Perhaps calling it a “trend” is a bit much, as Thermaltake seems to be the one doing it, but the company announced a second mouse with palm venting, the Ventus Z. (Get it? Vent-us).
The Ventus Z has arguably a cleaner look than the Level 10 M mouse just introduced into the Tt eSports line; the latter has a small vent on the left side of the palm rest, and there are screws visible elsewhere across the top, whereas the Ventus Z has a large vent that spans across most of the palm rest.
It seems that in addition to the funky vent design, Thermaltake had in mind a mouse with extensive programmability. There are ten switches on the Ventus Z, including an extra pair of buttons on the side. (That is, there are two sets of navigational buttons where one would expect only one.) By default, one of the two sets is programmed for Ctrl+C and Ctrl+V.
With 256 KB of onboard storage, the Ventus Z can accommodate up to 5 profiles, and you can toggle through the profiles with the two buttons on top of the mouse. Because all ten buttons are programmable, you can set up to 50 macros. (If you are a person capable of remembering 50 macros in five sets of 10, you have our utmost respect.)
You can program the buttons with the Tt eSports Command Center software, but because they’re stored on the device, you can use the Ventus Z and all your macros on any PC.
For a bit of physical configuration, Thermaltake included three removable 4.5g weights, and there’s RGB lighting (because of course there is) and three lighting zones.
Thermaltake has a penchant for the ostentatious, and although it pulled out all the stops for the Ventus Z, the all-black design with a couple of red accents belies all the features crammed into the mouse. At $60, the Ventus Z sounds like a solid deal on paper.
| Header Cell - Column 0 | Thermaltake Ventus Z Gaming Mouse |
|---|---|
| Sensor | Avago 9500 laser sensor |
| Resolution | Up to 11,000 DPI via “Overdrive Mode” |
| IPS | 150 |
| Acceleration | 30g |
| Polling Rate | 125, 250, 500, 1,000 Hz |
| MCU | ARM-based 32-bit microcontroller with 32KB flash memory |
| Onboard Storage | 256 KB (5 gaming profiles) |
| Buttons | 10 programmable:-Left and right click-Scroll wheel-Profiles switches (x2)-Forward/back navigation-Extra side buttons (x2)-Sniper button |
| Switches | Omron (20 million clicks) |
| Lighting | -RGB, three zones-Static, pulse, spectrum running effects |
| Interface | USB |
| Cable | 1.8 m braided |
| Misc. | -Up to 50 onboard macros-Can adjust DPI on the fly-Teflon mouse feet |
| Dimensions | 111.0 x 88.5 x 38.89 mm |
| Weight | N/A, three 4.5g removable weights |
| Software | Tt eSports Command Center |
| Price | $59.99 |
Seth Colaner is the News Director for Tom's Hardware. Follow him on Twitter @SethColaner. Follow us on Facebook, Google+, RSS, Twitter and YouTube.
