Razer Orochi? Or a USB RF equivalent?

I'm getting a new laptop so I figured I might as well replace my godawful M$ Arcmouse. I was thinking about getting the Razer Orochi, but I am somewhat concerned about battery life. I know I will try avoiding either when I need to squeeze out every ounce of juice.....

Orochi seems to have great performance and the opinions about it's form factor seem pretty favorable....

So yeah, is the BT's drain on the battery opposed to the USB RF huge? If so is ther some kind of comparable USB RF alternative?

Thanks gents.

 

I've had the same pair of batteries in my Orochi since the day I got it in mid-January. There's usually at least an hour a day where I use the Orochi in Bluetooth mode in class. No battery issues so far.

If you want to squeeze even more juice out of it, you can disable the lighting effects via the driver software.

 

Yes, the Arc Mouse is a piece of sh...

If your new laptop has inbuilt bluetooth, I'd recommend both the Microsoft 5000 and the Razer Orochi. The MS takes 2x AAA and the Razer takes 2x AA. As such, you get more battery life out of the Razer than the MS Explorer, and on top of that, you get far more control over the mouse pointer, the ability to carry the cable for the times you just can't find batteries, full programmability of sensitivity (on the fly), the wheel and all the buttons, and the warm fuzzy feeling of knowing you have found the best laptop mouse on the planet.

Now, to be fair to MS, the 5000 is some £50 cheaper if you live in the UK (£15 vs. £65), the two mice are practically identical in size, feel almost the same, and the MS has fantastic build quality and sensitivity, but the MS has a tendancy to skip reading on fabric surfaces (ie, your couch), and the MS batteries last about 120-150 hours in bluetooth mode. With the Orochi Razer, you can open up the software and switch off the scroll wheel sidelights (to reduce battery consumption). You can even switch off the battery life indicator light if you want to be that anal, but I doubt people go that far. The point is the software allows you that level control over your mouse.

The Razer is well worth the extra investment, but if you want something quick and cheap, the MS 5000 is an astounding buy at a rock bottom price. Personally, I'm happy to own both, and really embarrased that I bought the MS Arc. It got used once and is a big pile of poo.

 

The battery indicator on mine went red just 2 days ago. It means the batteries were at or below 30% of their capacity. A few seconds later the mouse just went off. I used it in wireless mode 2-3 hours a day for about 2 months and a half. Not bad, i guess.

Edit: Oh, and the lights were always on.

 

That's about 150 hours with lights always on. That's pretty damn good on a pair of AA batteries. I'm curious to see how long mine lasts with lights off, as I use mine wireless for maybe 10 hours a day, 7 days a week.

 

Sounds promising. And I have a lot of rechargeable AA batteries laying about. (Man, pretty much all electronics run on li-on these days)

Thanks for the advice guys. I think I see a orochi in my future.

 

The Orochi is all it's cracked up to be. I just got mine and have no regrets whatsoever about buying it.

 

How many buttons on the Orochi are programmable and how small is it?

 

Each button is programmable. Here are some pics with a DVD and quarter as references for size.

 

I posted a shot on Amazon next to my Mamba. It's smaller then my old G9. The Orochi is a finger type mouse, not a hand type. Unless you're a kid, you will not be able to put ur whole hand on it.

http://www.amazon.com/gp/customer-media/product-gallery/B002JTWODG/ref=cm_ciu_pdp_images_all

 

Size looks perfect!

 

Thanks for that.

I am finding it a bit too small for any extended gaming sessions, but I like it a lot and will def keep it.

 

A couple of size comparisons between the Orochi and Mamba:

 

I have and have had VX Nano, Orochi and Anywhere MX
For battery life, Orochi is the worst between the 3
Using the same Eneloop rechargeables (except VX Nano is 2xAAA )
Orochi with 2xAA only last a week with my usage pattern,
Anywhere MX with 1xAA can last longer than a week, maybe 2 or 3,
and VX Nano is the winner in battery life.

Yes, I'm only talking about battery life

 

What about performance and comfort? You can always carry extra batteries or in he orochi's case the USB cable, but you can magically make a mouse more comfy.

 

A. Only one of those works with Bluetooth.

B. You don't ever get the same lifespan or power from a rechargeable as you do from a single use cell. You sacrifice performance for reusability.

C. Wifi Mice are great if you want a dongle sticking out the side of your laptop. People who buy bluetooth mice DO NOT want dongles. That's why they buy bluetooth mice, so comparing bluetooth mice to non-bluetooth mice is pointless unless you're going to be willing to stick a USB dongle out the side of your laptop. Let's face it. They'd get better performance and zero battery consumption out of a Razer Mamba, but that is a pointless comparison too. Bottom line is wired uses less batteries that wifi, wifi uses less battery power than bluetooth, and bluetooth has no wires and no dongle (unless you have a crap laptop).

Amongst BT mice, the Orochi is the best there is, in terms of performance, battery life, programmability, control, precision and reputation.

 

who gives a sh about reputation...anyhow, i have the orochi, its hella sweet. I have it paired with the vespula mouse pad when I am at home and I really like the combination. I never had the lag issues people talk about with the mouse going into standby mode, and I haven't had tracking issues using the mouse on my pants, sometimes it moves by itself if the surface is too shiny but its not a big deal.

 

Some laptops don't come with bluetooth so you would have to get a bluetooth dongle if that is the case with your laptop and the vx nano uses a micro dongle which sticks out a quarter of an inch. Hardly a handicap. I keep it plugged in 100% of the time including when I travel with it. If you care about battery longevity the nano lasts several months easily with heavy usage (10+ hours a day).

 

A+B+C = I talked about battery life because OP asked so

about performance, if you really need high dpi (which in Orochi you must also use wired mode) or use macro button a lot, yes, Orochi is for you.
But still in games, you must use wired mode to avoid the waking up from sleep lag which is common for most bluetooth mice.
And with the battery life I mentioned before, I must know when to change the battery even before it flashes low batt if I wanna game (once again to avoid that I must use wired mode)
The only thing I don't like about Orochi is it's entering sleep mode too fast, wish it is longer.

Comfort is personal preferences, so you need to grip the mice to see if you're comfort with it.

 

They should have made the Orochi with an internal li rechargeable that charges while plugged in via usb.

Pretty stupid not to do that IMO.

Other than that huge oversight, it is a great mouse.

 

it'll be great in the beginning, but might come bad with its aging
I know some mice that have problem with internal battery as they age.
so IMO replaceable batteries is still the way to go
or at least replaceable internal battery

 

Either way, yeah.

I have the original logitech MX1000 laser mouse that still works and the battery last forever. Going on 7 years strong,

It was in storage drained for like 2 years. lol

 

Indeed. If you have no bluetooth built in to your laptop, you have to go with a dongle. If you have to go with a dongle, the Logitech VX Nano is one of the best mice on the market. Note though, if you leave the dongle pluddeg in all the time, the Nano doesn't switch off. The dongle being placed back into the mouse is what switches off the mouse. Also, I believe there is now a Logitech Nano with an upgraded laser, but someone will have to confirm that. I could be wrong. I've used Logitect mice for maybe six years now, and the Nano since it was released. It was my prefered mouse up until last October.

But if you have Bluetooth built in to your laptop, and you don't want to be plugging in a dongle, you need a bluetooth mouse (why the hell they can't build 2.4GHz Wifi into laptops is anyone's guess). And of the bluetooth mice on the market, Razer produce the best and Microsoft produce the cheapest. Both are good products.

Orochi - I've never yet experienced this 'sleep' or 'waking up lag' that people are talking about. Even leaving the mouse alone while typing this message, the Orochi moves instantly the moment I move it. As regards the increased DPI, not just gamers require increased DPI. I don't game on my laptop. I have an Xbox for that. I drive CAD, and I do it 10 hours a day (the beauty of running your own business). The advantage of increased DPI is that the mouse pointer moves a lot smoother across the screen and gives you increased precision over what you're doing. And there's no 'stutter' that you tend to get with a 1000 dpi laser when operating on uneven or non-matt surfaces. So, as with my 'high-end gaming PC' which I use as a CAD workstation, there's more than one use for premium products.

Being an owner of many Logitech MX's and a Logiteck Air, I would NEVER buy a mouse with an inbuilt rechargable battery. I have never found one that isn't a piece of sh!t.

 

My Orochi definately has the Wake up lag. After 4 secs, it just skips. Realistically, I wouldn't be sitting still in an FPS setting for that long.

It does bother me quite a bit but it's not like I have died because of it since I would be constantly on the move in a game anyways.

 

Loving the mouse. Feels amazing. Glides like a dream. Seriously. Absolute win.

 

mbassoc2003 / Meever can you please check the firmware version on your mouse ? i`ve had 1.03 from factory and upgraded to 1.06 and is still lagging after sleep... Thanks !

 

as far as batteries are concerned there are these awesome rechargeable double a and triple a batteries they are called nickel metal hydride hybrid batteries. Some info:

Today, the best rechargeable batteries are the new hybrid Nickel-Metal Hydride (Ni-MH) cells. These hybrid batteries have a lot going for them: they come fully charged (like alkaline batteries), and they can hold their charge over many months (unlike regular Ni-MH rechargeables). Because they can hold their charge for so long, they are suitable for low-drain devices like remote controls and flashlights. But they are also ideal for use in high-drain electronic devices like digital cameras.

I used these in a wireless mouse and they lasted about 3 months per charge used em for over 2 years infact they are in my tv remote now and have been for 7 months without needing a recharge. Paid 13 dollars for 4 AA batteries and a 4 slot recharging station. Havent needed to buy another AA battery for over 2 years for a mere 13 dollars.

 

Orochi's great, though it's side buttons, not so great.
I saw this mouse after I bought the Orochi. Never seen anyone mention this mouse before. But they look on par with Razer.
ROCCAT STUDIOS V3.0 - PRODUCTS » Gaming Mice » ROCCAT Pyra Wireless

 

sucks no 1000hz polling on the wireless mice tho.

 

check out the post before you
Roccat pyra wireless is 1000hz polling on wireless

 

Ya, that Roccat Pyra seems like a nice mouse. The main reason I went for the Orochi over say anything else was two fold: I wanted a bluetooth mouse so that I would not have a dongle using up a usb port and the fact that the Orochi had a short wire for wired mode which also benefited the speed of the mouse as well.

Making the side button a shift is neat I guess but I still prefer two buttons on one side.

 

My choice goes out to Razer Orochi, the buttons are soo useful.