The Rat 9 Mouse is fairly superb on all sides. Most people love the mouse they use by the placement of their buttons and the comfort of the grip. This mouse prepares to rewrite the game book on how a gaming mouse shoud be, and how well this little mouse does depends very much on what you want from a mouse.

Lets take a look at what has been said by the manufactures website and compare that with real world conditions. For those not in the know, Saitek make three variations of the Rat Mouse. They are the Rat 3, Rat 5, Rat 7 and Rat 9 (which is the one we're looking at today. Interstingly the Rat 7 comes in two editions. The gaming mouse and the Albino addition.

Saitek also makes Cyborg gaming mice in two versions called V.1 and V.3 but these are not RATS so dont get confused. To get a clear look at all the mice made go to cyborggaming.com.

Anyway, back to the RAT series. in brief the Rat 3 has a fairly sleek design, cutting edge form factor and a 3200 dpi gaming grade laser. Its got fairly secy looks and comes with the bundled ST programming software which can change the DPI sensitivity, create custom profiles for each game and assign commands to you programmable buttons. Easy quick and the power you need right from your desktop.

The Rat 5 follows a similar past but has adjustable length, better for bigger hands, more buttons to program and a 4000 dpi laser.

The Rat 7, builds again on these features, with a laser of 5600 dpi and featuring a new generation 'twin eye' laser sensor that reads each axis separately for pin point accuracy, the Rat 7 tracks up to a stunning 6 meters per second. Oh and you can adjust the weight of the mouse and the length as well. You also get 3 palm rests and 3 pinkie grips that are designed to clip onto your mouse to improve grip depending on the size of your hand.

Finally, the R.A.T. 9 is the same as the R.A.T. 7 but combined with the next generation of Zero Latency 2.4Ghz Wireless Technology A staggering 1ms response time ensures that your lightning fast reactions remain lightning fast.

The Wireless Receiver/Recharge Dock Keeps gaming for as long as the gamer, the R.A.T. 9 is a 24/7 wireless beast, shipping with 2 custom built lithium-ion battery cells. One powers the R.A.T. while the other one charges in the dock, allowing the gamer to perform a ‘hot swap’ whenever and wherever needed.. Up to 9 hours continuous gaming ,Up to 4 days normal use. Interchangeable Pinkie grips and Palm rests.

The palm rest and pinkie grips for the Rat 7 and 9 are as follows.

3 palm rests

- One featuring the same soft-touch finish as found on the body of the R.A.T.
- One with a rubber inlay for enhanced grip.
- One that is 4mm thicker to increase the height of the R.A.T.

3 pinkie grips

- One featuring the same soft-touch finish as found on the body of the R.A.T.
- One with a rubber inlay for enhanced grip.
- One that offers a wing shaped design, allowing you to rest your pinkie finger during play for increased grip.

All in all, the Rat series of mice from Saitek are probably the better gaming mice available today and certainly they are offering a lot more than the competition.



http://www.microdirect.co.uk/Home/Product/51883