More Details:

Profile off.

Green.

The OCZ Eclipse also features another LED to indicate the profile that's currently in use. There is support for up to 3 profiles to switch between, and an LED beneath the translucent wheel lights up accordingly, switching between green, red and yellow to indicate the active profile. (The LED will be off to indicate that no profile is active and all of the buttons are using their defaults) Some of the light from this LED also shines through the horizontal translucent stripes on the side of the mouse.

Red.

Yellow.

By default, the mouse is configured to use 400/800/1600/2400 for the DPI settings and no profiles are setup. For most, this will be enough, but if you really want to use this mouse to its true extent, you'll have to use the included software to customize it. This is where things get really interesting.

Installation:

As mentioned before, you don't need to install any software to start using the OCZ Eclipse. The included software is only necessary if you want to customize the profiles to suit your needs, as well as to adjust the specific DPI resolutions used by the mouse. The software is included on a mini CD, and doesn't even need to be installed; it's just an executable that can be directly run, though it should be copied over to your HDD first.

The software only serves as a means to save profiles (button configurations) to the mouse itself; once saved, the customizations will go with the mouse. This means that you can bring your OCZ Eclipse to a completely different PC, and without installing any software, your configured profiles will work because the customizations are stored directly in the mouse's onboard memory and "played back" in hardware. This is the first time we've seen a feature like this and it's worthwhile to note its usefulness.

Profile customization.

DPI configuration.

The software itself is a bit utilitarian and has some quirks. The interface is a bit unpolished (with some spelling/grammar mistakes in certain dialogs) and feels somewhat rushed, but it gets the job done. Thankfully, the manual explains away most of the confusion. It does have some interface tweaks, such as clearly identifying which button you're configuring in the mouse picture.

There are two main screens in the software. First is the Profile section, which allows you to configure and save up to three profiles into the mouse's onboard memory. You can configure more profiles and save them to your PC and then swap them to the mouse later on. The interface is a bit weird here, but basically you can load/save a profile from the mouse to the editor. When profile data is being transferred to/from the mouse, the blue DPI LEDs on the top flash in sequence to indicate this. All of the buttons, except for the left, can be configured to perform a variety of functions, including keystrokes, macros and even a "Continuous Shooting" function that's reminiscent of the Auto-fire feature on old third-party console controllers. Overall, there is quite a bit of complex configuration that can be accomplished with the OCZ Eclipse and this ought to be enough to satisfy even the most hardcore gamer.

The other screen allows you to tweak/define the DPI resolutions that the Eclipse mouse can switch between. You can specify up to 4 DPI levels between 100 and 2400 DPI in 100 DPI increments. You can also set the USB polling rate between 125, 250, 500 and 1000 Hz.

Testing:

In testing, the OCZ Eclipse was quite comfortable to use. All of the buttons were easy to reach and didn't require any awkward hand contortions. While most of the buttons felt good to use and provided good tactile feedback, the thumb buttons (forward/backward) felt a little weird, as they had too much give and were a little loud and hollow, giving off a somewhat low-quality feeling. They worked well, however. The wheel provided some quiet tactile feedback when rotated and we didn't have any problems accidentally activating the scroll when pressing the wheel as a middle button. A tilt (side-to-side) wheel would've been nice here, for even more functionality. The smooth grippy texture covering the entire mouse made it comfortable to use for extended periods of time.

Tracking was also excellent. We never encountered any lag, delay or weird mouse movement with the OCZ Eclipse and it was as accurate as any we've had the chance to use. At the highest DPI setting of 2400, tracking was expectedly sensitive, and especially good for twitch gamers. The DPI switcher, located just beneath the wheel, was very easy to use and didn't require you to look down at the mouse. The ability to switch DPI on-the-fly has become a requirement for gaming mice, but it can also be quite useful for desktop work, such as image editing, where you can lower the DPI when fine movements are needed.

Conclusion:

Overall, the OCZ Eclipse turns out to be a very formidable gaming mouse. It has all the fundamentals - a precise laser tracking engine, a comfortable feel and on-the-fly DPI settings in hardware. It adds to this a customizable weight tuning system and customized button settings saved to the mouse itself. (so no software is required on the host PC) These features help it stand apart from the many other gaming mice that exist today. When taken into account with the price, (below $30 street price) the OCZ Eclipse Gaming Mouse becomes hard to ignore.

Pros:

• On-the-fly DPI adjustments in hardware

• Profile/button customizations saved to the mouse so no driver software required

• Many configuration options

• Comfortable to use

• Accurate tracking

• Weight adjustment system

Cons:

• Side/thumb buttons feel weird

• Software is a bit quirky to use

Thanks go out to OCZ Technology for making this review possible!

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