RAZER has been in the gaming mouse business for quite a while now and the company has expanded their line of mice to suit almost every kind of gamer.

The latest is the Lachesis, a mouse which boasts a whopping 4,000dpi resolution and loads of configurable buttons. In addition to the thumb buttons, the Lachesis has a set of buttons identical to the thumb buttons on the other side of the mouse.

These buttons, together with the symmetrical shape of the Lachesis, makes it a truly ambidextrous design suitable for left- or right-handed people.

Like all proper gaming mice, the Lachesis has dedicated buttons just below the scroll wheel for on-the-fly dpi adjustment.

Comfort

The Lachesis has a very unusual shape - it's very narrow where your palm rests, and very wide where the buttons and scroll wheel are.

Using the Lachesis, I realised that the mouse is more suited for holding with just your fingertips - the narrow body means that your thumb and little finger will hook into a little space near the bottom of the mouse, while your palm generally hovers slightly above the body itself.

However, the wheel is pretty far up the top of the mouse and on my small hands at least, is a little difficult to reach without stretching or moving my hand position slightly.

People with larger hands won't have this problem but will probably have issues with the narrow lower body.

In terms of comfort, it is probably not the best - it is suitable for fingertip-grippers rather than palm-resters, if you know what I mean.

Oh yes, unlike the other brands here, Razer mice do not have a tray for you to put in different weights. If you like heavy mice, then the relatively lightweight Razers might not be for you.

Software

The Lachesis' software interface looks seriously cool, with a black and neon green theme and had very extensive settings for dpi and button assignments.

The dpi settings are particularly notable - the software allows you to change the Lachesis' dpi settings from as low as 125dpi all the way to the highest 4,000dpi setting, in smaller steps than any mouse on review here.

There are also options to record macros and assign them to any button on the Lachesis and you won't have a shortage of programmable buttons here. All nine of the Lachesis' buttons can be mapped to whatever function you want, including keyboard macros and other key assignments.

So as far as software customisability goes, there's little to fault here.

Performance

Thanks to the configurable resolution settings and nice buttons with very positive click action, the Lachesis performs very well.

Although the Lachesis' big feature is the 4,000dpi setting, it was just too fast for me - IMHO, the best all-round setting for playing games is still about 2,000dpi, which gives you the speed and yet isn't too fast that it's hard to position your cursor where you want it.

The Lachesis tracks extremely well and in its default settings, the cursor is silky smooth - Razer's experience in the field of gaming mice really shows here.

The Lachesis also has a "lift-off" feature which prevents your cursor from doing an unexpected jump when you pick up the mouse off the table - gamers will know what I'm talking about here, and the Lachesis exhibited almost no unexpected cursor jumping when I tested it.

Unfortunately, there is no indication on the mouse at all as to what dpi setting you're in at any one time. Also, there's no option on the Lachesis to add more weight to make the mouse a bit heftier, although this is a minor gripe.

Conclusion

In terms of performance, the Lachesis is a great mouse and performs as advertised.

The only letdown is in the area of comfort - the mouse's frankly rather odd narrow body doesn't feel too comfortable for either large or small hands.

The only gamers I can see who can use this mouse are those that hold their mice only with their fingertips and if you are one of those people, perhaps the Lachesis is for you.

Pros: Large number of customisable buttons; very comprehensive resolution settings.

Cons: Rather weird shape only suitable for people who hold mice with their fingertips.

LACHESIS

Maximum resolution: 4,000dpi Razer Precision 3G Laser sensor

Image processing: n/a

Maximum acceleration: n/a

Maximum speed: 60-100 inches per second

Number of buttons: Nine

Other features: Variable dpi settings in 125dpi increments, ambidextrous design

Price: $115