The DB is a great little agile mouse, so less well suited to the claw grip than the DA, I'd say.
Sorry, I meant to say "*more* well suited to the claw grip than the DA".
You still get 7 buttons, though the 2 extra are pretty hard to press...they do make on the fly sensitivity possible without the sacrifice of a button.
Good point about the on-the-fly without the sacrifice of a button vs a 5 button mouse. However, I found the DB side button placement rather awkward. My fingers wanted to rest exactly where the side buttons were, so I found that I accidentally pressed the buttons. Regarding the on-the-fly sensitivity, this is only available with the drivers installed, so if you prefer to use the mouse without drivers (as I do) then it's not important.
I'm a left-hander, so I cannot comment on the placement of the DA side buttons. However, I know a few people who reckon that they are the best placed and best feeling side buttons that they have used - and we're mainly talking about Logitech and MS mouse users here.
Regarding 1000Hz, it's a totally over-hyped feature, I agree. It can make a noticeable difference to increase the polling rate above 125Hz if you're playing games at a consistent 100fps, but even then I stopped noticing after 250Hz. If you're using an LCD running at 60Hz *and* your game is getting a consistent 60fps then I'm certain that you wouldn't notice anything above 250Hz. Perhaps people will disagree with my observations, but an indisputable point is that everything else (resolution, game fps, monitor resolution and refresh) has to be running at such a high rate before the mouse refresh becomes a bottleneck that it's not worth stressing about.
Regarding mice not hitting 1000Hz much, they will only do so when they have to. So, for a 1000dpi mouse, if you move one inch in one second then it should report that as 1000 movements of one "count" in one second, otherwise there will be fewer counts. I don't really understand why some mice on 1000Hz only "hit" 1000Hz occasionally - there must be some internal bottleneck. Perhaps the onboard processor is too slow. If the gaming public verify this, then no doubt they will go on about it until the companies "fix" it. I noticed recently that one of the new mice has an internal processor speed of 72Mhz, perhaps that will hit 1000Hz more frequently. Or perhaps it's due to a USB 2.0 bus limitation.
I assigned RTS camera control to the tilt wheel, and it was a dream.
Normally you have to hold down middle click, and move the mouse.
With the tilt wheel, it was a breeze though. Like it was natural.
Sounds great! I bought an IBM mouse where they put a trackpoint in place of the wheel. If the software support was good for that then it would be the ultimate scrolling device!
Oh, one thing about the two main buttons: I way prefer the detatched buttons on the DB to the buttons that blend into the case on the DA. You can use the DB buttons over a much larger area and they still feel good. The DA buttons have to be used nearer to the front of the mouse.
Regarding mouse feet, I've only used Mouse Skatez when I've worn feet out. No complaints, but no comparison from me either!
Regarding mouse mats, I'm a fan of rough plastic too. I've tried smooth plastic but the optical mice don't usually track as well. I'd say a thin mouse pad is more comfortable, and I find that cloth pads have too much friction for me. I've never tried a metal or glass pad! I currently use a Destructor which gives excellent tracking and frictional properties for all of the Razer mice that I have - better than the func 1030 which I used before. My original Everglide black attack pad is still going strong and tracks well too. Oh, I'm a high-senser, for the record. So, in my limited experience, I'd recommend the Destructor.
Finally, just to make things more interesting, have you considered the Copperhead and the Salmosa? I mention the Salmosa because I think the resolution and polling hardware switches are a great idea, and because the only time you have mentioned buttons in this post is to say "are another two buttons worth it?". The Salmosa has no side buttons, but it looks like a really interesting shape. Now on to the Copperhead... I reckon the Copperhead has the best and most responsive tracking of all the Razer mice. It's not for low-sensers because it cannot track fast enough for them, but for high-sensers (and perhaps some mid-sensers - I'm not sure how people set their limits!) it's awesome. The sensor is related to the one found in the Habu, so I suppose the Habu would behave similarly. The Copperhead also has 7 buttons and is quite similar to the DB 3G in shape. I preferred the slightly different shape of the Copperhead because it was a little longer and higher than the DB and it had these chunky rubber rails which suited a more claw-like grip. Many people hated the rails, and some cut them off (search on this forum) to make it more like a DB. Another difference from the DB was that the buttons were located just below the rail, which I found just as awkward as the DB except I didn't press them accidentally.
I reckon that the tracking of Razer's "3G IR Sensor" - as found in DB 3G, DA, BS:CE and Salmosa - is overrated. I think that the reason it is so popular is that it tracks really really quickly and so the low sensors (which is most people) can finally enjoy a modern high resolution mouse - which is kind of pointless anyway, but hey. If you want to use the mouse on high resolution all the time and make precise, pixel perfect movements then I'd suggest the Copperhead (and probably the Habu too, although I haven't tested this personally).
I've been intrigued recently with the discussion about sensors compensating for straight lines, and so I will test that soon, along with a lift-off test on the Destructor.
Phew, this was a long post. It's kept me occupied for my whole commute home!
