Introduction

Unintended consequences can lead to some great, seemingly oxymoronic, sentences. One of my favorites these days is “World of Warcraft has made your office a more efficient working environment”. See that, pretty cool, huh? How about this one – “Thanks to Diablo my reports are getting done in half the time!”. Not bad, and there is the always infamous “Grand Theft Auto has me flying through Photoshop”. Sounds ridiculous, but in a way it’s all true. So, how exactly do these games relate to any type of efficiency in other apps?

The answer is pretty simple - macros, profiles and customization. These games require precise and flexible input devices to give the gamer an edge. A standard issue mouse and keyboard that come packaged in an off the shelf desktop are not going to get the job done. Manufacturers have answered the call, offering a wide variety of high precision and extremely programmable mice and keyboards. This same customization can absolutely be applied to productivity apps. Naturally, as more come out, prices drop. Presently there is a myriad of mice under $50.00 that can do things that top of line mice costing twice as much couldn’t do just a couple of years ago. It seems that with each new wave of releases, quality and functionality goes up in leaps and bounds.

The NZXT Avatar S 1600 dpi Gaming Mouse follows the tradition of the original Avatar Mouse. The NZXT Avatar S offers unique styling in a slimmer, ambidextrous form that molds easily to almost any hand. Built for gaming, the Avatar S comes equipped with a 1600 dpi laser engine for ultimate speed and precision, up to 30 inches per second. To ensure usability in all scenarios and applications, dpi is user selectable down to 400 and 800 dpi, which can be done through software or with mouse/scroll wheel for on-the-fly selection. Five programmable buttons make the Avatar S extremely flexible and user friendly for any gaming, as well as productivity applications. To further the customization of the Avatar S, NZXT's software can hold five distinct user profiles with macros and user selectable button assignments. The Avatar S also sports 16kb of onboard memory to hold a single profile onboard to take with you to any computer. In addition to sleek form, the Avatar S also offers eye appeal with blue LED accent lines along the curves and a glowing NZXT logo. LEDs are selectable on/off individually to suit any taste. Grip textures also run in lines to accent the shape of the Avatar S.