Corsair Vengeance M60 Performance FPS Gaming Mouse (CH-9000001-NA)

I was looking for a good FPS, fingertip/claw mouse and picked up this mouse and the CM Spawn for a comparison.

First, this mouse is beautiful and extremely well-built. I am confident I could bang it against my desk repeatedly without worrying about loosening any boards and certainly not scratching the chassis. The buttons have a nice actuation except for the scroll-button and the side buttons, but they loosen up over time. I'm not a fan of LEDs but these were subtle and looked nice. The braided cable is a very nice feature and bends pretty freely, so you don't have to worry too much about catching your cord on your desk or whatever.

There are lots of reviews about the software, but that should be fixed eventually and who uses macros anyway?

The sensor isn't the best on the market, but it is solid and should meet the demands of all but serious professional gamers. Many other reviewers have covered this in-depth, so I'll let you refer to them.

However, Corsair didn't seem to consider the user that much when designing the mouse. I have slightly above average length hands at 8" from palm to middle fingertip and could not find a comfortable grip with this mouse. Holding the mouse as I usually do, a fingertip grip with two fingers on top and the rest on the sides, I was constantly pinching my pinky under the right side of the mouse and would have to shift my hand forward to reach the snipe button. Moving to a claw grip I found I was in the most exaggerated claw I've used and my hands cramped quickly after, but I was able to reach buttons more easily and my pinky didn't catch on the side. However, I did find that this mouse was very comfortable in a claw or fingertip grip if I were to put three fingers over the L/R/scroll buttons, but I've never done this before and was uninterested in learning to use my mouse - I think a mouse should be an extension of your hand rather than a tool your hand uses. Strangely, I also found that it was very comfortable in a palm grip with two or three fingers on top, but I don't palm so no-no for me.

So, while I loved this mouse in many ways, it was easily one of the least comfortable mice I've ever owned, including many strange track balls from the 80s.

I picked up the Corsair M60 a couple of days ago as a potential replacement for my trusty Logitech G400. As nothing is particularity wrong with the G400 I've just seemed to realize a "Claw Grip" style mouse works better for me and when I saw Microcenter had them on sale for 50.00 I figured why the heck not and whipped out my credit card.

I've always had great success with Corsair in my short time after my migration to a PC gamer last year. Excellent products with support to match! My power supply, case and h60 all seem to have more than earned my money and EASY recommendations to anyone should the subject arise. I may or may not keep the mouse depending on what Corsair plans for the software in the future.



The Good:
Braided Cables
Customizable Weights
Very high DPI

The Bad:
Software could use some work
Has on-board memory...for only one profile
Graphite/Pebble feel for sides won't be everyone's cup of tea

The Surprising:
Sniper button is actually useful
Even for my big hands my claw grip felt much better and comfortable
Fantastic tracking
The initial heavyweight to the mouse felt like an extension of my hand after a while. I don't even notice it anymore.

I tested a variety of games with this one to see how it would react under different situations.

SKYRIM: First off I'd like to say I definitely noticed an increased smoothness in all my games from my G400. I'd like to apologize to Bethesda for what I assumed was bad engine adjustments as Skyrim was much more playable with this versus my G400. Combined with the "SKY UI" mod this is probably the best experience I've had playing this game. It was an absolutely perfect experience all around.

Modern Warfare 3: May not be nearly as twitchy as the next game I played but it served as a perfect example how much a good mouse can help. As much as everyone hates COD you can't deny it's a fast, painless, arcade-style, jump in and jump out shooter. Which means it moves fast. I was able to aim much better than with my G400. I've probably nailed more headshots in the past hour that I have in the 20+ I've invested since I bought it mid-February. And a general increase in my accuracy overall- Even the rounds where I went negative there wasn't nearly as big as a gap.

Unreal 3: Fastest out the bunch yet still slower than 2004 which IMO would have been an EXCELLENT test for this one. Alas, I jumped on the first nearly full (What's left of the servers anyway) capture the flag map I could find. Suspense was the map and I couldn't have asked for a better one. Many high and low sniper points easily pop some heads. Now, this is where the use of the sniper button was mostly useful by comparison of the other two games. I've always had a problem in this game where my cursor (More than likely a fault of being designed around a controller) would never 100% line up with a headshot. In the midst of it I managed to get a few headshots in with my sniper rifle by hold it down and getting the perfect shot when aiming

Dawn of War 2: Retribution: Not much to say here other than it worked and it worked well. Ordering troops around was a breeze and there were no headaches to be found.

I can't say how useful this is with games like Battlefield 3 (Since I've long since given up on it due to numerous bugs and countless cheaters.) but this one match showed me the usefulness of it. I will though, give the ARMA II "Free" game a try and re-download Battlefield 3 if only for a couple matches and update this section.

Tracking

Not much to say with this one. One I tried before downloading drivers and one after. I tried again to produce a perfectly straight line and it just wasn't happening. With my G400 on the other hand...it's infamous angle-snapping would kick in even when playing games which is why I suspect my skills increased even if there is a slight placebo effect gaming, I CAN say without a doubt I have an easier time maneuvering around Windows even at the insane 5700 dpi. It's just much more accurate.


Software
Out of all the positive things I've said about this mouse you'd probably think it would be a no-brainer but there is one thing hold me back from making it my true replacement mouse. The software. Yep, Logitech and their infamous piece of "Gaming" software that's done nothing but make many gamers hardware experience a living nightmare. But...I just can't help it. Logitech's support is way beyond what any other manufacturer offers. Giving me recent game profiles that I can customize without having to go trough memory of setting it up "Per-Application" similar to Razer or Corsair. The only other company who does this is Mad-Catz with their R.A.T. series but you have to download and import while Logitech will just update to match a new set of games.

While Corsairs software is no slouch giving me nearly anything I can do with the hardware even so much as telling me that my surface quality. Really have to do a per-application is more of a tedious task than it needs to be for me as I'm always customizing my mouse controls. I know this is their first foray in the mouse market but I'd like too at the very least see them announce something about the future of profiles directly from the manufacturer. It's just much more convenient if the user doesn't have to do all the hard work.
LOGITECH

CORSAIR




Conclusion
Could I recommend this mouse? Yes and no.

YES: If you're looking for a well built and affordable claw grip mouse. Definitely feels like it's worth more than it's sticker price all things considered like the aluminum body and customizable weights. Great tracking and sense of control. Glides along like a greased pig on my cheap 10 dollar allsop mousepad so I can only imaging how it'll shine on something like the Razer-Goliath

NO: If you enjoy a level of ease and customization from offerings from Madcatz RATZ line and Logitech's Gaming Software. I know the hardware is 99% here but the software makes that 100% for me and Corsair just doesn't have it...YET. Maybe CorsairGeorge can shed some light on if they're planning on releasing profile packs like Madcatz. If I keep it or not remains to be seen. The hardware is there, the software isn't.

"I tried it in my left hand and it actually feels better" (yes I am talking about the M60)




I've had a very good time with Corsair products over the years, so when my MS sidewinder died and I fancied something new I had no issues with buying the M60.

First impressions

Looks are always subjective, but I personally think this mouse looks better than any I have seen.
its matt black finish, subtle blue lights and metal skeleton that shows itself in places looks classy rather than gimmicky. It is definitely a 'grown up's' mouse.


The 'Feel'

This is where things stop being so good.
Unless you are ok with using your ring finger on the right mouse button and relegate your middle finger to just scroll wheel work then I would not recommend buying this mouse to anyone!!.
It really is that bad.
The rear end of the mouse is raised on the left for some god awful reason which feels very strange to me. It forces me to hold the mouse in lots of strange ways which non are comfortable to me. I use a mixture of palm and claw grip and change throughout any game given the circumstance which has been fine with every other mouse I have owned, some have been more comfortable thn others but the comfort has never been that bad that it's a deal breaker... until now.
the most comfortable grip I have found for the M60 is a rather high palm grip using my ring finger on the right mouse button, but again it feels awkward and unnatural, it also leaves my middle finger overhanging the top of the mouse to the extent that I feel I have no control over the mouse wheel.
EDIT: After about a week with this mouse I'm now using a claw grip. I can reach every button (just) and it does feel semi comfortable, after a few hours I have had a couple of hand cramps but that's probably just me spending too long playing games.


Build quality

The M60 feels solid. the mouse wheel is a little on the noisy side but all other buttons feel good. my only real complaint is the 'sniper' button and the middle mouse button are very stiff which cause me a few issues due to some strange grips I was trying to use.

Features

Great sensor. had no problems at all with tracking and I'm using it on my wooden laminate desk. the feet are very smooth and glide well.
We have the usual three DPI setting which are customisable with the corsair software along with a 'sniper' button which changes the DPI to a user defined sensitivity when pressed and held, I would've liked to have had the option to toggle sniper mode as the sniper button is not always easy to reach and is a little stiff, due to this I found it quiet useless, I was less accurate in sniper mode because I was concentrating on holding the sniper button more than I was on the game.
EDIT: after 7 days of use the sniper button has softened up a fair bit, I did try holding down hard for a couple of minutes and this seemed to make it a lot more usable.

Conclusion

Great build quality and looks but I can not recommend this to anyone. the shape is that wrong it is almost unusable, the guys at Corsair have some very strange shaped hands.
EDIT: I still stand by me not recommending it, although it has grown on me a little I will be replacing it.