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Finally the Roccat Kone has reached the UK shores.  This is one product which I have been very excited to try out ever since I saw it earlier this year at Ceebit.  The Kone is the flagship mouse from Roccat which is designed to be the ultimate tool for any hardcore PC Gamer.  The Kone has been in development for sometime now and we can now get a close look on what it has to offer! 

The Kone mouse comes packaged in a very cool box with a very aggressive look to it, inside you will have everything you need to get started for example Driver CD as well as manuals and even your very own Roccat ID card.  The Kone itself is by far one of the most stylish mice I’ve seen in a while!  It’s got a very matte black elite colour to it which just screams professional.  With a trendy LED backlight underneath which shines through the rims and through the Roccat logo.  Now you may say when it comes to good gaming mice it’s not all about the looks but man, does this Kone have some excellent design elements to it.  The hybrid shape allows it to feel perfect in the grasp of your hand while gaming and the mouse is so very smooth which makes it comfortable to hold for long periods of time! 

The mouse has 10 buttons in all.  8 customizable ones which can be used to do whatever you want.  Also it can reach up to 3200DPI for fast FPS gaming, as well as onboard memory so it can save gamer profiles to quickly switch between game layouts.  Weights have been added which clip in easily so you can adjust the weight and how smooth the mouse is on the mouse mat.  Lastly it’s built to be ultra quiet so friction on the mouse is smooth and unheard! 

Now time to install the drivers and get it running.  Installation is rather easy, simply plug in the mouse, you will instantly know its response as it lights up.  But you won’t get the true power until the drivers are installed.  Once the drivers are installed you have an insane amount of customization controls!  In the driver menu you can adjust all sorts.  Let’s start off with the biggest feature of it is the colour control.  Very few gaming mice these days if any, give you complete control over the colours and lighting of your mouse.  However the Kone gives you that and more.  Inside the Kone are five coloured nodes which can be changed to whichever colour you want.  You can have a mix and match of colours or you can simply allow it to rotate through the pre-set colours.  On top of that you can add effects such as blinking, a heartbeat effect or a flickering mode.  This system is pure awesomeness!  It brings the mouse completely to life and allows you to change it to suit your style. 

On top of that then you can change sensitivity, button controls, mouse wheel speed as well as other special controls which effect the tracking of the mouse and then finally the mouse accelerator.  You truly have complete control over how you want this mouse to feel which makes it an ideal mouse for that gamer who’s unsure what mouse to get.  The kone can be used on any gaming genre, whether it be RPG, FPS or even RTS.  You can also seek help and support through the drivers as well as set different gaming profiles for a quick change.  Now let’s give this bad boy a quick test with Command & Conquer and Call of Duty. Countless hours later...  (Okay maybe I played too many games then)

Well what can I say the Kone performed amazingly, at first I did have some issues getting the sensitivity to how I wanted but as soon as I altered the weights it was a breeze.  With Call of Duty the response time on the mouse helped loads especially when in close combat situations.  However when playing command and conquer this mouse really stood out.  Now so far I haven’t really found a mouse to topple the Copperhead when it comes to RTs gaming but man I don’t know which one to pick as both work surprisingly well.  But I have to admit the Kone feels so much more comfortable when it comes to day to day tasks for example, browsing, artwork as well as general computer use. 

The Kone has got to be one of the best products I have tested in a while, the control system works so well with it.  The colour controls are fantastic and is a sure fly way to give any hardcore gamer what he wants.  For those of you who are looking around for the ideal mouse to help you out in any situation, the Kone is here to help you out!   Even though the Kone has a £49.99 price tag on it.  That’s not much for what you’re actually getting with the mouse.  It’s GREAT VALUE, with great assents.  I highly recommend this mouse to any PC gamer out there.  Without a doubt.