Software

The software install was easy, with no issues on both a WinXP and Vista system.  After the install is complete, it will load a sys tray icon that allows quick access to the software's supported features.

The actual application consists of two screens, but most will be left wondering how the hell to customize the mouse.  This happens to be one area I personally did not like and therefore, I will try and explain how things currently work.  When the mouse is set to "Normal" mode, you will just see a screen showing button functionality but will not have any option to customize it.  You have to actually switch the mouse to "Game" mode in order to get to its settings.  I contacted Silverstone about this and they have taken my suggestions into consideration and I can only say that they do state this is very possible and some of the suggestions that do no depend on the hardware itself are completely doable and something you can possibly expect in future versions of their software.  Despite the minor issues, when you switch to game mode though, you can sure have the freedom to customized this mouse quite heavily.  Not only can you define an action for most of the buttons, but you have full control of the X & Y DPI settings and can adjust them individually to your unique needs.  They are completely independent!

For the avid gamers out there, you also have the ability to customize the buttons that are programmable via the software.  Note that not all are.  Also note that you will not be able to program them under normal use and cannot create a macro or set the buttons to perform a specific task, such as launching an application. 

Performance

My personal and honest experience after using countless mice over the years is that no mouse is perfect.  Whether it is the software, design, features or actual performance, all have some area where they tend to disappoint.  Also and very important, laser mice have a higher tendency of "skipping" over optical mice.  Yes, laser mice will offer the user much higher DPI options and sensitivity but that does not necessarily mean it is better.  That's very important note and something most tend to take for granted.  With the Silverstone Raven, I unfortunately did experience some occasional skipping and had to resort to extra time and testing to try and narrow down the source of the problem and ensure it wasn't primarily the mouse that was at fault.

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While I did use quite a number of different high-performance gaming pads with the Silverstone RAVEN, I had to narrow down testing quite a bit and chose the following three pads:  Ratzpad (original), Steelpad 4D and the excellent Thunder8.  Note though that two of these pads have dual surfaces, making testing much more time consuming. 

While the mouse did skip on very rare occasions with all three pads mentioned above, I finally narrowed down the source of the issue to the Thunder8.  Now, what is quite ironic is that the Thunder8, regardless of which mouse you use, remains the very best mouse pad I have ever used.  In fact, all mice I've used tend to prefer this pad best over all others.  With the Silverstone RAVEN though, it just didn't like the smooth surface at all.  The rough side did provide excellent traction and a very high level of sensitivity.  Unfortunately, it was the smooth side of this pad were I encountered the most skipping.  Also, I don't recommend using this mouse on steel surfaces.  In fact, that's why I excluded the Steelpad 4S in testing.  What I found is that the Teflon feet don't seem to be "thick" enough to allow the mouse to glide smoothly on such pads.

Folks, it is important to note that regardless of which mouse you choose, the pad and/or surface you choose will have an impact on performance.  I have used very few high-end mice that are capable of operating flawlessly on practically any surface.

Once I found the best pad for this mouse, I jumped right into actual testing, which consisted of using the mouse under different tasks, from normal computing to casual gaming. 

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Although I couldn't personally get used to the hand positioning and that enormous side wheel, it certainly was a pleasure to use with Vista.  Just scroll vertically to easily enable Flip 3D and scroll through all open windows.  Works great and I got so used to to this particular feature, it was hard to let it go when using another mouse.

Finally, I launched STEAM and played a few games, primarily Team Fortress 2, which I'll admit I got a bit hooked on.  For all you hardcore gamers out there, you'll absolutely love that large wheel when it comes to DPI shifting.  It couldn't be any easier or quicker to switch between all five custom game modes.  Switching was seamless and game play was enjoyable.  Most importantly, there was absolutely no skipping in game mode.

Ease of Use

For a gamer, quick DPI switching can be essential and something that most products still fail to offer.  The best approach is a visual look rather than gambling on custom settings that are all based on its software.  It is this area that sets the Silverstone RAVEN apart from all others.  They took the extra effort to incorporate a built-in OLED display on the hardware itself, providing a true "visual" and ultimate peace of mind on its current DPI setting.  With that said, I took the extra time to provide you all with a video demo on the OLED display and how it functions based on its settings.

video clip

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You can get a pretty good idea of how the display works and how the DPI switching will be like from the video above.  Unfortunately, you do have to flip the mouse over to switch between modes.  Also, if you play back the video above from beginning to end, you'll see that the cool animated raven logo is only visible in normal mode.

Accuracy

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Finally, the level of accuracy and precision really comes down to the user.  While the Silverstone RAVEN allows you to fully customize its DPI settings up to a whopping 3200dpi, determining what DPI setting would be best for you really depends on how well you are able to handle the mouse in the first place.  With that said, there are a select few tools out there that I highly recommend to all, some of which not only will help you improve your accuracy and determine the right settings, but some of which are actually suitable "benchmarks" for your new mouse.  That's a whole other article though but as an example, you can try java-based web tools such as Reflex, Reflex1 and Reflex3.  Google them and try them...they are free.  They will not only help you test your mouse and determine the right settings, but are actually fun and a nice way to pass some time.

Next: Conclusions