Karna's Razer Boomslang 2000

Shaith · Oct 15, 2002, 08:08 AM

Today, boys and girls, we're going to take a look at the most promising advance in pointing devices turned biggest paperweight, the Razer Boomslang. The model being abused today is a Razer 2000, the flagship of the Razer line. A traditional ball mouse, yet unquestionably more precise and more sensitive than anything produced by such competitors as Microsoft, Logitech, and the like. Standard ball mice range between 250 and 400 DPI (dots per inch) of resolution. Karna's Razer comes in two models, a 1000 DPI model (ideal for gaming) and a 2000 DPI model (ideal for everything EXCEPT gaming...kill the sensitivity on this baby before your next deathmatch).

It just so happens that I've run the gamut of experiences with Karna's better mouse(trap), so here we go.
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1) Packaging

Well, they've definitely got the whole world beat there. Unlike the rest of the world where the most packaging you receive is either a cheap-o plastic bag with a barcode label (OEM's) or a cardboard box with a plastic insert (whoopie?), Karna spent some money on packaging.

The Razer comes shipped in a nice metal tin, with the Razer logo embossed on it. Opening this package is quite a surprise. The mouse comes packed securely in heavy soft foam padding. It'd take quite a wallop to the tin to do any damage to the mouse, making this an ideal way to take this thing with you to LAN parties. In addition to the extra-long mouse cord, you'll also notice that it comes with a USB-to-PS2 adapter, enabling you to use the mouse in either mode (I recommend USB). Lifting up the foam insert reveals a nice artistic CD cover containing the driver disc, a chain-bound manual, and a certificate of authenticity.
In the case of the test mice, they're all First Edition models (three in all).

2) Installation

I cannot emphasize enough how important it is to follow the directions in the manual EXACTLY when installing this mouse. If you don't you're in for headaches. The drivers are written for Windows 95, Windows 98, Windows ME, and Windows 2000. While the 2000 driver will work under XP, it has bugs (we'll get to that later). Once installed, the drivers come with a nice control panel and taskbar icon. The buttons are all reconfigurable. Because of the design, there isn't a left or right bias - a simple change of orientation in the driver sets the mouse up for left- and right-hand use. Without a doubt, though, the best feature is the on-the-fly sensitivity changing feature. By holding down the assigned key (by default it's the thumb button) and rolling the wheel up or down, you can increase or decrease the sensitivity of the mouse. Also by default is a nice graphic meter which is superimposed on your screen when changing sensitivities. After you've fiddled with it a few times, you'll disable it as it doesn't work well in 3d games like Unreal Tournament, Quake, etc.

Other features include the ability to adjust the PS2 rate above the standard maximum (may increase cpu loading, your mileage may vary), and a handy update button. Well, it used to be handy. Unfortunately, the update server has been offline since prior to the official launch of Windows XP in 2001.

3) Drivers

This is the bane of your existance with this mouse if you're an XP user. If you use XP drivers you lose much functionality including double-click buttons, on-the-fly sensitivity, button programming, and more. It's actually enough that most will go ahead and install the Windows 2000 driver set. Be warned that you can no longer use PS2 at this stage - it's USB or get a different mouse. Since USB is better, you should use it.

4) Comfort

This takes some getting used to. Compared to most mice with their humps to make the Hunchback of Notre Dame feel better about his, this mouse is nearly flat. It's also FAT. No, I didn't say "phat" - I said FAT, as in WIDE. Great for guys like me with larger hands, and also good for kids. Once you get used to this mouse, though, it's hard to go back to any traditional ball mice, and nearly impossible to tolerate most opticals.

5) Cleaning

After nearly two years of testing I can say that cleaning has been the least of my worries. The lower cover on the mouse has a slight ridge - and this slight ridge prevents the majority of debris from gumming up the internals. Basic cleaning is accomplished by removing the cover and ball and wiping down the interior of the ball chamber with a swab with some rubbing alcohol on it. Deep cleaning is accomplished by removing the glide pads, then removing three screws and pulling the halves apart. Soaking the top half in soap and warm water for a while will remove oil and dirt buildup easily enough. Make sure parts are completely dry before reassembling, though!

6) Sensitivity and performance

I set the mouse for full sensitivity and went to it - and quickly turned the sensitivity right back down. At full sensitivity you won't need acceleration - about a 1" square is all I needed to cover my 1152x864 screen. It's too sensitive for most FPS games though - turning it down to about 50% is generally advised. It's great for working in Photoshop, totally comfortable for browsing and day-to-day working, and generally speaking lives up to every performance claim.

Now the problems.

1) Updates? No. There aren't any. And likely, there won't ever be again. During the past year, Razer has gone out of business, come back, and seems to be poised on the brink of going back out of business. There is no longer any support available. Warranty issues have gone on so long that the warranties have expired. The drivers that were nearly completed and promised by September 2001, then October, then December, then soon, then "We will post a "real" date as soon as we know something firm." During the 6-week period where any of their e-mail addresses actually worked, an e-mail asking for status updates on drivers and complaining about the lack of support for XP garnered only a question about returning the mouse for warranty issues. While their website claims an intent to post drivers for XP, it's done that for well over a year now, so one can only speculate.

2) Warranty support? No. There's an AOL email address listed - but don't count on an answer there either.

3) Value? The Razer 2000 lists for $99, and the 1000 lists for $79 - a bit much to pay for an unsupported piece of hardware. They've had them selling on Ebay for quite some time now, claiming the online store is down - somehow, I doubt it's ever coming back up. I definitely can't recommend you pay full price for one of these right now - though at $10, they're a steal on Ebay.

4) Reliability? As expected with early hardware it's had its share of problems. The first Razer I purchased had to be returned after only a few months because it wasn't tracking properly. The mousewheel wasn't scrolling correctly, it would hang going left or down (right and up were always fine) and on rare occasions would cease to function entirely. After a 3-week argument with RMA support it was finally replaced with a new unit and the old one returned to the factory. The second unit has functioned fairly well overall, except for a problem with sticky buttons, an occasional problem were the scrolling wheel doesn't pick up on the first click in a direction (but all subsequent clicks in that direction are fine until you go the other way), and the driver issues. The other unit I got about the same time as the RMA replacement is now experiencing similar issues to the first unit that had to be replaced - and there's now no chance of that.

Conclusions:

While the performance of this mouse, when it works, is fabulous, the fact that the company is likely on the verge of going permanently out of business cannot be dismissed. Their repeated claims of "drivers to come" that never come have destroyed their credibility with most owners. A lack of technical support or RMA/warranty support makes this a risky purchase at best.

You're far better off spending your pointing device money with a company who will not only support their product with driver updates but will handle your warranty problems.

gibbon565 · Oct 18, 2002, 11:50 PM

Yeah I still use the mouse under XP with the windows 2000 driver and I must admit at times I have been temtep to buy a new mouse but I jsut keep going back to the old Razor especially great for CS, if anything it is a great mouse but the drivers may make some avoid it!

Oct 15, 2002, 08:08 AM	#1
Shaith HardwareHeaven Senior Member Join Date: May 2002 Posts: 916 Rep Power: 0	Karna's Razer Boomslang 2000 Today, boys and girls, we're going to take a look at the most promising advance in pointing devices turned biggest paperweight, the Razer Boomslang. The model being abused today is a Razer 2000, the flagship of the Razer line. A traditional ball mouse, yet unquestionably more precise and more sensitive than anything produced by such competitors as Microsoft, Logitech, and the like. Standard ball mice range between 250 and 400 DPI (dots per inch) of resolution. Karna's Razer comes in two models, a 1000 DPI model (ideal for gaming) and a 2000 DPI model (ideal for everything EXCEPT gaming...kill the sensitivity on this baby before your next deathmatch). It just so happens that I've run the gamut of experiences with Karna's better mouse(trap), so here we go. <center> </center> 1) Packaging Well, they've definitely got the whole world beat there. Unlike the rest of the world where the most packaging you receive is either a cheap-o plastic bag with a barcode label (OEM's) or a cardboard box with a plastic insert (whoopie?), Karna spent some money on packaging. The Razer comes shipped in a nice metal tin, with the Razer logo embossed on it. Opening this package is quite a surprise. The mouse comes packed securely in heavy soft foam padding. It'd take quite a wallop to the tin to do any damage to the mouse, making this an ideal way to take this thing with you to LAN parties. In addition to the extra-long mouse cord, you'll also notice that it comes with a USB-to-PS2 adapter, enabling you to use the mouse in either mode (I recommend USB). Lifting up the foam insert reveals a nice artistic CD cover containing the driver disc, a chain-bound manual, and a certificate of authenticity. In the case of the test mice, they're all First Edition models (three in all). 2) Installation I cannot emphasize enough how important it is to follow the directions in the manual EXACTLY when installing this mouse. If you don't you're in for headaches. The drivers are written for Windows 95, Windows 98, Windows ME, and Windows 2000. While the 2000 driver will work under XP, it has bugs (we'll get to that later). Once installed, the drivers come with a nice control panel and taskbar icon. The buttons are all reconfigurable. Because of the design, there isn't a left or right bias - a simple change of orientation in the driver sets the mouse up for left- and right-hand use. Without a doubt, though, the best feature is the on-the-fly sensitivity changing feature. By holding down the assigned key (by default it's the thumb button) and rolling the wheel up or down, you can increase or decrease the sensitivity of the mouse. Also by default is a nice graphic meter which is superimposed on your screen when changing sensitivities. After you've fiddled with it a few times, you'll disable it as it doesn't work well in 3d games like Unreal Tournament, Quake, etc. Other features include the ability to adjust the PS2 rate above the standard maximum (may increase cpu loading, your mileage may vary), and a handy update button. Well, it used to be handy. Unfortunately, the update server has been offline since prior to the official launch of Windows XP in 2001. 3) Drivers This is the bane of your existance with this mouse if you're an XP user. If you use XP drivers you lose much functionality including double-click buttons, on-the-fly sensitivity, button programming, and more. It's actually enough that most will go ahead and install the Windows 2000 driver set. Be warned that you can no longer use PS2 at this stage - it's USB or get a different mouse. Since USB is better, you should use it. 4) Comfort This takes some getting used to. Compared to most mice with their humps to make the Hunchback of Notre Dame feel better about his, this mouse is nearly flat. It's also FAT. No, I didn't say "phat" - I said FAT, as in WIDE. Great for guys like me with larger hands, and also good for kids. Once you get used to this mouse, though, it's hard to go back to any traditional ball mice, and nearly impossible to tolerate most opticals. 5) Cleaning After nearly two years of testing I can say that cleaning has been the least of my worries. The lower cover on the mouse has a slight ridge - and this slight ridge prevents the majority of debris from gumming up the internals. Basic cleaning is accomplished by removing the cover and ball and wiping down the interior of the ball chamber with a swab with some rubbing alcohol on it. Deep cleaning is accomplished by removing the glide pads, then removing three screws and pulling the halves apart. Soaking the top half in soap and warm water for a while will remove oil and dirt buildup easily enough. Make sure parts are completely dry before reassembling, though! 6) Sensitivity and performance I set the mouse for full sensitivity and went to it - and quickly turned the sensitivity right back down. At full sensitivity you won't need acceleration - about a 1" square is all I needed to cover my 1152x864 screen. It's too sensitive for most FPS games though - turning it down to about 50% is generally advised. It's great for working in Photoshop, totally comfortable for browsing and day-to-day working, and generally speaking lives up to every performance claim. Now the problems. 1) Updates? No. There aren't any. And likely, there won't ever be again. During the past year, Razer has gone out of business, come back, and seems to be poised on the brink of going back out of business. There is no longer any support available. Warranty issues have gone on so long that the warranties have expired. The drivers that were nearly completed and promised by September 2001, then October, then December, then soon, then "We will post a "real" date as soon as we know something firm." During the 6-week period where any of their e-mail addresses actually worked, an e-mail asking for status updates on drivers and complaining about the lack of support for XP garnered only a question about returning the mouse for warranty issues. While their website claims an intent to post drivers for XP, it's done that for well over a year now, so one can only speculate. 2) Warranty support? No. There's an AOL email address listed - but don't count on an answer there either. 3) Value? The Razer 2000 lists for $99, and the 1000 lists for $79 - a bit much to pay for an unsupported piece of hardware. They've had them selling on Ebay for quite some time now, claiming the online store is down - somehow, I doubt it's ever coming back up. I definitely can't recommend you pay full price for one of these right now - though at $10, they're a steal on Ebay. 4) Reliability? As expected with early hardware it's had its share of problems. The first Razer I purchased had to be returned after only a few months because it wasn't tracking properly. The mousewheel wasn't scrolling correctly, it would hang going left or down (right and up were always fine) and on rare occasions would cease to function entirely. After a 3-week argument with RMA support it was finally replaced with a new unit and the old one returned to the factory. The second unit has functioned fairly well overall, except for a problem with sticky buttons, an occasional problem were the scrolling wheel doesn't pick up on the first click in a direction (but all subsequent clicks in that direction are fine until you go the other way), and the driver issues. The other unit I got about the same time as the RMA replacement is now experiencing similar issues to the first unit that had to be replaced - and there's now no chance of that. Conclusions: While the performance of this mouse, when it works, is fabulous, the fact that the company is likely on the verge of going permanently out of business cannot be dismissed. Their repeated claims of "drivers to come" that never come have destroyed their credibility with most owners. A lack of technical support or RMA/warranty support makes this a risky purchase at best. You're far better off spending your pointing device money with a company who will not only support their product with driver updates but will handle your warranty problems.

Oct 18, 2002, 11:50 PM	#2
gibbon565 Bouncy BOUNCY! Join Date: Jun 2002 Location: Edinburgh, Scotland Posts: 316 Rep Power: 0	Yeah I still use the mouse under XP with the windows 2000 driver and I must admit at times I have been temtep to buy a new mouse but I jsut keep going back to the old Razor especially great for CS, if anything it is a great mouse but the drivers may make some avoid it! __________________ 3500 x64 ASRock Dual Sata 2 7900 GTO 512 1 gig OCUK HANNS-H HW13D