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[nextpage title=”Introduction”]

Not everybody grabs a mouse the same way, but there are two most common form of handling this peripheral: resting the whole hand over the mouse and letting the wrist and palm pressure control it, or by a claw-like grip with only the fingertips being responsible for the movements. People who prefer a claw grip have now a model specifically tailored for this: the CM Storm Spawn, from Cooler Master, with a 3,500 DPI optical sensor and seven configurable functions. Let’s see how the model fared during the test after describing its physical characteristics.

Figure 1: The claw grip style

The Spawn is a small mouse because there’s no need of a big hump to serve as palm rest. The flattened design features a rest for the ring finger and a small rubber-coated bank for the pinkie to the right. The thumb rest is also rubber-coated and features the traditional back/forward browsing buttons.

Figure 2: The Spawn

On the top the scroll wheel rests above the two buttons to alter the resolution (in fixed tiers: 800 DPI, 1800 DPI and 3500 DPI). There’s no LED to indicate the current resolution setting. On the underside you can find the control sensor and two Teflon feet to ensure a better drift.

Figure 3: Right side

Figure 4: Left side

The plastic body has a red wine metallic sheen from which spawns the rubber USB cord, not cloth-wrapped like other models.

[nextpage title=”Configuring the Spawn”]

The Spawn is very easy to configure mouse, after all it doesn’t have a lot of features: you cannot create profiles for different games and applications. Another limitation is the fact that the user is stuck with the three resolution tiers offered by CM Storm: there’s no way to assign diffenrent values like 600 DPI, 1200 DPI and 3000 DPI, for instance, only the above mentioned 800 DPI, 1800 DPI and 3500 DPI. It’s a good range but still limiting nonetheless.

Figure 5: Configuration program

The configuration program – downloadable from CM Stom’s website – allows the customization of six buttons plus the scroll wheel. Since the Spawn doesn’t have a lot of configuration options, the program is simple and to the point. You can create macros, adjust the pointer and clicking speeds, and most of all able/unable the Angle Snapping feature. It uses an algorhythm to help the user to draw straight lines and circles by calculating the next obvious hand movement. It’s useful when running a drawing app, but in midst of the chaos of virtual combat, this feature can try and “correct course” of a well-aimed shot and therefore be more of a hassle than some help. Our advice: turn the Angle Snapping off when gaming.

The 32 KB internal memory garantees that your modifications will be stored into the Spawn and can be used on any PC the mouse is plugged on.

Figure 6: Underside

[nextpage title=”Playing with the Spawn”]

We got really excited when receiving the Spawn because we always grab and play with the mice in a claw grip style. In this regard, the model has a perfect design, indeed flawless, a dream come true for a “claw gripper.” The mouse has rubber coating in the right places and it never escaped our fingers. That’s a high mark that guaranteed the precision we required for marksmanship when playing Call of Duty Black Ops and Battlefield Bad Company 2. It’s a must have but it can be improved regarding some configuration issues.

Figure 7: Upside

The pre-defined resolution levels didn’t bother us much, but we must say it again that the configuration has issues – especially when you take into account that the Spawn doesn’t allow to create user profiles. You’d better focus in some main functions that work for a great number of ames – but once we got to World of Warcraft, we had to reconfigure it all over again. The biggest issue however is not having some way to show the current DPI setting (be with a lit scroll wheel or some LED symbol).

In regards to the fixed resolution levels, if they are on par with your usual standards, there’s no way you can’t give the Spawn a shot being it such an agile model – and so perfectly fit for a claw grip. But it’s still shamefull it lacks in terms of configuration since every gaming-grade mouse nowadays are only short of fixing coffee between loading maps.

[nextpage title=”Main Specifications”]The main specifications for the CM Storm Spawn mouse include:

• Gaming-grade mouse
• Ambidextrous and claw grip design
• Assignable functions: 7
• 32 KB on-board memory
• Connection: gold-plated USB plug
• Tracking Resolution: 800 DPI, 1.800 DPI and 3.500 DPI
• Maximum Acceleration: 20g
• Response time: 1 ms
• Dimensions: 3 x 4.3 x 1.3 inches (75,5 x 110 x 35 mm)
• Net Weight: 5 oz (142 g)
• More information: https://www.cmstorm.com
• MSRP in the US: USD 49.99

[nextpage title=”Conclusion”]

Strong Points

• Ideal for a claw grip control
• Rubber-coated for great stability
• Great performance

Weak Points

• Doesn’t feature user profile creation
• No indication of the current DPI setting
• Fixed resolution levels