Thermaltake has been making huge inroads into the eSports industry with their Tt eSports brand in recent months. They have targeted their PC peripherals with other high-end brands such as Razer and SteelSeries, and with good reason too. Their MEKA G-Unit keyboard received a 4 star rating from us, and their Black Element mouse is set out to do the same.

The Black Element is being targeted as a mouse designed with RTS and MMO games in mind, but I can tell you that it performs exceptionally well in FPS games as well. More on that later, though, for now let’s just look at it. Taking some cues from the MEKA G-Unit, the Black Element has some sharp edges incorporated in the overall design, but there are quite a lot of curves that make it look really unique too.

Of all the mice that I have seen over the years, the Razer Naga was the only one that stood out from the standard shape, and that too because of its 12 button keypad on the left side. As far as regular gaming mice are concerned, they all sort of look the same. I guess the Cyborg RAT, Logitech G9x and Roccat Kone [+] stand out a little, but none of them looks nearly as stylish as the Black Element, so kudos to Thermaltake for designing a high-end mouse that looks just as well as it performs.

The Black Element looks like an ambidextrous mouse, but it has three functional keys on the left side, and only one on the right, making it great for regular folks and a tad bit limited for southpaws. Apart from the 9 buttons on the top, there’s a profile button at the bottom which switches between 5 profiles. There’s also a weight system where the user can plug-in 5 metal buttons weighing 4.5 grams each. Finishing off the looks are the transparent panels on either side of the palm rest, the “Tt” logo itself and the transparent scroll wheel. The “Tt” logo is the only part that pulsates; the other areas have a constant glow.

The SteelSeries Sensei Pro Grade Laser mouse comes from a long heritage of high-end, precision mice which are used by professional gamers around the world. Today I’ll be looking at this flagship product which adds a host of new features and customization options and comes packed to the brim with the latest in mice technology.

The first thing you’ll notice about the Sensei is the shiny silver back, with a hint of metallic coffee under certain light conditions. The second thing you’ll notice is that the Sensei looks pretty much the exact same as the XAI. So what the Sensei represents is a natural upgrade for users of the XAI mouse. What that also means is that Southpaws now have access to one of the most powerful gaming mice in the market, and don’t have to settle for “second best” as is often the case with other mice manufacturers.

The Sensei also marks SteelSeries’ entrance into the world of fully customizable lights for mice. The back logo, which looks like a gorgeous 8-bit rendition of the SteelSeries logo, can be customized with the full 16.8 million color gamut, with the mouse wheel, CPI light and back logo all capable of showing different colors. The most impressive thing about the colors is that the LEDs that SteelSeries uses is strong enough to define between some of the most obscure colors as well. It’s not just dark and light shades of a specific color, but the entire spectrum from each extreme can be easily seen on the Sensei. So I have Cyan as the logo and Teal on the Scroll wheel, both looking sublime indeed. Obviously changing the CPI button colors also helps me easily distinguish between the sensitivity settings; a very helpful feature when jumping straight into a game.

One of the things I found odd was that the Sensei doesn’t allow for weight customization. This is something that I’m completely fine with, as the weight distribution of the Sensei is nicely centered for all the 102 grams that it weighs, but I know some people mark it as a strike against this pro gaming mouse.

Last week, we took a look at Tt eSports’ Shock Spin HD headphones and walked away impressed by its simplistic design and excellent stereo performance. For this week, we have equipped ourselves with the MEKA G-Unit, a mechanical keyboard from Thermaltake that promises to be “armed for battle”.

The G-Unit is an upgraded model of the MEKA G1, which was a simple, non-flashy mechanical keyboard much like the SteelSeries 7G. The G-Unit, however, has all the bells and whistles that a proper, all-fuss gaming keyboard should – more macros than your fingers, backlit keys, profiles, and separate media congregation (we do not like F1 keys, please, laptop manufacturers.)

Like the Shock Spin HD headphones, the MEKA G-Unit (MEKA from now on) does not go overboard with styling, and I fear I am more than chumming up to Thermaltake’s simplistic ways. I am supposed to like flashy stuff.

Without its palm rest, the MEKA is surprisingly compact, although wide enough to run your mouse off the table if you are limited in space. Finished in black built-like-a-tank hard plastic, the keyboard’s only color comes from the small red ‘Tt’ logo and two red stripes that cut into the sides. With the palm rest attached, the keyboard sizes up a bit more, and adds another dash of red with a neat little dragon tattoo. The palm rest may not look much, it certainly isn’t as big as the Roccat Isku’s, and while my palm does slip out of the general area of the rest it should easily accommodate slimmer hands. The keyboard does feature backlit keys, but instead of lighting up everything, Thermaltake has gone with a more economic, or focused, route. Only the WASD, control, space, shift, arrows and Numpad arrow keys are lit, with caps lock and Numlock having their own LEDs to display their status.

The focused lighting does seem limiting, even though it’s a lot easier on the eyes in dark. For example, whoever uses arrow keys anymore? In fact, who uses arrow keys on the Numpads, at all? I would rather have the ‘R’ and ‘G’ letter lit, along with the macro keys, which are surprising MIA considering they are the highlight of the keyboard. Moving on to the additional functionalities of the keyboard, you have the profile switchers on the left along with a utility key that disables the Windows button completely. On the right you have a bunch of basic media keys, such as play/pause, mute, volume +/-, stop, etc., and a backlit strength controller.

Also, like any good high-end keyboard, the MEKA features two USB ports and a headphone and a mic jack. However, unlike most keyboards, the MEKA does not use additional USB wires or sound cables.  Everything just runs through a single USB cable, which is ridiculously wonderful. And it works. The USB ports cannot run external hard drives, no, but it can easily hold up two flash drives at once. The headphone jacks work well, too, with decent sound quality for what it is.

LG has been in the spotlight a lot recently, what with their 3D push on the Cinema 3D TVs and Optimus 3D smartphones. Today we got a chance to catch up with the President of LG Gulf region, Mr. H. S. Paik and talk about some of the latest products from LG as well as his favorite product from the lineup.

We visit Golden Systems during this year’s GITEX and check out all of the latest gear they have on display. We try to cove everything, from Gigabyte motherboards to PNY graphics cards to Cooler Master chassis.

Obviously one look isn’t enough to cover their entire portfolio, so have a look at part 2 of this presentation where we look at Zotac’s products.

Razer is at its most frag at this year’s GITEX, showcasing some of their latest products such as the Battlefield 3 skinned gear and the new gaming headphones, the Electra.

Razer's Battlefield 3 gear on display.

We got hold of Min-Lian Tan, the Chief Gamer (or CEO in non-gaming terms), to chat about all things Razer (naturally), such as the Electra, the new arcade stick and the company’s presence in the UAE.

In the interview, Tan said the company will soon be heavily investing in the UAE region, focusing on LAN cafes, gaming tournaments, and even the players themselves.

In the case of the Razer Mamba 4G, the term ‘new’ does not apply. It certainly is not. But improved it is, packing both optical and laser sensors that Razer has decided to brand it ’4G’ (not to be confused with the mobile broadband). It also features a higher DPI setting, 6400 to be exact, although I still cannot fathom using it anywhere, let alone gaming.

But I digress. So, without any further adieu, let’s get this baby rolling.

Design:
Firstly, let me give props to the packaging. We have seen some great packages for various hardware, some from Razer themselves but this is something truly unique. The mouse comes mounted on a clear plastic pedestal inside a tall Plexiglass case – the wireless transceiver, battery, USB cable, manuals and other useless promotional material are all hidden inside cardboard drawers that slide of the base as though it were jewelry box. The packaging, of all things, reminded of a wrapper for a candy i used to hog on at a time when razor was still spelled with an ‘o’ and came on a stick with a curved head. But the packaging is very impressive, implying that you have not bought home a device that will help you sort your 18+ collection but a trophy, a recognition for being a gamer. Amazing stuff from Razer here.

Now, onto the mouse. The design is very much like one of Razer’s most popular mouse, the DeathAdder. It almost sports the same design with a few touches here and there to distinguish it. The Mamba has no fewer than nine action buttons: there’s the usual large left-and-right button on top, two large thumb buttons on the left side, and two small buttons on the left of and slightly below the top left mouse button. They are the dedicated buttons to change the DPI settings on-the-fly, eliminating my complaint i had with the DeathAdder Left-Hand Edition where you would have to sacrifice the functionality of the thumb buttons to have a feature similar to that. On the left hand side you will also find three LED lights displaying the level of DPI you are on and the status of your battery.

On the underside, you will find the large Razer Precision 4G Laser and Optical sensors, a wireless sync button, an on-off switch, an eject button to remove the charge cable, three small Teflon pads and the battery slot. Don’t be too worried by the awkward position of the battery placement, it does not interfere with the smoothness or the performance in any way.

The surface is protected by a non-slip surface ensuring that you will never loose a grip and that you will have an ugly-looking mouse within days after the sweat smudges completely destroys the look. A shame because the mouse has a sexy form factor, and has its curves in the right places to seduce any gamer. The mouse immediately felt comfortable in my palm, never felt cramped, and provided me with consistent smooth movements.

The transceiver is connected via the USB cable and works as a charging dock and as the wireless station. It has a large sync button in the middle, and while it looks simple, the trademark light blue glow around its base makes sure that it carries a sense of stylish as well. The USB cable can be plucked out from the transceiver and be fitted directly into the mouse to provide users with an alternative way to charge the mouse while also transforming it into a wired device when it runs out of juice.

It’s not every day you hear about MLG working in collaboration with a peripheral manufacturing company to develop a high precision controller with expanded functionality and one that looks cool, without breaking the wallet. And so it was, that I took over the job of reviewing the MadCatz F.P.S. Pro controller with great interest.

I know MadCatz has received a lot of flak over the years for making “cheap” controllers, but they have certainly upped their game with the recent Tournament Edition fighting sticks that have been globally praised for high quality. The same quality now filters down to this new controller that was co-developed between MadCatz and MLG, promising easy availability in all major retailers of a controller designed specifically for premiere competitive gaming.

While the F.P.S. Pro is available in three colors (Stealth Black, Army Green and SWAT Blue) I was quite happy with the green review unit. It reminded me a lot of the original Xbox that came out in a limited edition green see-through console back in 2004. Nostalgia aside, the F.P.S. Pro has a smooth rubberized feel on the entire surface area. On either side you’ll find proper rubber grips as well. The D-pad feels chunky, but I felt confident using it, unlike the D-pad on the official Xbox 360 controller. The Start and Back buttons are in the same position as the standard controller, with the Left and Right sticks having a nice click to them. The face buttons are completely flat, unlike the standard controller where the buttons are bulging out. The shoulder buttons felt similar to the standard controller in terms of pressure applied and how they click.

Now the underside of the F.P.S. Pro is where things get really interesting. There are two ‘Combat’ buttons which are easily accessed by your middle fingers at the bottom. People with smaller hands or longer fingers may have trouble accessing these buttons though, so try before you buy. Each of these two buttons can be selected to map the face buttons, the Left or Right stick presses or to change the LED colors.

The LED colors under the Left and Right stick can be switched to Green, Red or Yellow. While playing Deus Ex I obviously changed the color to yellow, keep in line with the visual themes of the game. The face buttons sadly don’t light up.

LG LSM-100 mouse looks like a conventional laser mouse from the outside, but once you flip it over the mouse can be used to scan documents and photos without need of any other dedicated bulky scanning hardware. The mouse is delightfully small and packs in two very different devices in a single package which is really nice if you want less clutter on your desk or have scanning needs on the move.

The built-in scanner scans at 320dpi and has really crisp results with good filters built-in to remove the wrinkles etc from pages you scan. As the mouse is moved over the surface, it will use reference coordinates to fill in the picture and combine it as a whole image which can be saved in popular image and pdf formats.

The scanner mouse has been launched in Europe and will soon be sold in other countries too. It will cost approximately around 500 to 550 AED when its launched later in Middle East.

Razer made a very smart move with their new dual 4G sensor system by releasing the tech on two existing and very popular models instead of releasing a completely new mouse. Today I’ll be looking at the updated, 2012 model Imperator mouse with the new 4G dual sensors system.

The new Imperator has a mild redesign from the old version, in that it has beautiful matt grey top with the Razer logo near the center of the palm-rest. This new top surface is smooth to hold, but you won’t lose your grip with swift movements. The sides have a nice black rubber grip, with the thumb area extending out ever so slightly. The side buttons are adjustable, in that you can slide them back or forward depending on how you grip the mouse.

Both the scroll wheel and the Razer logo glow a cool blue color, with the logo pulsating slowly. Both of these lights can be turned off from the drivers, although you can’t change the colors, or change the speed of pulsation of the Razer logo. Still, the matt grey and sharp blue hues complement each other nicely.

The 7 buttons are laid out in a standard format, with the DPI switches laid right below the scroll wheel. While those buttons are inaccessible during fast encounters, I personally didn’t use them much as I usually don’t map extra buttons in games if they’re not easily accessible. Then again, the macro recording function negates this issue to some extent.

I tested the Imperator on my 3 year old, but still gorgeous Destructor mouse pad, whose surface color looked identical to the Imperator. The ‘ultraslick’ feet at the bottom literally glided on the Destructor’s surface and not once did I feel any resistance while moving the Imperator around.