The dog may be man’s best friend, but a mouse is a gamer’s best pal. The market is flooded with mice that promise high resolutions and dead-on precision in the digital battlegrounds. Every company offers something extra to attract a potential buyer, be it the adjustable weight cartridge from Logitech’s G5 line, or the “triple threat button” from OCZ Equalizer Laser Gaming Mouse, that allows the user to shoot a virtual weapon three times faster then normal. We tested the latter and its impressive range of sensitivity – from 400 dpi to 2500 dpi – that can turn any lousy shot into a digital marksman.

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Figure 1: the OCZ Equalizer Laser Gaming Mouse.

The Equalizer Laser Gaming Mouse from OCZ is USB dual engine laser mouse that is suited for both right and left-handed users. It features six dpi levels: 600, 800, 1,200, 1,600, 2,000 and 2,500 dpi. It has a beautiful metallic blue sheen that didn’t carry any fingerprints after three weeks of testing. It’s always shining new. The mouse is light and comfortable, and there’s a rubber grip for the right thumb area. The 6-feet (1.8 meters) long cord is very, very thin – which can be good for intense moving around, but still screams fragility.

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Figure 2: OCZ Equalizer Laser Gaming Mouse top view.

The scroll wheel is a bit tiny but lights up in a series of colors to indicate the current dpi level (white: 600; green: 800; yellow: 1,200; red: 1,600; blinking red/yellow: 2,000; blinking green/yellow: 2,500). To change the sensitivity just click on the button bellow the scroll wheel. Above the right thumb position there are two buttons for forwards and backwards commands when web surfing. All those buttons can be reconfigured using the Equalware application (more on that later). Beside the scroll wheel there’s the orange “triple threat button” that does double duty: when gaming it allows the user to fire three shots with a single click; when running Windows applications it turns the double-click into just one click to open files and programs.

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Figure 3: OCZ Equalizer Laser Gaming Mouse bottom view.