Lighted Scroll Wheel, Software and Final Thoughts
Here you can see the scroll wheel in one of its five color settings. Clicking the black button behind it will switch the scroll wheel light’s color and change the corresponding DPI of the laser.
Here is the red color, showing our mouse is in 1600DPI mode. What options does the OCZ Equalizer offer?
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No color: 400 DPI
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Green: 800 DPI
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Yellow: 1200 DPI
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Red and Yellow alternating: 2000 DPI
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Yellow and Green alternating: 2500 DPI
The mobile version of the mouse differs only in that it starts at 600 DPI, but continues up the ladder in the same way after that.
And…now it’s green – 800 DPI.
In comparison, Logitech’s G7 cordless gaming mouse goes up to 2000 DPI, a bit slower than the maximum on the OCZ Equalizer mouse here. What does that actually get you though? The higher the DPI, the faster the mouse cursor can move with the least amount of physical mouse movement while maintaining accuracy. For most users, anything over the 1200 DPI setting in Windows is going to drive you nuts, or at least it did for me. In gaming, using a higher DPI definitely helps you as once you get used to the speed, the ability to turn around in 360 degrees incredibly fast is a big help!
The Software
The OCZ Equalizer mice come with some software that you can install on your system, though it is not required for any of the features that the mouse provides. To be honest, the OCZ software leaves much to be desired compared to the SetPoint software that Logitech offers for their mice.
The menus and standard mouse settings in Windows Vista are mostly unchanged in the OCZ software with the exception of the updated graphics and correctly mapped and named button positions. You can select from standard uses to assign to any of the Equalizers buttons.
One unique feature of the OCZ software is the Equalware-Jump option that allows you to assign a specific DPI on the mouse and set a specific set of keystrokes to a mouse button.
Think of the Equalware-Jump option as the ability to set a macro to a mouse button. All you have to do is hit the “record” button and then go through the keystrokes that you would like to include. For example, you might set mouse button three to the keystroke of “R” that way you can reload in your FPS of choice easily or maybe if you are constantly typing your address to friends, set that as the macro and assign it to a mouse button for ease of use.
Here I have set up the third mouse button (click in the scroll wheel) to open up the Windows calculator application.
Final Thoughts
The OCZ Equalizer is a unique mouse that will definitely appeal to enthusiasts due to its high performance, unique “triple threat” feature and other tricks like the variable DPI dual laser setup.
Of course the price doesn’t hurt either — you can find both the desktop and mobile versions of the OCZ Equalizer for $40 or less! (Desktop model: OCZMSEQRD; Mobile model: OCZMSEQRM) While it’s not going to compete with Logitech’s latest Revolution mice for sheer amounts of features and unique technological advances, the price of the desktop MX Revolution is twice as much as the OCZ Equalizer.
Newegg.com also has these mice for sale: desktop model for $39.99 and the mobile model for $39.99.
Overall, I was quite impressed with the OCZ Equalizer and recommend gamers looking for a unique product that might give them an edge in their online competitions to try it out.
Be sure to use our price checking engine to find the best prices on the OCZ Equalizer, and anything else you may want to buy!
