MMO Gaming Mouse for Productivity

MMO gaming mice typically have a series of side buttons that you can assign keyboard shortcuts to – so you can carry out functions right at the palm of your hand.

What you’re looking at above is the Corsair Scimitar.

I’ve had it for the past 3 months or so – and you can already see some sort of fraying of the threaded cable – that it has a fair bit of use (and overall pretty grubby to boot).

And it has been what I consider the upgrade to the Logitech Master Mx – a mouse that I do still really love – but I wanted to have a range of extra buttons that I can quickly access – to perform keyboard shortcuts.

However, it hasn’t at all been used for gaming.

Instead of if it is exclusively a productivity tool.

Essentially, this has I believe 18 buttons in total available on the palm of my wrist – and the stretch of my fingers.

Where are they located?

You get two on top.
The mouse wheel
Left and right clicker.
Then on the left panel, you have a range of 12 buttons.

Then as you would expect – you can assign each of them to a dedicated task.

Here’s the General Gist

I’m not going to label every keyboard shortcut on my current setup – as that could get boring pretty fast.

But you have the general ones:

Mouse Wheel = Delete
Secondary Back Button = Enter
First Back Button = Undo
Second Button = Copy
Third Button = Paste
Button “9” = CMD + W (which is quitting a window).

Who wants to venture to the keyboard to type that in or even head to the top left to close down a window, huh?

The general buttons that you are using pretty much everyday work – switching in and out of programs and so on.

I use it exclusively on my mac and have it tied up with an app called HotKey.

Where I am going with this is you can basically open apps and websites – well pretty much everything at the touch of a button.

The fun really starts to kick when you start carrying out shortcuts with Mac Automator (and the new Shortcuts) program. I’ve got it dialed in now so that it is pretty much-generating template emails and sending them off at literally two clicks of the mouse.

Why I Love It

I think it is pretty obvious.

But you can 100% increase your productivity with an MMO gaming mouse – and I am surprised it is not spoken about more.

Tie in a bunch of functionality into one gaming mouse – and shave a few seconds off – reaching over to your keyboard.

Especially for the repetitive stuff – and makes the whole experience more enjoyable as well – especially when it comes to surfing the web.

I think you will love it too.

If you pretty much live in one piece of software or program – and you can manipulate it through shortcuts – immediately I am thinking Excel, Photoshop etc., and even cloud-based programs.

You could assign a specific URL – so you can jump to that page right away – rather than having to do several clicks in order to get there.

Anything repetitive that you want fast access to – this is a great little investment.

Plus, you can always do some actual gaming.

I haven’t actually used it for any MMO games (yet).

I promise.

But it is nice knowing that when that time does come – I have a gaming mouse to fall back on that I can pull out and start being at least ‘competitive’ with other gamers – who likely have the gear with some idea.

The Downsides

You have to learn the damn buttons.

It’s not so much knowing what the buttons actually do – I kind of forget – and initially, I had to start writing them down.

It’s getting used to the overall feel of the mouse – and then learning through essentially muscle memory where each of the corresponding buttons has to go.

This can get very tricky if you start to assign ‘quit pages’ next to your ‘back button’ – this can get pretty bad – fast.

That said, it is a learning curve – pretty much like most things – and you will find yourself quickly getting used to it.

Client facing?

If you have clients over or even a boss – and you rock up with an RGB gaming mouse, that could definitely be taken the wrong way.

That said, there are more subtle ones out than the Corsair Scimitar – I think there is a Logitech equivalent.

Personally, I really like the Scimitar – offers good weight and overall I am a bit of a fanboy when it comes to RGB.

Expensive, right?

I mean sure.

It is not the most expensive mouse in the world.

In fact, it is really not that much more expensive than the previous three Logitech Master’s – but I do think almost approaching $100 for a mouse is certainly not on the cheap side. Call me crazy.

That said.

There are some cheaper models out there. But remember you’re not just getting the mouse itself.

You are getting the software that comes with it and in the case of Corsair.

iCue, is personally what I am most used to and can get on with – and as I say – I’ve got a lot of Corsair products so it came pretty naturally.

Not Going Back to the Logitech Master

I actually got all three versions of that Logitech Master.

And as I say.

I think it is a freaking great mouse.

But this Scimitar – despite the build quality – not being super, super great. Rather it had a little more weight – the practicality that it does offer is phenomenal.

Especially – when you – get to work on making it so.

Think about your workflow – what’s something that you do every single day – that is not tied to a keyboard shortcut stroke?

Whether it is.