Summary: A review of the Razer Naga MMOG Laser gaming mouse…
After some intensive use over a period of more than four years, the scroll wheel on my mouse finally started malfunctioning. I purchased a new Razer Naga Laser Gaming Mouse to replace it and that’s what I’ll be reviewing in this product review.
In general, when it comes to buying computer equipment I always go for products that are designed for gamers. Even though I’m not a hardcore gamer myself, I find that gaming equipment is usually built with extreme power, speed, performance and endurance in mind, which is exactly what I need on a day to day basis in my business. Oh, and they look quite cool too…
The Razer line of products is no exception. I enjoy all of their products that I’ve used so far. My previous mouse was a Razer Diamondback, which is no longer available on the market unfortunately being an older model. So I’ll be using this new Razer Naga mouse for a while…
THE RAZER NAGA MMOG GAMING MOUSE
The Razer Naga gaming mouse is a mouse that’s made specially for people who play massively multiplayer online games, like World of Warcraft. It has 17 built-in buttons, with 12 of them being on the left side of the mouse (the thumb grid), like what you can see in the photo above.
It looks something like a phone’s keypad. This set of buttons is actually the main attraction of the mouse, and it provides you with powerful features that you can leverage for your gaming. But since I don’t game much, I’ve been using the buttons for other purposes. More on that later…
THE RAZER NAGA BOX DESIGN
I like the look of the box. It’s quite nice, and the front cover is quite cool. It sticks to the box with a piece of circular velcro as shown in the photo above so it doesn’t sweep open needlessly. Let’s take the mouse out of the box now…
TAKING OUT THE RAZER NAGA
Other than the gaming mouse itself, the box also contains a packet of goodies, as seen on the right. Of course, this contains the user manual for the mouse, but it also has some other nice things inside too…
RAZER NAGA PACKET OF GOODIES
Inside the packet are the user manual, a product brochure, some official Razer logo stickers, a booklet containing training stickers for the thumb grid, and a certificate of authenticity. 
The thumb grid training stickers are things that you can stick on the 12-button thumb grid on the side of the mouse. They’re supposed to help you learn to use the thumb grid faster. According to the booklet, research has shown that most gamers are able to pick up the use of the thumb grid after about 18 hours of using it. That’s quite fast…
[message type="info"]TIP: For quick mastery of the thumb grid, I’ve been playing online speed math games to practice using it. Once you get used to it, you’ll know where each button is intuitively…
I like the little certificate. It adds a nice touch to the product. It feels a bit like you’re purchasing a real authentic Rolex watch and getting a certificate to prove it. Something that usually comes with premium products…
THE BRAIDED FIBER CABLE
This mouse comes with a braided fiber cable. Unlike most mice that come with plastic cables, this cable won’t twist around and get in your way. It actually stays very flatly and quietly on the table. It looks nice too….
THE MOUSE ITSELF…
The Razer Naga lights up with dark blue lighting once you plug it in. This illuminates the logo, the scroll wheel, and the 12 buttons on the side.
You may choose to turn off the lighting through the Razer Naga support software that you can download from their support website. You’ll also need to install this software in order to take full advantage of the buttons on the mouse. The software allows you to assign specific keys, and even macros, to each of the buttons.
Very useful for gamers who need to access a variety of shortcuts throughout the game. Equally useful for people like me who use a lot of shortcuts in Photoshop, and other software applications.
With the software you can also set an unlimited number of button profiles. So you can have a different set of shortcuts or macro buttons for Photoshop, World of Warcraft, Microsoft Word, and any other software. You can even set each profile to automatically activate when you launch an application.
If you don’t know what a macro is, it’s simply a series of commands. So in other words, when you press a button on the mouse, it can press the A key, then the C key, then the E key is specific order, or whatever number of keys and in whatever order you want.
Here’s a look at the software…
THE RAZER NAGA CONFIGURATOR
You can assign various functions and features to each button on the mouse. It doesn’t have to be limited to just typing in letters or numbers either…
You can adjust the sensitivity and acceleration of the mouse to fit your needs. You can even adjust the polling rate. This is rate at which data from the mouse is transferred to your computer…
This panel allows you to create various profiles depending on how many software you use or how many games you play. Initially, I only had two profiles created…
This panel allows you to record and create your own macros. You can assign the macros to the buttons on your mouse after you have done creating them. The only thing I dislike about the macros so far is that you can record a mouse click, but the software can’t remember the precise location of the mouse click…
And finally, you can choose whether you want to turn the lights on the mouse to on or off mode. I just keep them on because it looks nicer. The light from the logo pulses slowly like a beating heart by the way…
MY COMMENTS ON THE RAZER NAGA
So far, I love the way this mouse has been designed!
Previously, using the Razer Diamondback, the mouse fit my entire palm. So when I first started using the Razer Naga I was worried that the smaller size wouldn’t feel so good to me.
Well, actually I was wrong because I found the smaller size of the mouse has been helping to improve movement. Also, the size and shape makes it much easier for me to navigate my thumb along the 12 side buttons on the thumb grid.
Assigning frequently used shortcuts to the buttons has improved my efficiency when it comes to getting various tasks done with the applications I use.
For certain applications, I have a fixed workflow, meaning I have a particular order of working. I assign macros related to each order of my workflow along the buttons 1 to 12. I don’t have to think about what I need to do next, because I know that I’ve arranged everything in order based on the buttons 1 to 12.
Number 1 does this, so I have to do this first. Then after that, I press number 2, etc.
Overall, truly an awesome mouse, and I’m really satisfied with it. The only thing I would ask for is more functionality and features when it comes to creating macros. Like macros that remember the exact location you clicked in…
Click here if you want to read more details on the Razer Naga…
