ROCCAT Kone Pure Optical Gaming Mouse Closer Look (The Software)

ROCCAT Kone Pure Optical Gaming Mouse Closer Look:

The ROOCAT software is something you’ll actually want to spend the time to download and install from the website. Beyond getting access to changing settings on the mouse, there are also critical firmware updates for the mouse’s onboard hardware. Ok, they aren’t so critical that the mouse will explode without them, but they will ultimately improve your use.

The first tab of the software as it opens is the “Main Control” page. It allows you to control sensitivity, scroll wheel speed, and if you assign some buttons for tilt (since the wheel doesn’t tilt), you can even control speed for that. The standard DPI settings can be controlled on the right, allowing you to cycle through a total of five settings (default 400-4000). The standard Windows double-click speed can be adjusted here as well. The bottom shows off the five different profiles you can manage for each tab as needed.

The second tab is “Button Assignment” and if you couldn’t guess what this tab was for, well that’s pretty sad. Here you can assign your buttons as you see fit. If you are opting in to give up either your forward or backward buttons, then you can even set up your EASY-SHIFT[+] buttons, which allow you double the functionality for nearly every button on the mouse. Clicking “MACRO MANAGER” brings up a separate window that allows you to record, save, and upload your favorite macros. You can then apply them to whatever button you see fit.

The “Advanced Control” tab allows you to change up a few different things. The first I noticed is the ability to turn off that silly DPI voice that plays over your system when you change DPI settings. Apparently there are even sounds for switching profiles, sensitivity changes, volume up/down, and trophies. All these can be toggled on/off depending on your preference. You can even increase the standard volume of such sounds to annoy everyone around you as well.

This section also contains your color options. As mentioned before, you have full control over the color in the entire 24-bit color range. You can pick a standard defined color or customize your color option with 0-255 on each RGB channel. Not all color options translate perfectly from screen to mouse and they do take the typical ROCCAT length of time to apply (approximately 15 seconds) – so getting the exact color you want, though likely possible, will require a bit of patience. On this same tab, you can also change polling rate, your Windows pointer speed (with acceleration and pointer trails), and completely reset the mouse to factory defaults. Plenty to play with.

The “ROCCAT R.A.D.” page shows off your statistics of mouse usage, giving you bragging rights to total button clicks, scroll steps, EASY-SHIFT[+] uses, and total distance traveled. The hidden trophy achievements only appear as you get them, so finding out what they are is always a surprise. Though I find this all gimmicky and don’t really care for it, a good friend of mine who I gave a couple ROCCAT items to enjoys every moment of these achievements. The little hidden goals he reaches provide him the silliest of bragging rights – yet provide great conversation. He’s a bit competitive, so I get the usual, “Guess how many clicks I have?” on a regular basis now. But I’m glad he likes it. This, if nothing else, adds a little fun to using a mouse I suppose.

The final tab is the “Update/Support” tab, and as you can guess, it allows you to update and get support! You can actually download the latest drivers by jumping straight to the drivers page or get general online support by jumping to the technical support page as well. Both require you to have working Internet at the time of use (obviously), but the tab itself at least shows you what driver and firmware you are currently running in case you need to directly acquire assistance from a ROCCAT representative.