Short version: A comfortable mouse whose main gimmick will take hours upon hours of dedication on your part to fully exploit.

Like a dork, I looked up the word “naga” in Wikipedia, and it turns out that it refers to “a deity or class of entity or being, taking the form of a very great snake—specifically the King Cobra, found in Hinduism and Buddhism.” That would explain the snake-like logo of the Razer Naga ($80, available now), a new mouse that’s aimed at people who play MMOs, specifically World of Warcraft and Warhammer Online. The biggest feature: 12 buttons on the left-hand side of the mouse.

Unlike last year’s SteelSeries World of Warcraft Gaming Mouse, the Razer Naga doesn’t come with the full Blizzard licensing. If that matters to you you’re a fool. And also unlike said SteelSeries mouse, the buttons here don’t stick like an old Sega Genesis controller after using it for a few hours.

It works, out of the box, with both Windows (tested on Windows 7) and Mac OS X (tested on Snow Leopard). Thank you, Razer. No need for my fellow Mac users to spring for a third-party driver just to use the mouse!

So let’s do this. I tested the mouse using World of Warcraft over a period of two weeks. That may seem excessive, but this mouse absolutely has a learning curve. The documentation that comes with the mouse—I actually read the instruction manual!—says to expect up to 18 hours to get used to the mouse. Yes, 18 hours. As Doug said in our chatroom, you might as well learn Russian.

The mouse’s raison d’être is the 12 buttons on the left-hand side, where your thumb would normally rest. The 12 buttons are designed to replace any number of keyboard keys that you’d use to play the game. You know, 1 is regular attack, then 2 through whatever for your spells and whatnot.

My latest character, an Affliction Blood Elf Warlock, has the following key-mapping:

1: Shoot

2: Shadow Bolt

3: Immolate

4: Corruption

5: Curse of Agony

6: Life Tap

7: Drain Life

8: Health Funnel

9: Drain Soul

0: Rain of Fire

-: Fear

=: Howl of Terror

These spells and abilities are mapped over to the 1-12 buttons on the mouse.

Razer has created an AddOn for both games that rearranges your on-screen icons, à la Bartender, to better visually correlate the 12 mouse buttons to your spells and abilities. (Here’s a screenshot of the interface AddOn. It’s the squares on the right-hand side.)

As I said, using the 12 buttons effectively will absolutely take you several hours, especially if you’ve been playing the game for a long time. It’s like trying to write your name with your left hand when you’re a righty.

I had gotten used to running close to a mob, then taking taking my middle finger off the “W” key, then hitting 4, 5, 6, 3, and 1 till the mob died. (See the above key-mapping for what those numbers translate to.) Now all of a sudden your left hand stays on the WASD keys, while your right thumb has to navigate the little button patch on the mouse.

After about of week with the new playing scheme, I had more or less acclimated myself. I now quest with the 12 buttons just fine, but I still find myself going back to the ol’ keyboard when PVPing. I find that the frantic nature of PVP doesn’t really lend itself to the 12 buttons. Practice makes perfect, of course, and you may be more patient than I am, but I couldn’t get used to PVPing with the 12 buttons even after several days.

And to allay a fear I read somewhere, no, I really didn’t find that pushing one of the 12 buttons would cause the mouse to move a great deal, if at all. It’s not as if you need to exact an incredible amount of force on the buttons to get them to click.

So it’s a fine mouse, yes, but you really do need to be prepared to fully re-train yourself on how to play the game.

Is it any better than using the plain on’ keyboard keys? Meh, I wouldn’t say so, and I expect that many of you are already used to your current setup. Still, it’s a fine mouse in its own right, and its use to you is 100 percent dependent on your willingness to learn how to effectively use it.

Product Page

What you need to do (and thanks to Dealnews for hooking this one up) is go over to ZipZoomFly and put one in your cart. Then apply the coupon code “ZZF82197″ to get $10 off, and then when you get it in the mail, send in that rebate for another $15. Boom, $85 Mamba. It’s a beautiful thing. Although I’ve been liking this Logitech G500 I’m reviewing, and it’s even cheaper… well, wait for the review.

The fit of the headphones is exactly like that of the Carcharias headset, which is a very good thing. Of all the headsets I have (and trust me, it’s a lot), the Megalodon is the most comfortable. It’s even got a slight edge on the Carcharias in that it doesn’t have a cord pulling down one side (we’ll get to that). The Megalodon has the same lightness, excellent padding, and soft materials as the Carcharias, and it’s a joy to wear for long gaming sessions.

New hardware

Since the headset’s design is unchanged for the most part, the newness must lie elsewhere. And indeed, the whole interface has changed: the Megalodon connects via USB, and there is a little… something in between. I guess you could call it a puck, though it’s a bit big for that; it sits on your table or desk and has all the controls for the headset on it. The short cord between it an the headset means you’re not likely to get it tangled on anything, and you’re not dragging six feet of cable whenever you move your head. I find it liberating.

The USB interface is handy because, obviously, you can plug it in just about anywhere (as opposed to the back of your tower, like I’ve been doing for, oh, five years). Hardly a unique feature, but it’s better than the triple-analog system on the otherwise-excellent Tritton AX Pro or even the Carcharias, which unless you’ve got mic and audio ports handy, you have attach to your sound card.

So what’s on the puck (I forgot to take pictures so here’s their shot)? Well, it’s a lot like the AX Pro’s in-line remote. It lets you switch between virtualized surround and regular stereo, adjust the levels of each of the channels, and change the mic level and sensitivity. Basically you’ve got a few buttons and a wheel; it looks daunting at first, but it’s pretty intuitive after you’ve used it for a few minutes. Turning up the bass and, say, rear channel, is extremely easy. The backlighting even turns red past a certain point to give you a sort of bearing. It remembers your settings universally, though there are no presets for different games. I found it convenient and precise.

My question, however, is this: why isn’t there a button to just completely turn off the headphones? That way I could plug them in the back of my PC and forget about it. Turning them off completely would return sound to the normal drivers and I wouldn’t have to be constantly wrapping them up and putting them away — they could just live on my desk.

That the Lycosa has no GUI is, I think, a benefit. Like the AX Pro, all your audio needs are attended to by the puck, so there’s no reason to have a configuration window. It also means there are no drivers to worry about. Bonus!

The sound

Of course, the most comfortable and convenient headset is useless without good sound. Fortunately, that’s not a problem for the Megalodon for the most part. The stereo output is perfectly good, much like the Carcharias. Nice and balanced, with the added bonus of being able to adjust the bass separately from the other channels. Music sounds good, better than with the Logitechs, which had a very clear, but sort of distant sound to them in stereo mode.

But of course, this is a surround-sound headset and that’s what you want to hear about. The Megalodon’s primary competition is with other virtual-surround headsets, and I think it stands up perfectly well. I recently reviewed the G35, so it’s been my primary comparison. They’re similar in price and in what they promise, after all.

In case you didn’t read the Carcharias review, I should say that both they and the Megalodon use an open headphone design, meaning that they’re lighter and more airy, but also let sound out and in. If you’re in a dorm or something, it’s probably worth considering that if you have these up loud, your roommates will hear everything. Likewise, you’ll hear the music they’re playing, cars in the street and so on. This is neither a good nor a bad thing — it’s just a choice you have to make. The G35s had superb isolation, being closed and well-fitted, but they made my ears sweat. Yeah, gross, I know, but if you have loud roommates as I did in college, it might be worth it to get some closed cans.

On the flip side, the sound doesn’t seem to be affected by their openness. There’s a sort of common wisdom that closed headphones provide better sound, and while they do provide better isolation, the sound can still vary considerably. This headset sounds great; if you have a game or movie that actually supports virtual surround (more on this shortly), you’re golden. I felt that the high end was more balanced on the Megalodon than the G35 — or maybe it was how they handled the surround, but the hissing of dispensers in Team Fortress 2 was nowhere near as harsh. Sound placement was great, and the surround sound functioned just fine in several games.

The main issue I had is this: if you’re listening to something that isn’t surround sound, the Megalodon is pretty awful at faking it. I found that the G35s were passable at taking a stereo signal, or a non-compatible surround sound signal, and making it at least a little bigger. But the Megalodon does something to non-surround inputs that makes them sound like you’re in a can. A small can. Now, this is easily remedied by switching to non-virtualized regular stereo sound — which is fine — but it’s a little disappointing that it can’t fake it as well as the others.

The microphone works with no trouble and sounds just fine; the ability to tweak it in-game is great, since I don’t trust my in-OS or in-game sensitivity to work all the time. You can change the actual sensitivity, mute it, or adjust the feedback (so you don’t yell — seriously, people).

Overall the sound is great. If you can deal with not being able to watch a stereo movie in virtualized surround, there’s not a problem to be found.

What’s with the stand?

Here’s something I expect to be fixed in the next generation of these things. The Megalodon (and can I just say, referring to it in the singular is extremely difficult for me to do) comes with a stand… and it’s a joke. They need to tie the guy who made this thing to a post and whip him with Cat 5 cables until he admits it’s a piece of garbage. Sorry, but it’s terrible. It’s not tall enough to hold the headphones, really — they slouch and fall off. Where does the cable go? You can roll it up and put it in the hollow center, I guess, and then seal it in with the puck, but man that is difficult and awkward, and then you’ve got this other cord going to the headphones themselves. Seriously, I’d love to put these on a stand — they look great — but this thing is a disaster.

On the plus side, they also come with this genuinely awesome carrying case. You want to look cool at a LAN party? Bust out this professional-looking piece of kit. Everybody will fear you.

The other shoe

Razer has continually impressed me with their gaming headsets, and the Megalodon is the best yet. It adds functionality to the already-solid Carcharias without compromising in any way, and apart from the metallic effect when you have an incompatible source, the sound is great.

But here’s where we hit a bit of a bump. These bastards cost $150, and I don’t see them around for any less. Even Logitech, famous for expensive gear, has the G35 for considerably less — under $115 at B&H, as I write this. As great as the Megalodon is, I can’t say it’s $40 better than the G35 — or for that matter, $80 better than the Carcharias, with which they have so much in common. I’ve recommended expensive headphones before (the Klipsch X5s at over $200), but that was because they were exceptional. The Megalodon is merely excellent. If you’re on a budget right now, your best bet is to hold off. This is a great headset, but, at $150, a luxury.

MMO players have another mouse from which to choose, this time from Razer. It’s called the Naga, and it’s designed to “enhance your ability to control your character.” No harm in that.

The basic premise behind the mouse is to offload as many of the non-movement related keystrokes to the mouse itself. That leaves you to WASD to your heart’s content with your left hand, while not as frequently taking your right hand off the mouse (and keyboard for that matter).

Razer has an “introductory” video that reminds me of so many RF Video shoot interviews. Yes, we’re getting more and more obscure here at CG. (Razer has several other videos that take you all the way from downloading the software from its Web site to assigning buttons in the game.

Razer also has a new mousepad, the Megasoma, for which the company wants $50. Now, I may be old fashioned, but I’ve never used a mousepad that costs anything more than, um, anything. Come to think of it, every mouse pad I’ve always used either came with the computer, or I picked up in a trade show junk pile.

Again, I just hope the build quality of this MMO mouse is a little better than that WoW mouse I used.

Remember that StarCraft Zerg messaging bag from yesterday? Yeah, that it’s only a teaser of what’s coming from Razer. Gamers can expect a new mouse, keyboard and headset themed after their favorite RTS.

Chances are that Razer will announces all these at Blizzcon later this month. I don’t think it’s probably to far fetched to state that the mouse will be a varation of the Mamba, the keyboard like the Lycosa, and the headset a take on the Carcharias. Right? But until the official announcement, all we have is the image above.

Razor via Engadget

Pricing is “TBD,” which is either an abbreviation for “Ten Billion Dollars” or they’re not sure yet. I’d ballpark it at about $90, since that’s what their other bags cost and this one appears to be identical to the regular bag except for the graphic.

Watch and read for optimum review experience.

Great Expectations
I considered the Razer Death Adder to be the best mouse on the market when I reviewed it, as far as wired-only mice, it still is. Razer has never been satisfied with the responsiveness of wireless mice, leading to a long line of wired mice when everyone else was going wireless, but recently they’ve developed the wireless technology to have actual 1000Hz communication between mouse and hub. This led to the development of the Mamba, which is very Death Adder-esque in its design but is obviously set apart by the fact that it’s wireless.

Just as a note of explanation, the Mamba uses a modified USB cable which either connects directly to the mouse (making it wired and charging it while you use it) or to the charge station (making the mouse wireless; you charge it by setting it on the station). Great, right? Mmm, kind of.

A Mouse In Conflict
The honeymoon period passed quickly as I found that there were usability issues in both wired and wireless mode. First, the connector is awful. It’s difficult to get into (or out of) the mouse despite having little rails, and you’ll end up clicking every button on the thing while you grapple with it. Obviously it can’t use the same sort of system that worked so incredibly well with Microsoft’s X8, since the Mamba needs to send a data signal as well as charge, but this USB thing is really a pain in the ass. Plugging it into the station isn’t as hard, but still kind of strange-feeling, and it occasionally had trouble keeping its connection with the charge points.

Now, in contrast to these issues, the mouse itself is a masterpiece. It feels great in the hand, perhaps better than the Death Adder. It has a narrower “waist,” which may or may not be to your liking, but the overall shape is very hand-friendly. There are two new buttons on the left side of the left mouse button which look like they’ll get in your way, but they never did for me. They’re useful for setting sensitivity if you don’t use the on-the-fly (why wouldn’t you?) but cut and paste or quick save and quick load would be just as good. The scroll wheel feel exactly the same as the Death Adder, which is a good thing; if anything, it feels more grippy.

The buttons are in the same convenient places, with the addition of two more that take a bite out of the left button. I thought that would bug me but it doesn’t. They’re quite difficult to hit on accident, or even on purpose really. Best to set them to something you don’t use often.

The look of the mouse is more understated than Razer’s previous devices. The glow is limited to the sides of the scroll wheel, and a little triple-led display tells you the sensitivity you’re at with a glance. No longer will the pulsating Razer logo keep you awake at night, or the blindingly bright scroll wheel distract you while you watch Naruto reruns. The charge station is a bit too glowy around the base, though like all the other lights you can disable it. The whole mouse is covered in the velvety, grippy finish that has worked so well for so long, and now it’s also present where your thumb and pinky/ring finger hold the mouse. That’s a good thing.

I’d also like to acknowledge that Razer has a flair for presentation, as you can see here. The review packaging for this mouse included an entire briefcase. How decadent!

Bad news, good news, bad news, good news

The bad news is that when I got this thing, it was crippled by a tendency to jitter when you clicked, moving it a few pixels in a random direction. It was bad enough that where this paragraph is now, there was a long rant ending in me saying not to get the mouse. The good news is they recognized this problem after launch and a few weeks later issued a firmware update. Yay!

But there’s more bad news. I bricked two mice attempting to install the new firmware, though Razer tells me they haven’t heard of anyone else having that problem. In any case, it’s all mooted by the final good news: Mambas are now shipping with the updated firmware, so you won’t have to worry about it. But I thought it was important that I note this stuff, not only to explain why this review took so long to publish, but to mention that it wasn’t good times from start to finish.

Now that the firmware is updated, there is very little click jitter, if any. The mouse also tended to sort of bounce the cursor back a few pixels when you stopped moving the mouse — an issue which has also been resolved. So allowing for the somewhat different grip I have to use on this thing compared to the Death Adder, I’d say its tracking and ergonomics are on par with my favorite mouse. Whether it’s better or worse in the end will be a personal preference thing.

The software to configure works great, though it takes ages to sync with the mouse’s onboard memory.

Revised opinion

My original final word was basically “don’t buy.” But the firmware update has really fixed all my issues with the mouse and it now works like a charm. So the only problem left is the price. Sucker costs $130. You can get it for a little less than that if you look around, but I didn’t see it below $110. If you’re going to put out that kind of money, you better be sure you want it, because you can get most of the good parts of this mouse in a $40 Death Adder.

If you really want or really need the wireless, though, I’d say this is the best wireless mouse you can get, with the possible exception of the Logitech MX Revolution, but that’s a tough call.

The Orochi seems to be a worthy little brother to the fantastic Mamba. The new portable mouse can either be used via Bluetooth or with a USB cord. Plus, it packs a 4000dpi laser sensor and the sensitivity can be adjusted on the fly.

The Kaputo mouse pad seems like an interesting product. It’s not only a cloth top mousepad with a rubber bottom, but it can also double as a screen protector. The cloth and rubber material allows it to be stored in between a notebook’s screen and keyboard. Razer says that the microfiber surface also works great for mouse tracking.

The Orochi mouse and Kaputo mousepad will ship out in 3-4 weeks at $79.99 and $19.99 respectively.

The contest is quite clever; go to Razer’s site, and complete a series of quests to enter. In addition to the grand prize (the aforementioned trip) they are also giving away 10 Death Adder mice, 10 messenger bags (I so want one of these), and 10 laptop sleeves. The quests are fairly simple, just follow to clues to an online scavenger hunt in order to enter.

It also has what they call “passive noise reduction” built in. Passive noise reduction is also known as putting things in your ears.

The Moray+ is really meant to be a mobile gaming headset, for trash talking your DS opponent while sitting at a cafe (no, I don’t do that), so it’s got adapters for both DS and PSP. Its main cord (without the splitter) is actually iPhone compatible, so it’s got that going for it as well. I’ll have a full review of these little guys soon and you’ll find out if they’re worth the asking price of $60.

Quickie: A paper-thin gaming mouse pad that stays in place thanks to a sticky backside and a surface that really does improve mouse tracking. And the Razer Shpex is only $15.

I love this mousepad. So much that I might marry it.

My desk is set at a height that standard gaming mousepads elevate my mouse just enough to cause wrist strain. But this one is is paper-thin and almost becomes part of the desk. There is just a slight difference between the desk’s surface and the pad.

Just last week, I purchased a Logitech G5 gaming mouse. It didn’t impress me that much and my hand hurt from 12 hours of usage. But the Razer Sphex mousepad fixed all my problems. I’m totally happy with the G5 now.

Anyone that’s used a high-quality gaming mousepad knows that they do make a huge difference in mouse tracking versus using your desk’s surface. If you haven’t tried a one, please do not say that your mouse does just fine on your desk alone. There is a night and day difference.

This pad is slightly different than other ones as it’s a large, widescreen-shaped surface. It works great with my dual monitor setup, but some might experience a slight learning curve at first thanks to the shape. It’s also large at 12.5-inches long by 9-inches tall. But because it’s so thin and adheres to the desk’s surface, it really doesn’t matter. It doesn’t get in the way at all.

Wrap-up

This pad is totally worth the $15 MSRP. I would even say that it’s worth more than that. At least it is to me as a person that’s always wanted a cool kid’s gaming mousepad, but couldn’t get one to work. This is the best mousepad solution available, in my opinion. Even if you don’t game, but you use your mouse all day long, it’s worth it to spend $15 on this pad.

Product Page

Contest
Oh yes, you can win one of these mousepads and a 17-inch Razer Laptop Sleeve. All you need to do is drop us a comment below, and tell us why you must have the pair. We’ll pick a winner at random.

They actually call it a “desktop skin,” which is kind of weird and awesome, and its surface is designed to work with both optical and laser mice, which I’ve found do actually have different material preferences. Of course, this is a lot of fanfare for what is essentially a thin piece of plastic with a sticky bottom, but as Abe said, “people who like this sort of thing will find this the sort of thing they like.”

So how does the form factor redesign fare? Excellently. Despite being much larger in volume, they are not increased in weight at all. With added padding on the headband and a softer grip on the head (the Piranhas were vice-like), these are far more comfortable then their predecessors and pleasant to wear for long gaming sessions or movies. If you have a roommate or spouse, keep in that these are open headphones and sound escapes pretty easily.

Cord improvements may sound like a minor thing, but the Piranha’s cords were a nightmare of tangled rubber. The braided, anti-tangle cords on the Carcharias are a godsend. As for the puck, it’s been improved as well. The volume knob now has a directional indicator, and the microphone on/off switch is labeled. I found the volume thing is more difficult to spin, but it’s not a major issue. The alligator clip is still one-way, which is kind of annoying, but whatever.

Acoustic performance

And what about the sound? It’s good. Nothing revolutionary, but it’s good. I get the impression that everything is pushed a little bit aft, towards the back of my head, which is a little weird for music. In games I didn’t notice it much, and in fact it makes for a sort of pseudo-surround effect. Sound is quite clear through the whole range, though bass isn’t as punchy as the Piranhas’. It’s there, though, don’t worry.

The microphone is just fine; I never got any complaints in games, and volume seemed adequate. It doesn’t come out very far, so the hinged part is more or less decorative, but it’s close enough to catch my voice and far enough out that I don’t get pretzel dust on it. I know, sexy right?

Conclusion: Solid

I think the price tag, $80, is about exactly what this headset is worth. And if you can get it for less, that’s awesome. It improves on the old Razers at that price point in almost every way, but most importantly in ergonomics. Sound is great, the headset is comfortable, and it’s even cool-looking. If you’re in the market, or have been rocking the Piranhas (perhaps on my recommendation) then I definitely suggest picking a pair of these up.

Also, say it with me, people – “kar-care-ee-us.” It’s a great white.

You’ll be playing Gabriel Newman, exploring the facility of Onyx Rift — that reminds me of something, but I can’t put my finger on it. The gameplay revolves around putting as many of your co-workers as possible between you and the horde of mutants. Meat shields! I can’t wait!

It’ll be out in Fall 2010, bundled with Valve’s remake of Final Fantasy VII.

Incidentally, the Lycosa is still my keyboard of choice, but the Logitech G19 may soon be dethroning it — if it ever comes out.

[via Tom's Hardware]

You may remember that Razer was one of the die-hard ball-mouse proponents. They were making ball mice for ages after everyone else had moved to optical, because they felt the technology wasn’t good enough for gaming input. Now most of their mice are optical, but they’re transitioning now to the 3rd (and a half) generation laser sensor. And this whole time they’ve been weighing whether to try wireless; actually, it’d be more accurate to say they’ve been trying it for years and only just recently decided that the device they could put together was good enough. And now they have what they feel is the best mouse in the world, and a first in several categories.

You can see the tour of the Mamba in the video, but it’s worth mentioning here that the grip is very comfortable and they’ve tweaked the shape of the Death Adder to make it more comfortable, as well as repositioning the thumb buttons, adding some extras at the tip, and coating said buttons in the grippy finish, which I love. The base is also the charger, but you can detach the cable (appears to be a modified mini-USB interface) and put it in the mouse, so it’ll charge while you’re using it. There is no performance difference, they say, between wired and wireless; they were only satisfied with the product once the wireless firmware could support the same 1000Hz polling rate as their wired software. And now they say they’ve squashed most of the bugs and we’re going to get a really solid product.

I like Razer’s design philosophy, and I like their mice. I’m really looking forward to putting the Mamba through its paces in a month or two.

Is that video choppy for anyone else?

They also showed off the new “Carcharias” headset, which is the headset that will be coming in the Megalodon package; the package will include a little amp/mixer that they’re still QAing. They were really light and very comfortable, I can see myself wearing them for way longer than the Piranhas, which, though they sounded great, tended to crush my head a bit. I didn’t get to use them for anything, but I’m hoping they sound as good as their cousins.

Anyhow, these are definitely winners from what I can tell, and I’ll have a full review of them as soon as they’re available — should be a couple weeks.

The Mamba can be either wired or wireless, which is crazy and un-Razer-like, but they claim a 1ms response time, which I’m okay with. As usual with these mice, you can’t tell until you get your hands on it whether it’s a decent thing or not, but we’ll soon know that as well. But it looks like it’s taken its design cues from the Death Adder, and believe me that’s a good thing.

I know, I know. The VGA HD AV cable has been out for three years, but I was in between TVs and only had a monitor to game on. I’ll keep this review short and sweet.

My gaming setup consisted of my Xbox 360 Elite, Razer/THX Mako 2.1 speakers and a Viewsonic VX2240W monitor. The monitor itself has no built-in speakers, so I had to connect the audio to an external system. Luckily, there’s enough separation between the VGA cable and the RCA cable so the speaker system didn’t have to sit on top of the monitor. Perfection.

The kit claims to support video resolution up to 1080p and I have to say that it works as advertised. I streamed Netflix and even hooked up my HD DVD player just to make sure. Viewsonic’s monitor has a 1680X1050 resolution, so I’d say the content was as close to full high def as you can get.

On that note, I might as well give you a run down on the VX2240w. I believe the specs are relatively impressive, but I’m not much of a peripherals guy.

Overview and Features:

• 22-inch (diagonal) widescreen LCD at 1680×1050 resolution
• 300 cd/m2 brightness
• 1000:1 static contrast ratio, 4000:1 dynamic
• 170° horizontal, 160° vertical viewing angles
• up to 2ms gray-to-gray; 5ms black-to-white
• Connections: 15-pin mini D-sub/DVI-D (with HDCP)
• Only 2.4-inches thick (not counting the stand; 8.8-inch with) and 14 pounds (including stand)
• Three year warranty
• MSRP of $450, although it can be found for less than $300 in many places

There’s no visible blur/smear when viewing high frame rate video and the contrast ratio is high enough that the colors are very distinctive. You’ll have to calibrate for a bit to get it right, though. The viewing angle is weak so you’d better be sitting right in front of the monitor for optimal viewing. The round stand that comes with the VX2240w is limiting (ugly) and only offers tilt adjustment forwards and backwards.

Overall, it’s a decent monitor but considering the price and specs it falls into the ‘worth buying’ category. Other monitors with similar specs are priced about the same. You can find it on Amazon for as low as $250.

I already reviewed the Makos this year, but it was nice to get them out of the office and really crank them up in my apartment. I love these things.

Xbox 360 VGA HD Cable

Viewsonic VX2240w Product Page

Razer/THX Mako 2.1 Product Page

And if you’re trying to save a little scratch, you can now get a slightly downgraded version for $30 less that lacks the backlighting, USB and audio ports. The Arctosa comes in silver/black and black on black, i.e. “invisible lettering” for the leet. Unfortunately the whole Razer site seems to be eating it right now so I’ll have to get a link up later. Just take my word for it right now.