Summary: Ozone is a somewhat new manufacturer of PC hardware peripherals. Today I will be reviewing their “Smog” gaming mouse which has exceptional technical specifications and is sold at an interesting price level.

INTRODUCTION

A couple of months ago I reviewed one of Ozone’s mouse pads, the Ground Level S and I was very impressed. I am very intrigued to be able to do a review of the Smog gaming mouse because the specifications are just over the top for this mouse. Still, specifications are one thing and real life performance another, read on and find out how it performs.

I guess most users never really think about things like the “performance” of the mouse they are using, they simple accept it as it is. I am not one of those users however; I want my gear to be top notch. I think once you have gotten the chance to work with a high quality laser mouse, it’s really hard to go back to using anything else. Ozone have acknowledged this demand from high end users and created a very advanced mouse, mainly directed towards the gaming market. Enough rambling, here are the specifications:

Naturally, the above specifications will raise the attention of any real gamer, especially the extremely high sensor resolution of 5040 dpi. It at least caught my attention.

FIRST IMPRESSIONS

One thing I noticed about Ozone when I reviewed one of their mousepads a couple of months back was their excellent presentation of their products. The Smog comes in a cardboard box which has an aggressive touch to it with the red and black colors. The front of the package holds a detailed image of the mouse as you can see from the images below.

The backside of the box holds an illustration of the mouse with written explanations of all the buttons and extra features. I was positively surprised to see the extra effort that Ozone has put into the packaging. Inside the box I found the mouse itself; the extra side cover; a small box with weights; a manual and a CD with drivers.

OZONE SMOG IN DETAIL

As you can probably grasp from the detailed images below, the Ozone Smog is quite big. The aesthetics of this mouse is really something extra; I just love the black and red colors which make me feel like I’m in a sports car.

The sides of the Smog are made of rubber to increase the grip. The left side of the mouse also has some lines integrated in the rubber which increase the grip even more. The point of swapping side grips (right side) is of course to make the mouse fit more users. I personally like the”spare part” cover best.

The Smog has no less than nine buttons of which seven are configurable via the software. It is possible to create “presets” with the software and the easily change between those preset modes with one of the buttons on the top (Mode)

Without a doubt the Smog is a very customizable mouse. In addition to the features I have showed you so far, the Smog has an advanced system for adjusting the weight. You reach the compartment which holds the weights by releasing the right side panel. The box can hold up to six weights of 5g each.

The USB cable is 3m which is good when using it with a desktop computer.

The underside of the mouse is interesting. It holds the high resolution sensor (naturally) and the ceramic pads on which the mouse glides.

INSTALLATION AND TESTS

The installation of the drivers and the software was easy; I just inserted the CD and more or less clicked on “Next” until the installation was completed. Once the software is installed there is a lot of configuring to do for those who like. The interface is simple but includes all setting you can think of.

In the first configuration tab we can create a total of 5 different profiles, each one holding all the unique settings of buttons and sensor sensitivity of your choice. This is ideal for anyone using the mouse for diverse tasks like gaming, ordinary use and desktop publishing. It is possible to set different vertical and horizontal resolutions, both can be set up to 5040 dpi.

It is also possible to setup macros which you can use in games. The macros are then executed by clicking to any of the assigned buttons. I found the macro function to be easy to understand setup and use in real life gaming situations.

I used the Smog with Far Cry 2 and Brothers in Arms, my two favorite FPS games. In those games you are dependent on the speed and exactness of the mouse you are using to succeed.

Normally when playing FPS games I am most comfortable with a resolution of 1800 dpi, which I used during the test together with the 3600 dpi setting. In both resolutions the handling of the mouse was nothing short of impeccable. I actually found the 3600 dpi setting the most comfortable in action scenes but when I tried the 5040 dpi everything became uncontrollable.

I also tested the mouse in a high resolution office scenario (1920×1200) and thanks to the high resolution (3600 dpi) this worked flawlessly.

Overall, the ergonomics of the Smog is great. All the buttons are located where I could reach them easily with my fingers without having to change the position of my hand.

The “Lift” feature controls the distance to the laser sensor, when you click it, the distance is measured and the sensor adapts to give you the best performance possible for the surface you are using. It should be clicked each time you change the surface. This worked pretty well even though it was hard to detect any bigger difference.

Take a look at the images above to get an idea of what the mouse looks like in action.

CONCLUSIONS

The Ozone Smog has many qualities. It is in fact the best mouse I have ever laid my hands upon and I have tried a few. The price level is very interesting at around 40€ (US price unknown). I think it’s a real bargain considering the quality, features and performance of this mouse.

Pros:

• High resolution, up to 5040 dpi
• Nice looks and design
• Good ergonomics and easy access to the buttons
• Powerful yet easy software
• Low price

Cons:

• Will not work with left-handed people

The final score is 100 out of 100 owls, and we give the “Ozone Smog” our Editor’s Choice Award.

Thanks goes out to Ozone for letting me review this mouse.

Author: Manuel González Fernández

Translator: Vince Emiloz Sanderson

Summary: The AeroCool Vx-e Pro is directed towards the gaming market with outstanding features such as the advanced cooling system with an integrated cooler controller and of course the aggressive design.

AeroCool has been around for quite a while. They are well known for their cooling solutions, their multifunction front panels and their cases. Their most recent launch is the “PGS”-series (Performance Gaming System) which includes a total of 5 families of products: VALUE; Professional; Aluminum; Ultimate Gaming and Compact. So far only the “VALUE”-series is official with 5 different models.

INTRODUCTION

The case that AeroCool has sent us is one of the more extreme gaming cases in the VALUE line, the “Vx-e Pro”. With the VALUE-line, AeroCool tries to reach out to advanced users by providing them with complete solutions of quality but with a reasonable price tag. Let’s take a look at the specifications of the Vx-e Pro:

The specifications for this case are interesting to say the least. What really caught my attention was the extra room given to PCI cards. With a free length of 307mm we will be able to install any of the currently available high end cards on the market.

FIRST IMPRESSIONS

OK, so let’s take a quick look at the packaging. The case comes in a quite discreet cardboard box. On the backside, AeroCool has printed some of the specifications of the case in different languages.

When we opened the box, we found the case perfectly protected by the usual white protective material and a plastic bag. The box arrived to us without any marks or bruises so this protection seems to be enough for postal transport.

The accessories that AeroCool has included with the case are not much to speak about, a mounting kit (5.25” to 3.5” adapter), three bags of screws in different sizes and a manual.

AEROCOOL VX-E PRO: OUTSIDE

At first sight of the case, my first thought was the aggressive design of the case. It really brings me then years back in time, when cases looked somewhat like this. Extra everything. But that is not to say it looks out of date or anything, in my opinion the design is quite is nice.

The front has a total of 5 external bays, 4 of them are 5.25” and one is 3.5”. Below the expansion bays, AeroCool has placed a 140mm fan with blue illumination with the looks of an airplane turbine. The fan is slightly tilted which gives it a nice touch and also helps the air flow to go slightly upwards into the case. This should help the circulation and the overall cooling performance, excellent idea.

In the upper part, above the expansion bays, AeroCool has installed another entry point of air, but I guess it will have little effect without any dedicated fan drawing air into the case from it. The top of the box has the Power and Reset switches and the fan controller. The fan controller has three modes: “Off”, “60%” and “100%”. They have also placed to very convenient USB 2.0 ports and a microphone and a headphones outlet. Behind these controls, they have placed a grid which should give provide some dust filtration for the two 120mm fans placed below them.

Moving over to the left side of the case (viewed from the front), we find a generous opening for the 200mm fan installed on the interior side of the side panel. If you flip the case over and take a look at the bottom side, you will find two more fan openings, one for the PSU and one for a 120mm fan. Sadly, if the PSU is of normal size, it will prevent us from installing the 120mm fan.

AEROCOOL VX-E PRO: INTERIOR

OK, so let’s take the clothes of this baby. When completely disassembling the box, we see the hollows for the two 120mm fans (or one of 140mm), which can be installed in the ceiling of the case. The cables from the top panels come out from a small hole next to one of the fan slots in the ceiling of the case.

Behind the front panel I noticed that there is a free space, i.e. possible space for liquid cooling radiator. Of course, the amount of DVD-drives and hard drives you install will perhaps limit the possibilities for this.

Because the PSU is placed at the bottom of the case, the possibilities of distributing the wiring are quite interesting with this case. Another one of the interesting aspects of this case is the hole which lets us change the CPU cooler without having to remove the motherboard, great!

In the back side of this case we found a pretty standard distribution of holes for PSU, motherboard, a 120mm fan and the PCI expansion slots. As we mentioned earlier, the only thing that’s abnormal about the backside of this case is the placing of the PSU. The fastening of all the installed expansion cards with only one screw is new to me.

Given all the extra components of this case, we are talking about a lot of wires. This means it will be difficult to get a clean install that lets the air flow through the case.

MOUNTING THE SYSTEM IN THE VX-E PRO

The assembly of the system was as easy as with most ATX cases, thanks to the good spacing. The only problem I had was with the wiring. On the right side of the case the free space between the bottom plate and the right side panel is totally insufficient to pass larger cables, which forced me to leave them just hanging on the inside.

I really liked the space available for graphics cards, since for example the Radeon HD 2900 XT that I used in the assembly has sufficient free space.

Check out the pictures above to see what the case looks like in action when it’s dark. The fan control system works very well and I like the placement of the buttons on top of the case for easy reach. The 3 fans standard to the AeroCool Vx-e Pro are rather quiet as long as you don’t run them in the max mode.

CONCLUSIONS

AeroCool has succeeded in producing a nice looking and good performing gaming case with a cheap price tag. I did find some annoyances which I hope AeroCool will fix for their next series. One must remember that this case is from their “VALUE” line with a price tag around $80 (50 Euro), which means there is room for much improvements for their next level series.

To me, the Vx-e Pro is aesthetically excellent, with a nice finish and giving me both an aggressive and sober impression at the same time. The internal distribution of the box is very good. I was especially pleased by the extra room given to large graphics cards and the possibility of putting a liquid cooling solution in the front of the case. One thing I didn’t like was the wiring in the case; I just didn’t find it to be well thought through.

Overall, this is a very good case; especially the price/features (price/performance) ratio is impressive. I am really looking forward to see more from Aero Cool’s PGS series.

The final score is 92.5 out of 100 owls, and we give the “AeroCool Vx-e Pro” our Editor’s Choice Award.

Check out more cool gaming chassis over at our Cases category. Here are some popular alternatives:

• Cooler Master HAF 932
• Antec Skeleton
• Antec Twelve Hundred

Thanks to AeroCool for letting us review this case.

Author: Manuel González Fernández

Translator: Vince Emiloz Sanderson

Summary: A quality mouse pad is an absolute necessity if you want to be successful with your FPS gaming. Today I will be taking a closer look at the “Ground Level S mouse pad” from Ozone, a new manufacturer of gaming gear, at least to me.

The first day of what was supposed to be my vacation, I received a press note from Computer science Atlas, in which they announced the imminent arrival of a new manufacturer, Ozone, to its catalog. In the press release they presented the mouse “Smog”, the “Oxid” headphones and the mouse pad “Ground Level”, which I will take a closer look at in this review.

INTRODUCTION

I really liked the looks of these new products from Ozone and it’s always nice to see a manufacturer who directs their products exclusively towards the gaming scene so I just had to test one of them.

The Ozone Ground Level appears in two sizes: normal (285x320mm) and small (210x250mm). This review is based upon the small model. This model, like its big brother, is based on a rubber surface which holds it in place on the surface on which you place it upon. The upper surface is made of some kind of textile of high quality that allows a perfect sliding surface for the mouse.

FIRST IMPRESSIONS

The mouse pad comes in a box with Ozone’s colors and logo which looks aggressively nice with its black and red combo. On the box, Ozone explains the composition of the mouse pad to us. On the sides, they have placed smaller illustrations of the mouse pad.

Inside the box we found an extra protective plastic box in which the mouse pad itself was placed. This extra box gave me the feeling that Ozone is a company that pays attention to details

OZONE GROUND LEVEL S IN DETAIL

Ok, so let’s take a closer look at the product itself. When taking out the product from the box and holding it in my hands, it gives me the impression of high quality and the Ozone logo looks remarkably cool in the bottom right corner.

As I mentioned above the mouse pad is made of two different materials. The bottom material facing the table surface is a high friction rubber material and the top mousing surface is made of a fine textile weave. This combination has two aims, the first one is to secure that to the mouse pad is not slipping around on the table which it’s placed upon and the second aim is to provide an exact positioning surface with a low friction coefficient.

Another important specification is the height (thickness) of the mouse pad, in my opinion the smaller the better so I don’t have to angle my wrist in a way that creates unnecessary tension. The Ground Level S has a thickness of only 2mm, which feels perfect to me.

OZONE GROUND LEVEL S IN USE

Before beginning my evaluation of the Ozone Ground Level S I would like to show you another picture of the mouse pad together with a mouse so you can appreciate the size of the mouse pad. As you can see, this is a small mouse pad so it should be used with mice with high resolution. Normally you will never need it to be bigger, at least not for gaming or normal use.

When I started using the mouse pad, I was away from work and home, thus my ordinary testing equipment so I only tested it with normal Windows use and it worked beautifully. But this is a mouse mat intended for gamers so of course I had to test it in games as well. I tried it with the games “Officers’ Club of Revolutionary Armed Forces 2 Cry” and “CoD: World AT War” and it was truly a dream to do some serious FPS gaming with this mat, it’s very smooth and lets me do fast movements of high accuracy.

CONCLUSIONS

Clearly, when a new manufacturer wants to enter the market they must offer something extra of value, no matter which market we are talking about. In the case of Ozone, I feel they offer the extra value in terms of high quality, aggressively designed and branded products and at an interesting price level. The Ground Level S mouse mat goes for around $8.

I will keep looking out for new products from Ozone in the future; they definitely caught my attention with the Ground Level S. I can only hope that they will follow it up with many more interesting gaming products.

The final score is 95 out of 100 owls, and we give the “Ozone Ground Level S” our Editor’s Choice Award.

Don’t forget that TestSeek.com has a special category for gaming mouse pads, here are some of the most popular:

• Razer Goliathus
• SteelSeries Steelpad 4D
• Roccat Sense
• SteelSeries Steelpad SX
• Razer Mantis Control

Thanks goes out to Ozone.

Author: Manuel González Fernández

Translator: Vince Emiloz Sanderson

Summary: Logitech has given us a chance to take a look at one of its latest creations, the Logitech G13 gameboard. It’s a real jewel for game addicts like us.

Logitech’s G13 gameboard is a revolutionary peripheral, and well worth a look.

INTRODUCTION

Gamers spend a lot of time using keyboards specially designed for gameplay, called gameboards. Although Logitech entered this market only a couple of months ago, it has used all its experience and knowledge in the world of keyboards to give players what is possibly the best gameboard on the market.

The Logitech G13 is a small board that brings together a large number of keys, a small joystick, and a big LCD screen that gives you all the information you need about your game.

Let’s see exactly what Logitech says in its packaging for the G13:

Dig in. Get comfortable.

• Naturally contoured design: Follows the natural shape of your hand and fingers for increased comfort during long sessions.
• Large, concave buttons: Let you locate buttons by touch on the home row.
• Solid, stable design: Helps assure that your gameboard will keep up when your game gets intense. Strategically placed feet. Stable weight (650 grams).

Take command.

• Twenty-five programmable keys: Customize keys to suit your style of play.
• Quick macros: Assign complex actions to single keystrokes—on the fly.
• Programmable mini-joystick: Maneuver quickly and easily. The control you need is under your thumb.
• Backlit keys: Let you easily locate the right key in low-light conditions or lights-out play. Plus, you can customize the keys with any backlight color that you want.

Go mobile.

• Onboard memory: Saves your profiles so you can take your personal preferences with you.
• Portable design: Keeps the game going wherever you go.

Stay informed.

• High-visibility GamePanel™ LCD: Gather tactical information, including live stats, system info, and communications from fellow players.
• Public software development kit (SDK): Upload the latest enhancements developed exclusively for GamePanel™ by the Logitech open-source community.

Logitech’s G13 can definitely be a special gameboard for the most interesting games on the market, with features that are clearly superior to the competition’s.

FIRST IMPRESSIONS

As soon as we saw the packaging of the Logitech G13, we thought, “this looks great!” The serigraphy is striking, with nicely contrasting colors. The back briefly lists the main features that Logitech has given the product: its ergonomic shape, keys with configurable LEDs, LCD screen, and many other features that we’ll cover, little by little.

The back of the box describes the G13 in six languages and explains some references included in the description.

The images on the package don’t show a lot, but they don’t need to, since you can see almost the entire product without taking it out. When you open the box, there’s not much to see: just the gameboard, user manuals, and a CD with G13 drivers and programs. That’s all you need, so we won’t say anything more here.

A DETAILED LOOK AT THE LOGITECH G13

At first glance, the G13 is very impressive. Though you may not notice it at first, it’s pretty big. But even more than by its size, the G13 impressed us by its large number of keys, its built-in joystick, and the large LCD.

Logitech has worked hard on the G13. You can see it in its shape, which is designed to provide the greatest possible comfort. The wrist rest has a rubber base, which keeps your hand from slipping during long gameplay sessions.

The built-in joystick is to the right of the keyboard. It’s well located so you can use it with your thumb. But at first, it was somewhat hard to use the joystick and the two joystick buttons at the same time with the same thumb.

The most important thing is the keys, right? That’s what dominates most of the gameboard. There are 22. They’re large, and quite high. The main ones, which you would use to move around in most games, have a notch that lets you easily recognize them by touch.

The area below the LCD screen has four rectangular function keys. You can use the first 3 to load profiles that you’ve created. The round keys let you turn the LCD and the keyboard LEDs on and off, as well as navigate the various applications that you can use with the G13 and see on the LCD screen.

The screen may be the G13′s strongest point. As with Logitech’s G15 or its newer version, the G19, it can display lots of information, either from programs supplied by Logitech or by others. It displays 160×43 pixels. You can completely customize the lighting color for the LCD and the keys, within the RGB palette.

There’s nothing notable about the base of the G13, although Logitech has installed a fairly large metal plate with the model name on it. The gameboard is supported by 6 feet, of which 2 are on the upper part, 2 below the joystick, and 2 on the lower part. They all have a small rubber pad, which ensures that the G13 stays securely on the table, offering a perfect grip.

INSTALLING THE G13 SOFTWARE

As soon as we connected the Logitech G13 to our Windows PC, the system automatically recognized it. But to use it, you still have to configure many options. The installation process is pretty standard, but the interface is outstanding. We opted to install only the Logitech software.

After the installation is done, you are offered various options. These include two configuration screens. The right-hand picture is in Spanish, but English is of course available. The screen shown there thanks users for buying the product. It lets users see compatible software online, gives information on profiles and macros, offers info about the LCD screen and included applications, and lets users create profiles.

Before you do anything else, we recommend that you watch the Flash presentation that Logitech has created for G13 users. It explains all of the gameboard’s important features and shows some of the things you can do with it, like saving game profiles in the unit’s built-in memory.

The left-hand “Global Configuration” screen lets users configure what they see onscreen in various ways. The right-hand one lets users set how to switch between applications, and adjust the screen’s brightness and contrast.

Among other things, the screen show above lets users activate and deactivate various included Logitech programs, such as its LCD countdown program, a multimedia function, a performance monitor, an RSS reader, and an e-mail application. You can also configure programs that you install yourself.

The screen above shows the result of searching for user-configured profiles for various games. The first two lines are “Find new games…” and “The profiler has completed the search.”

The key configuration screen offers incredible customization power. You can configure the lighting for the LCDs and the keys, customize all of the programmable keys, and create time-saving macros. You can also save profiles here, using the G13′s built-in memory. This is very useful if you use the unit with more than one PC.

The screen above lets you configure profiles for various games.

PLAYING WITH THE LOGITECH G13

Logitech is noted for giving users practical, high-quality solutions. The G13 is no exception. When we started using it, it took us awhile to adapt, especially because of the lack of references for the various keys, and because it took awhile to learn to handle the joystick well. We suppose that’s normal, since it always takes some time to adapt to new peripherals, or at least it always takes us awhile.

The screen above shows the LCD countdown on the left and includes a chronometer on the right.

After over 3 weeks with the G13, we’ve become accustomed to its feel, and the location of its keys. Above all, we’ve learned to handle the joystick. The G13 offers so many keys and possible configurations that it’s almost not necessary to use the macros, or to change profiles during play.

It’s clear that you can use this gameboard in any type of game. But in our experience, its virtues are clearest when you play FPSs or strategy games, since in both genres you use many action keys and lots of motion, just what the G13 offers.

Logitech offers practically unlimited options with its G13, and we’ll surely use them all at some time, though not intensively. The LCD screen is tremendously useful when you need information about a game, such as the FPS rate or CPU memory use. It can also be very useful beyond games, for checking if you have new e-mail or seeing what time it is.

CONCLUSIONS

Logitech is always improving its products. Because it understands users’ needs, it released the G13, a special keyboard for gamers, with great materials quality and finishing.

The options are almost infinite, thanks to the 3 profiles that you can create for each game, along with customized macros, which give you complete control over any kind of game. However, our testing shows that it will give you the best performance in strategy games and FPSs.

The LCD screen is another of its great advantages. It lets you monitor a multitude of system options, from e-mail, to the use of system resources, to the FPS rates you get while you play.

Any videogame fan who wants to have the best tools and get extra performance should keep the Logitech G13 in mind. It’s the best gameboard on the market today.

The final score is 92 out of 100 owls, and we give the “Logitech G13 Gameboard” our Editor’s Choice Award.

Thanks to Logitech for letting us try out its G13 gameboard.

Author: Manuel González Fernández

Translator: Ed Winograd