CM Storm Alcor Gaming Mouse Review

[ManOfDisguise]

Hey guys I've had this mouse for a bit more than 2 weeks now and I thought I would do a review on it as not many people know of this mouse. Sorry if the review isn't all that good written I haven't written a member review in a while and I'm not good at this anyway, I just hope I could help you out in case you were thinking of getting this mouse.

 

 

Introduction:

 

The Alcor is an optical gaming mouse from CoolerMaster. It uses an Avago 3090 sensor and Japanese Omron switches rated for a guaranteed 5 million clicks. The mouse can reach up to 4000 DPI. The cable is a standard rubberised cable(not braided). I personally like non braided cables more but again, it's personal preference.

 

Shape/Ergonomics:

 

The Alcor is an ergonomic mouse for right handed gamers(no left handed version). The shape mostly represents the Microsoft Intellimouse Explorer 3.0. My hands are about 21.5 cm from palm to top of middle finger(not exactly sure now) and I find the mouse comfortable to use with all 3 grips(palm,claw,fingertip). For my hands it is a bit too small for a full palm grip but I can still palm it, while not fully, comfortably. If I had to compare it to my Razer Deathadder 2013 I used to have, this mouse definitely has a lower profile and a less contoured,curved shape which gives you a more free approach as to how you can grip it, you aren't limited to holding it only one way, the mouse doesn't control how you hold it, but you control how the mouse rests in your hand(if you get what I mean, lol, nvm that was a terrible explanation)

 

Build quality/Materials:

 

I find the build quality to be just fine and I'm definitely not worried about it feeling cheap or anything like that. The mouse has the classic kind of rubberised material all around. It's a solidly built mouse. The mouse weighs 86 grams without the cable and 120 grams with the cable so this is definitely a light mouse.

 

Sensor/Performance and Software:

 

The sensor is, as mentioned before, an Avago 3090. This is not the newest sensor out there but its a great optical sensor. It is used for example in the Kana V2 from Steelseries. It has no acceleration or prediction and has a good perfect control speed (more than 3m/s) so even low sensitivity gamers wont have this mouse malfunction on them. Really the, noticeable only disadvantage to be found with this sensor is that it has a bit too high LOD(Lift off distance), which some might not notice or it won't bother them if they don't pick up their mouse a lot, but to people who don't like higher LOD this could be an issue.  Now this can be fixed either with the "tape trick" where you put a piece of tape under the sensor or by downloading drivers ---> but this is what I want to talk about:

 

This mouse does NOT have any software it is plug n play(probably due to the lower price), it has 4 DPI settings you can switch through(800,1600,3200,4000) which is distinguished by 4 different colors on the logo. Now you can tweak report rate, button response time,LOD and DPI values but it's done in a weird way. The mouse doesn't have it's own software,as mentioned before but rather it has downloadable drivers, profiles you could say. Basically you go to Cooler Master's website and there you can find 5 different profiles(including the original profile with the original settings that come out of the box).

 

So for example, here are some of the profiles/drivers that you can download:

 

Alcor FW V Version V1.2.0 Release Date 2014-09-22 Language Multi languages support File Size 1.2 MB Description [ Original version ]
- DPI: 800 / 1600 / 3200 / 4000. 
- LOD < 4.4mm 
- Modify button response time to 8ms    

^^^These are the original out of the box settings(you don't need to download them)

 

 

Version V3.2.1 Release Date 2014-10-29 Language   File Size 2.74 MB Description

[ RTS/MMO, 8ms version ] 
- DPI: 400(Cyan) / 800(Orange) / 2000(Purple) / 4000(White)
- LOD < 1.7mm 
- Modify button response time to 8ms
- Report rate 8ms

 

 

 

 

^^^This is a different profile you can download. As you can see the DPI values are a bit different, the colors for each DPI settings are also changed compared to the original way they are, the LOD is changed.

 

Then there are 3 more which also have some changed in DPI,Lighting,LOD

 

 

 

So as you can see you don't get full customization, only a few predefined steps of DPI, 4 colors and some tweaks to the LOD. Now this mouse does have 1000hz report rate so originally it should be set to 1ms, as you can see in the original profile it says modify up to 8ms so its kind of misleading becuase I havent found a way to modify the report rate/hz but im assuming its set to 1000hz out of the box(why wouldnt it be)

 

Scroll wheel/Buttons:

 

The mouse has 2 side buttons with a good feel and feedback to both of them and I found their position to be well placed. Under the scroll wheel there are 2 buttons to change the DPI(up and down) and when you change the DPI  the color of the CM logo also changes. The 2 main buttons(LMB,RMB) feel nice and crisp. They arent hard to click but you wont be misclicking them either. The scroll wheel feels really good to use, both when browsing the web and when gaming. Switching weapons with the scroll wheel in shooters is nice and accurate.

 

 

Price:

 

I got this mouse for 35 euros and the mouse generally should be hovering around 30-40 euros. As you can see this mouse has a lower price than most of the other more known gaming mice out there, which is good to see.

 

Conclusion/My Thoughts:

 

For 35 euros I found this mouse to be absolutely worth it. It is solidly built, has a great sensor and performance for the price, the buttons and scroll wheel feel solid and has up to 4000 DPI which should be plenty for everyone. The biggest and probably only downside to this mouse is the lack of customization but that is due to the lower price of this mouse, you get what you pay for. It's not like you can't customize it at all then again as it has those profiles you can download so at least there are some possiblites of customization.

 

If you are thinking whether or not to get this mouse, I would personally reccomend it as I find it to be a great mouse both for browsing and gaming and you won't have to spend too much money to get it.

 

 

NOTE: If you like the Alcor but would like more customization then check out the Mizar from CoolerMaster, it is like the Alcor, but with a laser sensor, rubberised side grips,has its own software,a backlit logo AND scroll wheel(scroll wheel isnt backlit on Alcor and neither are the DPI switching buttons) but is about 10 euros more expensive.

 

 

CM Storm Mizar