Microsoft Habu Laser Mouse

Choosing a Mouse

When I was looking for a mouse, I had two criteria: comfort and accuracy. Since I'm on the computer several hours each day, I needed a mouse that I could use all day comfortably. I also play a lot of games, such as Half-Life 2, Unreal Tournament, and The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion, so I also needed something that was accurate and fast.

This is the first laser mouse I've ever had, and I've only have Microsoft Wireless Intellimouse mice for the past couple years. I got kind of tired of replacing batteries and dealing with wireless sensors and whatnot, so I had to get a wired mouse. I love Microsoft mice for their comfort, but the last two wireless ones I had failed less than a year after buying so I was a bit hesitant to buy another Microsoft mouse. Fortunately, I learned that the Habu's guts are made by Razer, and Razer has a great reputation, so I decided that it would be fine.

I had actually narrowed down my choices to the Habu, the Logitech MX518, and the Razer DeathAdder. I personally didn't care for the looks of the MX518, and it didn't fit my hand very well. For me, using the MX518 felt like moving a rounded brick around the desk. The DeathAdder was too flat for my rather large hands, and it felt like I was pushing a palm pilot around or something like that. The Habu, however, felt awesome and fit my hand just perfectly. I also liked the looks of it better, the cool blue colors and the sleek shape. And so, I chose the Habu.

Impressions of the Habu

When I first opened the Habu's box the first thing I noticed was how sleek it is. It's a nice, slick black mouse and looks like something a ninja would use. When I plugged the mouse into my computer's USB port, though, everything came to life and the Habu became 100x more awesome. Cool blue LEDs turned on and illuminated the mouse wheel and a line around the edge of the mouse. I absolutely love the LED lighting on this thing--it is awesome.

The Habu and its magnificent cool blue LED lighting.

Plugging the mouse into my Windows XP Professional box worked right away, and I instantly was able to start using it. Two buttons just under the mouse wheel control the mouse DPI, so I can adjust mouse speed on-the-fly between desktop work and gaming. Too cool. Also on the side are two other buttons for gaming, or in desktop work such as web browsing they are the equivalent of going forward and back pages.

Habu's Software

I personally don't care for the software included with the Habu. There is no reason to install it, other than if you want to turn the mouse's LED lights off and customize its buttons. You can already adjust DPI on-the-fly with the buttons on the mouse, and the software just wastes space on the hard drive. I've heard similar opinions from other people who say that the Habu software isn't worth installing.

Cons of the Habu

So far, I have had nothing but good things to say about the Microsoft Habu. Other than the useless software, everything else about the mouse is great and as of yet it's one of the best mouses I've ever owned. It's not only very comfortable, it's also fast and accurate.