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SteelSeries Xai Review
Introduction

SteelSeries is a well-known brand when it comes to professional gaming. Their lineup of high-end gaming peripherals constitute of Keyboards, Mice, Mouse Pads, Headphones, and even glasses. Today weâ€™re looking at a gaming mouse from the house of SteelSeries: Xai. Compared to what the current competition offers, the Xai is a 2 generation laser sensor mouse. The current competition is at 4G sensors. Before we even begin this review, it has to be considered that Xai is already on obsolete technology. Nothing alarming though, as we are going to review the Xai to see if it still stacksâ€¦

Specification

Xai come with a plethora of features. Weâ€™ll be going through the tech of Xia shortly, but first, here is a bulleted list of the features.

Internal
- Frames per second: 12.000
- Inches per second: 150+
- Counts per inch: 100 – 5.001
- Maximum Acceleration: 30 G
- Sensor data path: True 16 bit
- Lift distance: ~1mm
- Megapixels per second: 10.8
- Polling Rate: 125 – 1000 Hz
External
- Buttons: Eight
- Cord: 2 m / 6.5 feet (braided)
- Gold-plated USB connector
- CPI high/low indicator
- On board LCD
- 3 mouse feet
- Second generation laser sensor
Features
- Ambidextrous shape
- Slip-resistant mouse coating
- Two customizable CPI settings
- Nine programmable buttons, 6 programmable macros
- Three Huge Teflon feet
- High grade sensor sporting 10.8 Megapixels per Second
- Pro-play performance with accurate tracking and extreme precision
- Best-in-class technology: 100-5001 CPI, 12,000 FPS, and 150+ IPS
- Plug-and-play, Driverless feature for LAN Gamers
- Five On-board profiles
- On board LCD, display featuring intuitive menu-system for customization of:
SteelSeries ExactSens Technology for Adjusting CPI from 100 to 5001, by one CPI increment/decrement

SteelSeries ExactAim Technology for Minimizing â€œjittersâ€ for FPS Gamers

SteelSeries ExactRate Technology for Adjusting Polling/Report Rate from 125 to 1000, by one Hz increment/decrement

SteelSeries FreeMove Technology for adjusting cursor prediction on mouse movement

SteelSeries ExactAccel Technology for adjusting hardware acceleration
- Operating systems: Win 2000/XP/Vista/7/OSX
Package

When we look at the packing Xai is placed securely in the middle of the box after opening window to the left side, which is locked magnetically.

The top of the box mentions the well-known professional teams along with their logo and, mouse was made with the cooperation these teams.

At the back of the box shows the Specifications/Features of Xai in English and German languages respectively.

When we take out the internal packing from the box we can see the mouse resting in the middle and the braided wire is stored in a compartment above and under the mouse there is another little compartment where we can find the documentation and SteelSeries sticker.

All items in the packing includes the mouse, user manual, SteelSeries gaming gear catalog and sticker.

SteelSeries shows there appreciation for trusting and buying this product and states that this manual is aimed to familiarize us with the basic aspects of the mouse usage and setup.

And further, the manual describes the System Requirements, the Basic Functionality, Advance functionality, On-Mouse menu System Using LCD display, and Updating the firmware.

Closer Examination

Now we will take a closer look at the Mouse itself. The material used for the finishing is very smooth to the touch. Despite of being so smooth itâ€™s impossible for it to slip.

At the top middle you will see a white wheel. And just under is the white led which shows the two level of CPI selected and further down is the pointed button which used to select Two CPI configured.

There are 2 buttons on the right side and 2 buttons on the left which means it can be used by both righty and lefty.

If we look at the front part of the mouse we can see the braided cable getting out of the body.

Now we will take a look at the bottom of the mouse, firstly we can see the name of the mouse, product number, voltage specs also this that product was designed in Denmark but manufactured in China, SteelSeries logo, the laser class 1 sensor, in the middle of the mouse the laser. Under the SteelSeries embossed logo we can also find out the plastic protective cap for the LCD screen. On all edges we can find Teflon feet to ensure smooth mouse movements.

The USB connector is gold plated, for very good contact and no signal loss.

Design

Overall, the comfort of this mouse is outstanding. It feels comfortable no matter if youâ€™re a left-hander or a right. It has balanced weight and buttons click softly and swiftly. The CPI button is well placed on it. It has the best wheel with deep ridges for the grip and it is almost impossible to slip the wheel. You have to get used to the side buttons and adjust your hand not to accidentally press them. The feet are very large but they are smooth on any surface that I have tested. They are not round edged which are the main cause for its feet being a dirt magnet.

The LCD display provides to switch between one of five profiles. When not using menu-system it displays the SteelSeries logo.

We can access the profile management menu by holding the arrow shaped button for 3 seconds, for navigating through the menus the wheel and side buttons are used and wheelâ€™s button is used to select an option.

We can adjust the value of each feature either by the wheel or by buttons on the side. (as wheel provide increase/decrease in 1 unit and side buttons provide increase and decrease in 3 units)

Performance/ Durability

SteelSeries Xai 2nd gen laser sensor performed better than anticipated. Besides being old it preforms good as 4^th gen sensor and manages to provide just as smooth and precise tracking as new mouse with twin lasers. It preform very well from medium to high sensitivity, if you are fond of using low sensitivity this mouse will not live up to the mark. Tracking capabilities are one of the important features needed in a pro gaming mouse and Xai preforms surprisingly well.

Software

The software that comes for the XAI has 4 tabs and on top named as.

Button Assignments tab

Here we can customize each button and also use the macro feature on button 2 to button 7, we can also set the mouse for left or right handed mode and select between 5 profiles. Macro feature is very user friendly, The Advance Macro editor is divided in to 2 portions.

Firstly is the Macro list in which u can create macro profiles. In the 2^nd portion the profiles previously created can be customized, delay function is also available if needed and in the advance delay editor the creation of profiles is further simplified.

Hardware Settings tab

All of the options here are also customizable from the mouse itself except enabling or disabling the hardware cursor acceleration and the LCD setup and just under it is the apply button and I must say settings are applied just in a second. Signature features in this tab are.

SteelSeries ExactSense:

This feature controls how fast your cursor moves in relation to how much you move your mouse. With SteelSeries ExactSense you can donâ€™t need to relay on software to adjust sensitivity settings, freeing yourself from any and all software interpolation, which will dramatically increase your precision.

We can set two different values for your sensitivity and switch between them on-the-fly via the CPI toggle button.

SteelSeries ExactRate

Report rate (a.k.a polling rate) which is number of reports sent every second by the mouse to your computer. SteelSeries ExactRate allows us to customize the Report Rate to oneâ€™s liking and need.

SteelSeries ExactAim

SteelSeries ExactAim gives total control over the amount of jitter correction and prediction calculations. This is specially designed when the mouse is used on a surface that hasnâ€™t been optimized for high precision gaming. The settings range from â€œpureâ€ sensor data, that will the raw data without and prediction/calculation, up to high amounts of prediction calculations which are extremely helpful in jitter-less gaming.

SteelSeries FreeMove

Allows the user to determine how much the mouse should help with movements, and allows us to perform movements without any angle snapping and path correction. We can adjust how much control should be left up to the mouse and how much control should be left up to us in other words how precise the mouse should be in reproducing our movement.

SteelSeries ExactAccel

With acceleration we can bridge large distances quickly, while still being able to work flawlessly in small areas of the screen, without having to switch our CPI with the CPI toggle all the time. The main difference between this setting and Windows acceleration is that this setting is running in the hardware, we are also able to set the degree of dynamic acceleration.

Windows Settings tab

We can set the scroll wheel speed, double click speed and the pointer speed, settings that are also available in Windows, Control Panel.

Options tab

We can see the installed software application version, the current firmware version that is running in the mouse and the language of the interface; here we can also access multiple links like product information, additional downloads or support for the device.

Conclusion

Personally, despite its second gen laser sensor I liked this mouse from the moment I started using it. Its software is easy to use and modify according to your needs and the fact that everything can be customized of the mouse without need of any driver or software is totally unique. I have tested it in many games including CODBO and Counterstrike Source and as far as gaming is concerned it works absolutely outstanding.

Its price is a bit high as compared to others but because of its comfortable grip and rich features it will definitely make its mark & will stay for years to come.

Pros
- Soft Comfortable Grip
- High Quality Material
- LCD for on go customization
- Ambidextrous Shape
- Outperforming Sensor
- Simplicity in usage
Cons
- Bit expensive
- No weight management
January 16, 2013
WP7 Mango Launch Event Tomorrow Adds 500+ New Features

Steve Ballmer, CEO of Microsoft confirmed today at the Japanese Microsoft Developer Forum 2011 tomorrow’s WP7 Mango preview event. He referred to it as the “Mango launch event”. He also told the audience that they “came to market with Windows Phone about a year later than” he wished they had.

You can catch the reference to the 500 additional features to be added at the 0:50 point. The features we are currently aware of are:Â IE9, Fast app switching, Twitter Integration + Messenger, Turn-by-turn navigation, Dictation support, Unified Inbox, Bing Audio/Vision, New languages, Podcast support on Zune and Smart DJ, to name a few.

Windows Phone 7 is also set to arrive in Japan Mango ready later this year.

November 20, 2012
New Features Of iOS 5
So the highly anticipated iOS 5 announcement is here. Here is an overview of the new features of the iOS 5 introduced at the WWDC. Keep in mind that these areÂ just a few of the features and there are other less important ones which weren’t announced at the WWDC.

Notification Center

The first feature, which is also the most expected one, is the all new notifications system. At first look, it bears a striking resemblance to the one used in android. Apple has finally gotten rid of those annoying push notifications which plagued the iPhone.Now, the notifications can be accessed by pulling the top bar down, like in android devices. They can then be viewed individually by sliding across to reveal the notification. The notifications can be closed by tapping on the cross. Click here for more information

Deep Twitter Integration

The second feature is native twitter integration of the iOS devices. Twitter applications can now be integrated with other applications.The setup for twitter has been simplified and now it can also automatically update contacts if they have twitter handles. Overall, the Twitter user interface is made smoother and now is much more pleasant to use. Click here for more information

News Stand

The third feature is the news stand. It is more like a virtual newspaper, with magazine and news subscriptions being sent to you virtually on your iOS device. Subscriptions were introduced by Apple a while back, but now the latest editions can be downloaded automatically. They can then be read offline.

Enhanced Safari

Apple has introduced a lot of new changes to the native Safari browser. First and foremost is the Safari reader, which is placed near the address bar. It aligns text together,and is a handy convenience when reading an all text page, such as a story. Then there is the reading list, which basically lets you read pages off line by saving them. Apple also introduced tabbed browsing on the iOS devices. As said before, twitter integration makes its presence here as tweets can be made using the tweet button, which pops up the tweet sheet.

Camera Updates

The native camera application has been upgraded drastically. A camera button has been placed on the lockscreen so the camera application can be accessed directly from there without unlocking the phone.Pictures can be taken by using the volume up button, so it acts like a physical camera shutter key. The pictures can be pinched to zoom like in the previous iOS versions, but now the exposure settings can beÂ adjusted automatically by holding onto the touch. Options for editing to some extent are also present such as red-eye reduction, cropping and one click enhancement.

Enhanced Mail Client

Some features have also been added to the native mail client. These include; Rich-text formatting, indentation control, S-mime, draggable addresses (from To: to Cc: or Bcc:). You can now also search entire contents of messages.

iMessage

iMessage is a new messaging client available on all iOS 5 devices. Messages,receipts,pictures and videos can be sent amongst all iOS 5 devices using WiFi or 3G. One thing to note is that typing notifications are present here, so the receiver gets noted when the sender is typing a message. Click here for more information

PC-Free

With the iOS 5, the iOS devices wouldn’t need to be synced with a PC/Mac to set them up on first start up. The setup is done on the device itself, and software updates are downloaded Over the air, unlike the previous iOS versions wherea computer with itunes was needed to update to the latest iOS version. iTunes library on the device can be synced wirelessly over wifi. Airplay mirroring also lets you display the iPad on a TV wirelessly. Click here for more information.

Reminders

Other features of the iOS 5 include reminders, which can be assigned for any time or location. The dictionary can now be used for all applications downloaded from the app store. It can be accessed by selecting the text and using the define option.

The iOS 5 will be released this fall and for now will support the iPhone 3GS, iPhone 4, iPod touch 3rd and 4th generations, iPad and iPad 2. However, the developer will be available from today.

Image Courtesy: MacRumors

Incoming search terms:
- use camera with tweet sheet
April 13, 2012