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Introduction

With most serious gamers beginning to buy high DPI mice and super tracking mouse mats its no wonder that there are so many companies trying to be the best and sell their gaming product to the mass market, but with the market leaders like Razer and Logitech there is fierce and well established competition for relative newcomers such as Cyber Snipa to compete with.

This is why Cyber Snipa has sent me over the Stinger – a high DPI gaming mouse. So lets see if this baby lives up to its name.

About Cyber Snipa

Established in 1998 the founding members of Cyber Snipa have over 18 years of experience in producing exclusively manufactured products. Cyber Snipa is a subsidiary of Flexiglow, a global supplier of PC modding and gaming accessories.

Specifications

• 7,080 frames per second
• Up to 3200 DPI laser engine
• Tracking speed of 45 inches per second
• 9 buttons including 6 macro programmable
• Up to 1000Hz adjustable report rate
• 8kb of onboard memory
• 16 bit ultra wide data path
• 7 removable weights
• 4 super size easy glide feet

Features

• The Cyber Snipa Stinger takes the final step in the evolution of gaming mice.
• The Stinger is the master of macro; possessing onboard memory, macros can be recorded and set to any of the 6 customisable buttons of a macro profile. With 3 separate profiles, the Stinger gives the possibility of a staggering 18 onboard macros at any one time!
• The Stinger also features fully adjustable dpi. The software allows the user to select 4 different dpi levels, ranging anywhere from 400 to 3200 dpi, which can be cycled through by pressing the mouse’s dpi button.
• The gaming grade laser engine operates at over 7000 frames per second, offers a maximum of 3200 dpi and features a super fast USB report rate of 1000Hz, meaning the response time drops from the standard 8ms to 1ms!
• The top of the line laser engine and the armoury of features means this is a mouse like no other.

Packaging

The stinger is packaged in a vacuum formed plastic package that has been heat sealed around the edges. This makes the packaging quite sharp edged and means that once opened it cannot be properly sealed. The packaging graphics are well designed as they look very impressive but also contain all the details about the mouse which a buyer would need to know.

The fact that you can see the mouse through the plastic is a great addition as it means you can get a glimpse of what you’re buying.

The rear of the packaging is similar to the front except it shows you the underside of the mouse and has four thumbnail images of the mouse, which highlight some of its many features. It also includes a performance chart showing just how different the Stinger is to a generic mouse. The packaging is multi-lingual so it is clear enough for anyone to understand.

Inside of the packaging there is of course: the mouse, the weight puck, a CD-ROM, instructions and some spare mouse feet.

The Stinger

Once out of the packaging it was time for the first impressions, I was amazed at just how smooth the surfaces on it were especially the rubberised top surface that offers grip to your hand during use.

I was also stunned by the small puck of weights that are also supplied with the mouse which enable gamers to customise the mouse to suit their gameplay. The weights themselves are each 20g and are made of a shiny silvery metal with two grooves in them so they can be removed easily from the foamy holding in the pack of weights and on the bottom of the mouse. The weights are inserted to the bottom of the mouse underneath a twist open door.

On top of all this you also get some Teflon mouse feet that have a super sticky adhesive already applied. There is a spare foot for each one on the bottom of the mouse.

The driver disk is a micro size CD-ROM with the mouse drivers and the macro-manager software installation files on it.

The Stinger itself features a highly ergonomic design. The two sides are designed so that your thumb and fingers can relax during use. On each of the two sides there is a smooth grippy rubber lining. Unfortunately this design means that the Stinger is only useable by right-handed people.

On the left hand side of the mouse there are two sleek silver buttons that are pre-programmed to internet forward and backwards functions. These buttons are programmable to any function thanks to the onboard memory and the macro manager software supplied.

On the top of the mouse there is a 4-way scroll wheel, an on-the-fly DPI switching button and a macro-button. The scroll button is covered in a soft grippy rubber with lots of indentations in it, these add to the grippiness and comfort of the mouse. The wheel makes a quiet clicking noise when scrolling and makes a much louder noise when you use the horizontal axis, this may be something that may distract some people but personally I like to know if I’m scrolling, it’s like the ipod click wheel click noise – you either love it or hate it. If your not sure which way to push the scroll wheel for whichever direction you require there ore 2 small arrows indicating the direction in which the wheel should be pushed.

Before the drivers are installed the on-the-fly DPI button allows for the transition between 400 DPI up to 1600 DPI. When on any of the 4 modes 400 DPI, 800 DPI, 1200 DPI and 1600 DPI a different colour light will come on, respectively: no light, red, green, blue. These lights don’t really fit the rest of the styling as blue and green clash horribly with the red and black of the mouse. On the top and the back of the mouse there is an illuminating crosshair and the manufacturer’s name: Cyber Snipa. The crosshair looks awesome in the dark and shines very brightly.

The macro mode button has 3 modes to which macros for all the programmable buttons can be programmed; this button is backlit with lights that pulse on and off. The 3 modes each have their own colour: mode 1 – red, mode 2 – green and mode 3 – blue.

When flipped upside down you can see the 4 low friction feet upon which the mouse glides, you can also see the huge door which can be opened to allow for the addition or removal of the weights. There is also a small hole through which the class 1 laser shines.

The software supplied with the Stinger is a driver and a macro manager suite. The macro manager suite looks pretty sleek and features a very easy to use user interface and fast processing of commands.

The USB cable is coated in a thick strong red rubbery plastic that feels very hardwearing, unlike most other mice it isn’t connected with some flimsy soldering; it’s secured by a red thing that protrudes from the mouse.

The USB connector is not standard – its gold plated so it’s not going to rust or wear out any time soon.

Testing

As usual, the testing for any gaming peripheral has to be the in game test, this means breaking out the FPS games and getting our game on. Here at Tech-Reviews we like to use our favourite games; Battlefield 2, Serious Sam and Call of Duty 4.

Battlefield 2

Battlefield 2 features a fast pace of gameplay and the need to switch tactics at different points in the game whether it is flying or sniping.

During the “testing” in Battlefield 2 I found the mouse to be extremely responsive and the on-the-fly DPI button to be incredibly useful in situations like trying to evade enemy pilots in the usually more manoeuvrable J-10 with an F-34B and performing aerial stunts with a blackhawk.

When lining up headshots and using weapons for accuracy I used the mouse in a low dpi setting as recommended by cyber snipa in the instruction manual. When doing this the mouse performed better than any other mouse I have ever used and I found that my gameplay within Battlefield 2 improved greatly.

COD4

Call of duty 4 boast some of the most realistic gameplay ever seen in an FPS game with the need for accuracy and the ability to evade enemies.

During COD4 testing I used the mouse in a higher DPI setting than I had for BF2 to get an idea over the accuracy of the laser sensor at higher DPI’s. I found that even at the highest preset DPI – 1600 the mouse was still incredibly accurate and allowed for a better standard of gameplay.

Although the need for a headshot on COD4 isn’t a necessity as the realism of the game (a shot in the stomach kills) allows for straight out body shots, but still, with gameplay like mine (Rhys: cough) and a mouse like the Stinger the headshots just keep on coming.

Serious Sam

Serious Sam features some of the most frantic gameplay ever in any game with waves of enemies in vast numbers constantly bombarding you with projectiles and their body parts.

In this game the Stinger had the most profound effect on my gameplay as I usually suck at it on online multiplayer because I’m never quick enough to decide which enemy poses the greatest threat and end up getting killed before I act. However once I had the Stinger I was able to take out the enemies before they had chance to attack me.

High DPI Testing

I also tested the mouse at 3200 DPI, when at this staggering figure I found the accuracy to be a bit off and to be a little too much for almost any use; gaming or otherwise.

Cost

The stinger can be found retailing for as little as £25. This is a very good price for a high DPI gaming mouse with programmable macro buttons.

Conclusion

I found the mouse to be superb in all aspects of use when at any DPI up to 1600 but anything above this and it became a little unstable and inaccuracies started to appear.

This mouse would be great for gamers or anyone that likes the feel of an ergonomic quality mouse.

When used in combination with a good quality mouse pad like the Pro the performance is awesome and makes for a killer combination of accuracy and speed.

Pros	Cons
Cost	Inaccurate at higher DPI’s
Good quality	LEDs beneath scroll wheel wrong colours
Accurate at lower DPI’s
Ergonomic design
On the fly DPI changer