Logitech G403 Prodigy Wired Gaming Mouse

Pros: We’re upgrading from a G5, which we thought was dying (hence our order) but it just needed a good cleaning. So now we have both it and the new Spectrum to compare. 🙂 The two mice are almost identical in size, within 0.1″ of each other in all directions. The G5 however is substantially heavier: weight range is 150-186g, compared to the Proteus Spectrum’s 128-147g. Or in other words, a Spectrum with all five optional weights installed is still lighter than a G5 with no extra weight. Whether this qualifies as good or bad depends on your preference, but the difference in maximum weight is almost an ounce and a half (5.2 vs 6.6 oz). We use the G5 empty, so a fully loaded Spectrum is virtually identical in hand feel. This is our first experience with a frictionless wheel, and I really wasn’t expecting to love it. However, within the first ten minutes its wisdom became obvious. Now we much prefer silent (or close to silent) scrolling to the constant zip zip zipping of the G5, and getting through long web pages and documents is exponentially faster with a single flick of the finger. The mouse’s top cover and lights are superb imo. Nothing beats all black for stealth, and I’m glad Logitech understands a professional gaming mouse looks professional, and not like a toy designed for six year-old kids. In addition to a near-total lack of graphics, lighting bling on the Spectrum is equally sparse and appropriate: one “G” letter (hidden when the mouse is palmed) and three small (also color/brightness adjustable) indicators between the thumb and index finger. Four color modes offered are cycling (between all 16.8 million colors), pulsing (or “breathing” per Logitech’s marketing) of a single color, steady on, or off entirely. For some reason Logitech’s setup utility doesn’t allow brightness adjustments in the first two of these modes, imo it would be very sweet if they could add it in a future version of the utility and/or mouse firmware. As for primary button noise, the Spectrum’s is higher pitched and slightly more metallic in tone than the G5’s throatier and more plasticky tick. Overall in our opinion it’s less irritating than the G5, but in the interest of honestly, other manufacturers do much better in this department, and the Spectrum rates about as well against these other products as other Logitech mice. If the goal is completely quiet gaming look elsewhere. 🙂 Cons: Also we prefer the weighting system on the G5, which uses a separate (and locking) weight tray inside the mouse. The Spectrum’s weights are wedged directly into rubberish mounts on the mouse bottom, which would be fine if the bottom cover positively latched or locked in some way. But it doesn’t. It closes (I think) with a magnet and the bond is not all that strong. So the first time the Spectrum is dropped from any distance there will likely be weights flying everywhere. So I’d like to know what was wrong with the old system. It was far more secure and allowed for a greater range of weights (eight weights could be accomodated instead of five), and imo it was a more elegant solution. The Spectrum has a separate mechanical switch to choose between friction and frictionless modes for the wheel, and in friction mode it’s not as tight (or quiet) as the G5’s. The friction feels loose and scrolling sounds like a plastic rattle. My point is, if you’re planning to not use the Spectrum’s frictionless wheel mode, and you do a lot of scrolling, imo you’re better off with another mouse. Overall Review: If this didn’t sound like a glowing review, it actually was. 🙂 So far we’re thrilled with our Proteus Spectrum and hope it lasts at least half as long as our G5, which we’re still unsure how long that might be, since it’s been working like new since the cleaning. 🙂 In the meantime it will make a killer backup mouse. Also I’m sold on free spinning mousewheels, when I was almost sure I wouldn’t be.

Pros: -Adjustable weights are great, the weight that the mouse arrived with was perfect, I didn’t have to add or remove -Scroll lock button is useful so I don’t have to constantly scroll the mouse wheel -Glides around my screen beautifully, great when playing League of Legends Cons: -No real cons, personally don’t like the Logitech Gaming Software, but I only use it to change the color of the LED on the mouse. Overall Review: I would recommend this mouse to other people because it works like a dream. I also noticed other reviews say that the scroll felt loose, but you can fix that by pressing the button that’s closest to the mouse wheel so it doesn’t spin for 12 seconds

Pros: Simple design (looks like a normal mouse, not a transformer), feels comfortable, lots of DPI and quite accurate when you need small movements. Has all the necessary buttons for gaming and nothing more (left, middle scroll, right, two buttons by the thumb, and a dpi switcher). All the clicks feel solid except one, see below. Cons: The middle scroll wheel is a bit sensitive and I often accidentally click it when scrolling. Also may be a bug, but the LED doesn’t automatically turn back on after computer wakes from hibernation (will turn on if you go into the settings to toggle it on). Doesn’t bother me, the LED on the mouse was an extra that I didn’t really care for. Overall Review: Would recommend if you want a simple gaming mouse without all the bells and whistles.

Pros: Reduced size makes it great for a kids gamer mouse. Cons: It doesn’t make coffee for me in the morning.