I really didn't expect much of the G9 when I first glanced at this ugly duckling of a gaming mouse.
Oblong and a little weird-looking with a large butt, it was clearly not in the same mould as the Logitech G5 that had proved itself so handy in fast-paced action games.
But the moment I had my palm wrapped around the G9, there was no turning back. I felt like this was the ultimate gaming mouse that my hands had ever touched.
And it was not because of the 3,200 dpi (dots per inch) speed that Logitech claims, which is faster than the 2,000-dpi speed of the G5. This was because of the weird shape I had mentioned earlier.
The G9 comes with two grips that you can easily snap on - an XL satin-smooth grip and a Precision dry grip.
Put on the smaller Precision grip and you'll almost feel like the mouse is an extension of your hand. A quick sweep of your hand moves the cursor from one end of a 24-inch screen to another in a smooth non-stop motion.
This is helped by a faster optical engine and large mouse feet at the bottom, but I'd say it's more because your hand is holding the mouse so snugly that it actually glides faster.
The smaller grip lets you place your fingers firmly on the two main buttons, which are made extra large for furious clicking. You get nimble fingertip control when firing or changing weapons.
When I used the G9 in the Company of Heroes: Opposing Forces real-time strategy game, I could move from one end of a large map to another in double quick time.
The same when I tested the mouse in first-person shooters. For these games, I usually set the mouse speeds at max so I could turn around an enemy fast.
But in times when I needed to aim closely, say, as a sniper, the dpi-change buttons on the mouse let me do so on the fly, just like in the G5.
This was one thing I missed a lot when I switched from a G5 to a Razer DeathAdder mouse recently.
Now, the G9 has what the DeathAdder has and more. There's onboard memory - previously a Razer speciality - which allows you to store profiles on your mouse so you can plug into a LAN party PC and start playing at once.
The G9, like the G5 before, also lets you load metallic weights into the mouse, in case you think it is too light. And then there is a button at the bottom that lets you set the scroller either to move notch by notch or in one smooth motion.
Basically, Logitech has everything you want in a gaming mouse nailed down in the well-thought-out G9. And I'm not forgetting the LEDs, whose colour you can customise - beng as that may be.
The only thing I dislike is the scroller, which seems a little bit loose. But that's nitpicking.
FINAL SAY: The G9 may not make you a better gamer just like a good tennis racket won't make you Roger Federer. But if you have the cash to splurge, this is one rodent that will make you turn your back on lesser critters.
