Razer Taipan review

Razer Taipan review

AT A GLANCE

• Razer Taipan

   PCWORLD RATING
  The Razer Taipan isn’t the most comfortable ambidextrous mouse, but it packs a ton of features. And now it’s available in white.
• The Razer Taipan is a bare-bones gaming mouse, similar to the SteelSeries Rival. It’s designed for gamers who just want a high-performance sensor and decent hardware instead of a 20-button behemoth. Razer endowed the Taipan with an ambidextrous design that both right- and left-handed users will find comfortable. The tradeoff is that it won’t fit either camp’s hand like a glove.
  That’s not to say ambidextrous designs are uncomfortable! As a fingertip-gripper, I actually prefer ambidextrous mice because they’re narrower. I use a Zowie AM as my day-to-day mouse for that very reason. Be that as it may, I could not get comfortable using the Taipan as it’s intended. It’s just a little too narrow and a little too low to the desk for my hand to get a grip while still being able to press the buttons on the right side (underneath my ring finger).

  

  Michael Homnick

  Surprise! Razer can make gaming peripherals in color schemes other than black and green.

  If you forget about those buttons (the Zowie AM, for instance, deactivates its right-side buttons when you use it as a right-hand mouse), then you can get a good grip on the thing. Be aware, however, that you’re not getting a nine-button mouse; two of those buttons are basically inaccessible without some contortions. Palm grippers won’t like the Taipan at all. You’ll find much more comfortable options out there.
  The Taipan is a performance beast, though, with an 8200-CPI sensor and easy on-the-fly CPI adjusting by way of two buttons on the top (provided you don’t reprogram those buttons for other purposes).
  The Taipan White “solves” one of Razer’s longstanding issues: its obsessive preoccupation with black-and-green color schemes. The new Taipan comes in a glossy white with white accent lighting under the scroll wheel and on the logo. The only weird thing I found is that the logo light always pulses—there’s no way I could find to make it a steady glow, and the pulsing is distracting if you’re watching a film or doing anything where your hand isn’t covering the mouse.
  Like all Razer products, you’ll want to download the Razer Synapse 2.0 software to adjust performance and program macros. Once you have everything set the way you want, your preferences are uploaded to the cloud allowing you to access your custom Taipan settings on any other computer with Synapse 2.0 installed.
  The Taipan isn’t the best ambidextrous mouse around, but it’s not for lack of trying. The performance aspects of the mouse stand above the rest of the crowd, but it falls short in terms of comfort. I’d only recommend the Taipan above other, similarly-priced devices if you’re going to take full advantage of its lefty-friendly design.
• The Razer Taipan isn’t the most comfortable ambidextrous mouse, but it packs a ton of features. And now it’s available in white.
  MSRP: $80

  Pros

  • Smooth, glossy-white finish
  • 8200CPI sensor
  • Lightweight

  Cons

  • Too narrow for larger hands
  • LED beneath the logo pulses constantly
  • Two buttons basically inaccessible under most conditions