surface. The advertised maximum speed is 5m/s, i'm guessing i don't fap hard enough cause i couldn't make it fail. An easily done deal with the Diamondback 3G, though.
To conclude i think it's safe to say the Taipan performs as expected, as advertised and is a very good improvement over some past models.
What have we learned?
It feels good, it looks good, it's heavy enough, works good and not too crazy on the design. One of the downsides is the LED swag only comes in green, but at least you can turn it off in the settings.
The BIG downside is the Synapse software. You can't roll back Synapse's version or the drivers if your mouse doesn't work, because it doesn't come with the drivers but downloads them from Razer. I did find a workaround, but i don't even recall the exact steps. If i find how i did it i'll surely post it in here. Unless you really know what you're doing OR you come across a workaround through sheer luck, fuck synapse. Razer just won't let you have nice things.
Putting down $79,99 is a bit much for a peripheral, the build quality is superb and the hardware is also great. So if you can deal with the Synapse bullshit and you're a hardcore FPS gamer it definitely is worth it and a top choice. But i'm considering the Zowie mice more and more. The no bullshit driver software factor is a big seller for competition to razer here.