Taipan Ambidextrous Gaming Mouse

When I first looked into this mouse, I admit that I was skeptical. I had been using a Razer Copperhead for over 6 years and there was nothing I wanted more than to get another identical mouse once it wore out. I was crushed when I found out that the Copper head was no longer in production. I begrudgingly set out to find as similar of a replacement as possible, and my search led me to the Taipan. The look and feel of the mouse are very similar to the Copperhead, but it is not as "small" in your hand. In truth, this makes the Taipan even more comfortable to use over long periods of timer. Any style of grip used on the Copperhead can similarly be applied to the Taipan, and the traction pads on the sides help with grip in the same way that the silicone ridges on the sides of the Copperhead did. The click and scroll action are very smooth and responsive, so no worries there. The sensitivity seems exceptional. I don't really notice a difference over my old Copperhead (2000 dpi); at this resolution you really can't tell whether the device is 2000, 4000, or 6000 dpi. Then again, my Copperhead was the best thing since sliced bread, and I held that opinion right up until it died. The point it, the sensitivity is as good as you're going to see. I don't buy into any of these "dual sensor" gimmicks, and the Taipan performs well enough that I don't see any reason to shell out twice the price for any of the "higher end" devices. For surfaces, I primarily use the same Mantis Control mouse pad that I bought with my original Copperhead and it works well with the Taipan as well. The Taipan does not track at all on glass (I have an Ikea glass desk), but there are very few mice out there that can track glass at all and those that do seem to have spotty performance. My only real disappointment by comparison comes from the side buttons - I find that the ones on the Taipan are slightly harder to "find" than those on the Copperhead. They simply don't seem to be placed as intuitively. This is simply a result of the design - having these buttons in the same location as the Copperhead's would put them in the middle of the rubber grip zone. This would be impractical, so I can't knock Razer for making this choice. Overall, the design is good. It is simply an adjustment that I have been having to make. I am also unhappy with the decision to sleeve the cord in a braid (I detest them as they do nothing in my experience but cause kinks and fray out), but this is the direction that all enthusiast mice manufacturers are going for some reason. Again, I can't blame Razer for simply keeping up with changing industry standards. Overall, the Taipan is a great mouse. Everyone has different needs when it comes to mice, so making sweeping recommendations would be foolish. What I can tell you though, is that if you had a Copperhead before, this is the mouse to get to replace it. You'll be very glad you did.