You guys do not have to take my word on it but I am somewhat of an expert on FPS gaming. I run a CAL division for Call of Duty and I have won a CAL Central Q3 RA3 title, two SoF2 Invites, 3rd at the ET Tournament @ QCON 2k3 and many other things (check our
website...I'm listed as Michael*). I am not bragging as I am pretty humble but I wanted to let you know my background (and show that I am far from newbie) before I gave my FPS gaming review on most of the mice that have been discussed here.
This thread is the mx510 Vs. Razor Viper. Well, when it comes to gaming there is absolutely NO comparison between these mice from a competitive standpoint. The mx series, ANY of the mx series completely stomps the new Razor Viper. If you are a heavy gamer you should not even consider the Viper even though Razor is trying to market their mouse to gamers. The only way a gamer should consider a Viper is if they insanely high sensitivity and they are for sure they will not change to a lower sensitivity.
The mice I have owned are as followed and in this order. Crappy Compaq Logitech ball mouse, newer crappy logitech, Razer Boomslang 2000, Intel Explorer 3.0, Standard USB Logitech, Logitech mx500, Logitech mx510 and now my roommate owns and I have used the Razor Viper USB. As you can see, I have owned or used almost every major mouse for gaming that has been created. There are only 3 mice that are worth a damn for gaming in that list...the Explorer 3.0, mx500 and mx510. The rest were nothing but a waste of money/time.
Here are my reasons:
Razor Boomslang 2000 - Big and bulky...even for people with large hands (like myself). The scroll wheel is like moving granite (I only use scroll for non-essential binds though) and it was entirely to back heavy along with right and left mouse buttons be overly sensitive. Not to mention it's a ball mouse and even though they state that there is a dirt guard it's all a pack of lies...that thing had to be cleaned every hour or two while I was playing and my house was relatively dust free at the time. It was very smooth but it's size made it almost immobile.
Intel 3.0: Great mouse. It was the optical mouse released that didn't "skip" when you drug your mouse across a surface extremely fast (like what happens in games). Basically, you couldn't mess it up. It wasn't nearly as precise as the boomslang but it was infinately more comfortable to use and I could lower my sensitivity and make my mouse more mobile. The day I got the 3.0 was the first day I started getting good at gaming (new mouse + lowered my sensitivity in Q3 drastically).
Standard Logitech: Got this as a backup mouse and it skips all to holy hell when you move it fast. Packed it up and took it back to Best Buy.
mx500: PURE GAMING BLISS. The Logitech basically took the size of the 3.0, made a better and more comfortable grip (debatable), raised it up to 800 dpi which you could actually tell was a huge difference in precision between the 3.0 and the mx500 and packaged it with REALLY CRAPPY DRIVERS. The mx500 was an awesome mouse with drivers that were a crutch for it. To get the performance that you would need out of it you had to go through a tricky install and then change a bunch of registry values (including one value that actually set it to 800dpi and another to turn off accell). Also, I use extremely low sens like most gamers do these days (precision is better than trying to flick) so I took the weight that Logitech added into the back of the mx500 out. After that, I had a lean, mean agile mouse that I could swing around and it was by far the best mouse I had ever used. Many started to follow suit and now the mx500 (and for some the mx300) has taken the place of the old school wingman in their hearts. The new drivers fo the mx series fixed all of the hassles I described so any new buyers won't have those issues (as long as they download the latest and not use the CD drivers).
mx510: I bought this mouse because I have two gaming rigs and I just happen to notice it on the shelf at Best Buy when I was passing through. I checked it out and saw that it had better "stats" than my mx500. I decided to go ahead and buy it since I needed a second good mouse and also to satisfy my curiousity if this mouse would be an improvement over my mx500. Well, I am not dissapointed in the mx510 but if you already own a mx500, don't buy it unless you have money to burn or you want the red/blue to match your system (red matches mine nicely). The box states that it has a higher pixel count and also the speed in which you can move it across your desk before it can mess up is greater. Well, that is all good and everything but the mx500 feels exactly the same. EXACTLY. So the mx510 has "better" stats but it looks to be nothing more than marketing and in the real world (of gaming at least) there is not a difference (other than aesthetics). You could not mess up a 500 or 510 no matter how fast you drug it across your desk and both feel the same when it comes to the all important precision. So, the mx510 is a great mouse if you don't already have a working mx500.
Razor Viper: Now, this is the mouse that just pisses me off. Ok, I did not have a great experience with my Boomslang 2000 and I believe it was a rippoff of over $100 (yes, they were that expensive back then). BUT, I don't really hold grudges all to well so I figured I would check into this new mouse called the Viper that Tomshardware had a review on. I figured it would be hyped up crap like the Boomslangs (some people did actually like them...but they are few and far between and most have never owned a 3.0 or an mx series mouse). Well, Toms had a great review and stated that they included a bunch of "pro" gamers who all reviewed the mouse. The review went on and on about how great it worked in FPS games (which is what I play and I am writing this review for FPS players) and that nobody ever had an problems with it. Well, they must have hand picked their reviewers asking for the people with the most insanely high and useless sensitivity they could find as nobody reported the problem with skipping that has become very well known now. Based on this review, I thought about ordering it but since I was happy with my 500/510 I didn't want to spend any more money on mice. My roommate on the other hand was in need of a new mouse. I recommended that maybe he try out this one since he actually prefers the smaller 2 button mice and so he bought it. A few days later he got it and plugged it in and started moving it...and it skipped. IT FREAKING SKIPS. No mouse that has been designed in the last few years has this problem...yet the brand new and supposedly state of the art Viper skips like your bargain bin optical you can pick up for a dollar. Yes, you CAN turn the sensitivity up via the software to a crazy high level but that is no good for gaming AT ALL (higher is NOT better...precision > flicking). You can not even move the mouse fast for more than an inch before it will "got nuts" like all the old school opticals used to do. My roommate uses a lot higher sens than I do but even he could not cope with it. He got online with their support (done via browser chat...kinda nice at 12am in the morning) and they ran through all of their checks and everything came back just fine with his PC. The tech said he had not heard of a "skipping" problem even though I had found it on a couple of random forums. He said it was probably faulty. So, it was packed up and shipped back and a new mouse was sent out. I had seen this before with old/crappy opticals and this looked like a design problem and not a flaw with just that mouse. Well, yesterday he got it back. Same problem. A;SLDIRA;IDFHA;LDIFHA;LDIFHA;DLFHADF;IH RAZOR A;SLIDFY;ALIDF AF ,,|,, A;LIDUFPOIWSHEFPOIAHSEFPIAHER!!!!!!!!
So, in the "real" world of competitive FPS gaming where using low sensitivity is needed you can not go wrong with the 3.0 or the mx series of 300/310/500/510. I stay away from wireless as there can be interference at big LANS (like cpls/qcon) and the batteries die...but if you are going to get a wireless get the mx700 as the 900 is crap for games (from what I've been told but I have no personal experience with).
So, long story short.
mx500/510 > Intel Explorer 3.0 > Boomslang 2000 > Viper > Old Bargin Bin Logitech Optical > Crappy Compaq ball mouse