Installation & Performance

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Razer recommends the removal of any other Razer drivers prior to the installation of the Diamondback drivers. The supplied software is easy to install and slick to use, and if you’ve seen or used the Viper software this will be very familiar. The graphics have been updated to reflect the look of the Diamondback as well. Every aspect of the Diamondback is configurable, including all seven buttons, scroll functions, and click speed.

For testing, I pulled out four gaming mouse pads – the Razer eXactMat, the Xtrac Ripper XL, the Xide Pad II, and the Icemat 2^nd Edition glass mouse pad. The Viper exhibited a few small issues with the Xide Pad II, so I was eager to see if the Diamondback was able to handle that pad now.  

The Diamondback was quickly and easily installed on my XP Professional system. My first impressions of the Diamondback were positive as well. The high resolution makes this mouse just fly across the screen with hardly any movement on my part. Another item Razer has addressed was the sleep mode. I had a few hate emails over the fact that I liked the Viper so much even with the “lag” that sleep mode can induce. Honestly, I do not notice any lag, and thus didn’t mention it. Razer has put the issue to rest by eliminating the sleep function totally, which will certainly make some of the pickiest gaming enthusiasts very happy.  

I basically alternated mouse pads over the last week, running the Diamondback through graphics editing, database and spreadsheet applications, and an extensive dosage of gaming. Some of the games tested included Doom 3, Unreal Tournament 2004, Hitman Contracts, Far Cry, and GTA: Vice City.  

First off, I will say that the Diamondback reacted very well with every pad presented here. The new 1600 dpi setup appears to be very forgiving of the surface it is used on, and having the tracking LED on all the time only increases this reliability. The Xide Pad II that gave the Viper issues didn’t bother the Diamondback at all…which did impress me. Its performance was the slickest on the Icemat 2^nd Edition, followed very closely by the speed side of the eXactMat. The Diamondback also played very well on the Ripper XL, although as sensitive as this mouse is you probably won’t need all the space this pad offers.

If you have seen the software that was provided with the Viper, than there are no surprises for you with the Diamondback. All the same functions are here, except with updated graphics to reflect the new mouse. On-the-fly sensitivity, click speed, scroll speed, and button functionality are all quickly and easily adjusted.

Next: Conclusions