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Beware of Razer's "Powered For Mac" products

S

SuthernDesign

macrumors newbie
Original poster
May 6, 2010
5
0
New York
Razer makes cross-platform gaming equipment and has a new section on their site called "Powered For Mac". If you were thinking of upgrading your mouse for a new game release, be careful: Some of Razer's hype is misleading.

My new Razer Imperator was advertised as a "Powered For Mac" device with some nice features. But after hooking it up, I found most of the functions aren't included in their latest Mac driver. Functions like button assignment, macros, profile management, and onscreen HUD when switching on-the-fly sensitivity. Now I have an expensive mouse that doesn't really do anything.

In short, beware. The "Powered For Mac" product line from Razer isn't exactly optimized for Mac. Bummer..
 
I've been using my Razer mice with OSX for years. However the only way to get the best out of it is to get USB Overdrive as well. That lets you customise buttons, remove OSX's horrific mouse acceleration and stuff. It's definitely worth it but also a shame missile should be fired at Razer.
 
Thanks Dagless. Although I tried USB Overdrive this morning, the mouse didn't recognize any commands I was assigning it.. But maybe it's worth another try.
 
SuthernDesign said:
Razer makes cross-platform gaming equipment and has a new section on their site called "Powered For Mac". If you were thinking of upgrading your mouse for a new game release, be careful: Some of Razer's hype is misleading.

My new Razer Imperator was advertised as a "Powered For Mac" device with some nice features. But after hooking it up, I found most of the functions aren't included in their latest Mac driver. Functions like button assignment, macros, profile management, and onscreen HUD when switching on-the-fly sensitivity. Now I have an expensive mouse that doesn't really do anything.

In short, beware. The "Powered For Mac" product line from Razer isn't exactly optimized for Mac. Bummer..
Click to expand...

Just to let you know I have got ALL of those features with my Razer Orochi mouse after I installed the new version 2 driver that was released 4 days ago. I suggest you take a look on Razers download page.
 
apolloa said:
Just to let you know I have got ALL of those features with my Razer Orochi mouse after I installed the new version 2 driver that was released 4 days ago. I suggest you take a look on Razers download page.
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At least they are throwing mac users a bone, lack of drivers is the only thing keeping me from buying their mice. I really want the Mamba, but until the mac drivers offer the same functionality as the windows drivers it's not happening.
 
I bought the Razer DeathAdder (3500dpi version) a month ago and the Razer drivers work as expected; button assignment, dpi & response changes.
 
I had a Razer Copperhead and always had problems with the software/drivers. Too bad too as I really loved it.
 
Padraic said:
At least they are throwing mac users a bone, lack of drivers is the only thing keeping me from buying their mice. I really want the Mamba, but until the mac drivers offer the same functionality as the windows drivers it's not happening.
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As I said, the Orochi now has all the same functionality in Mac OSX as it does in Windows but having a quick look on the driver download page they don't seem to offer the driver updates for the other mice? Yet I guess? I have no doubt they will as a USB mouse is a USB mouse so far as the computer's concerned, it's the drivers that give all those features and I would be certain Razer will be working on this for all of it's mice. After all it's an easy route to more sales.
 
Razer promised that they are going to make proper Mac drivers for their current and future mice. So I think that if you give them some time, all those mice in the Powered for Mac page will get a proper driver.

And thanks for apolloa for pointing out the new Orochi drivers. Let's just hope they will make firmware updaters for Mac too.
 
My DeathAdder isn't even "Powered for Mac" or whatever and the driver works the same in Snow Leopard as it does Boot Camp Win 7. So, I wouldn't think it's an issue with the company trying to dupe people.
 
deadwulfe said:
My DeathAdder isn't even "Powered for Mac" or whatever and the driver works the same in Snow Leopard as it does Boot Camp Win 7. So, I wouldn't think it's an issue with the company trying to dupe people.
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I hate to have to tell you this deadwulfe, but most companies don't have your own best interest in mind. It all comes down to profit margins; believe me, I work in advertising.

Anyway, I just wanted to warn other Mac users that Razer is promoting new mice with incomplete drivers, at the moment. And it's unethical to do so.
 
Peripherals for the most part have always worked on the Mac but the special features like button assignment could be hit or miss depending on if the hardware company actually took the time to write a Mac version of their software. Some programs like X-Plane, the control software was written into the simulation so you were good to go for button assignment. Most games recognized the mouse so you could get basic button assignment out of it. Hardware manufacturers like Kensington, and Logitech actually wrote Mac drivers for fancy functions. So it seems like Razor is guilty of false advertising to push Mac versions of their hardware if there are no accompanying software to go with it.
 
Using a deathadder here, the drivers work and I love the mouse under both OS X and windows.
 
rigid said:
Using a deathadder here, the drivers work and I love the mouse under both OS X and windows.
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The MacOSX includes basic mouse drivers. Curious if the Death Adder has Mac Software to install that offers the higher control functions being discussed?
 
Drivers may come, eventually

Apparently at this year's Game Developers Conference, Razer's president, Robert Krakoff said:

"Today, Razer is proud to offer several options for the Mac gaming community, providing full Mac support for the Razer Naga™, the world’s best selling MMO gaming mouse, as well as the Razer DeathAdder, a cult favorite among the right-handed gaming community. Razer is completely committed to supporting Mac users and will be releasing drivers to equip existing products with Mac compatibility. Basic Mac support is already available for the Razer Orochi™, Razer Mamba™ and Razer Imperator™, with further updates scheduled for later this year."
 
I have been using a DeathAdder with my 2008 Mac Pro since I got it new 2 years ago. No problems until Snow Leopard and booting into 64bit. I found the mouse to light and added weight to it, otherwise it was great. Well it gave up the ghost and stopped working. So, I replaced it with a Logitech and I like the Logitech better, it comes with weights to adjust the feel of the mouse in the hand, fits better, but does not have a special driver to adjust things like the DeathAdder did...
 
SuthernDesign said:
I hate to have to tell you this deadwulfe, but most companies don't have your own best interest in mind. It all comes down to profit margins; believe me, I work in advertising.
Click to expand...

Profit margins aren't everything, because there's also overhead not specifically allocated to products, interest, taxes, and depreciation; believe me, I work in accounting and finance.

Anyways, I understand you want to start a witch hunt against Razer, because your username is plastered all over a google search for "razer powered for mac driver problem" with these same exact threads on other gaming boards. My guess is you're probably getting paid to do this. Do you work for Logitech?

My personal experience is the same as at least two other people on this thread. We own the DeathAdder and use Razer's software and have no problems with getting full functionality from our purchases. That, my friend, is more trustworthy than anything about ethics I'd care to hear from the same people that try to create a false need for some piece of crap shammy cloth I'll never use more than any other towel in the house.
 
Has anybody tried a Razer Naga on a MBP yet? I have a crappy HP, (MBP gets in, in 2 days!) which runs the Naga software great, but I'm afraid it wont work on my MBP... Anyone have any experience with the Naga? Like WoW-wise or any games that require macros, haha?
 
The Avemaster said:
Has anybody tried a Razer Naga on a MBP yet? I have a crappy HP, (MBP gets in, in 2 days!) which runs the Naga software great, but I'm afraid it wont work on my MBP... Anyone have any experience with the Naga? Like WoW-wise or any games that require macros, haha?
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Naga works fine in WoW with my iMac. I don't use it for anything too extreme, though. I have my n52te for my rotation and WTF macros. The naga buttons are only setup with my OPie rings and a few mouseover macro keybinds via a hidden Bartender bar.
 
Mac DeathAdder scrolling issue

A bit off topic - but does anyone have a suggestion for me - I have a "Mac" DeathAdder from Razer, and I love the mouse, but the scroll wheel drives me nuts. I scroll slowly, and it tracks my movements fine, then bam, it jumps down. Any ideas? I have the latest drivers, and have tried everything and it still is jumpy when I scroll.

Thanks
 
Tastannin said:
A bit off topic - but does anyone have a suggestion for me - I have a "Mac" DeathAdder from Razer, and I love the mouse, but the scroll wheel drives me nuts. I scroll slowly, and it tracks my movements fine, then bam, it jumps down. Any ideas? I have the latest drivers, and have tried everything and it still is jumpy when I scroll.

Thanks
Click to expand...

Wierd, my Logitech does the same thing!!! Sorry, don't have any idea why. But my Razer did the same sometimes.
 
Regarding scrolling on the deathadder, i adjusted the scrolling speed in the preference panel as shown below:

2z9a9t2.png


It took some time getting used to, but i can scroll fine now.
 
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