[section_title title=”Performance”]Performance
It is worth noting that the CM Storm Alcor doesn’t officially come with a software package but you can update the firmware which allows you to change the lift off distance. Now what this means for you, is when a mouse is lifted off a surface, with a higher lift off distance, it will still process an image and carries on moving your mouse cursor; until of course it has surpassed the lift off distance. If you are like me and like to lift your mouse up and move it to the centre of the pad, a lower lift off distance would probably be more suitable to you.
Comfort
Having quite big hands, the Alcors size is pretty much suited to my regular grip so this made the transition from my CM Storm Havoc to the Alcor a painless process. In terms of comfort, the Alcor is a solid plastic mouse so of course it doesn’t have the comfort levels of some popular gaming mice on the market. With that said the Alcor is surprisingly comfortable. The Alcor itself isn’t ergonomic and is suitable for right handed gamers only but overall, I had no issues with cramping or irritation when using the Alcor during gaming.
One thing I would point out, I did actually find the thumb buttons quite awkward to use and press; the Alcor would have suited softer buttons with less pressure required to register a key press. Speaking of key presses, the Alcor was very responsive and has that distinct click that you tend to get with mice that feature Omron switches. This caused me no issues and I was actually very pleased with the accuracy which in turn, made it a more comfortable experience.
Gaming
With the CM Storm Alcor being of the gaming variety, then the obviously testing methodology would be gaming! Starting with Company of Heroes 2 which in my opinion, heavily requires on accuracy and polling rate to keep up with the action, the Alcor did a good job in my personal opinion. 4000DPI is a relatively high DPI for RTS games and I wouldn’t really utilise 8200DPI like on the more powerful Avago laser sensors (which I do actually use). With the game itself not really requiring the use of the extra mouse buttons, this was mainly a test of accuracy and although there was one or 2 in-accuracies (I’m quite good at it); overall the Alcor did a good job!
Moving on to an FPS game, I took the time to make the most of the latest game currently on BETA, Titan Fall. This game requires high accuracy, fast movements and buttons that can withstand a barrage of abuse. I did find a few inconsistencies with the Alcor in Titan Fall which I didn’t have with my higher spec Havoc. Firstly, although the Alcor was fairly accurate, I did experience a tendency to drift slightly to the right when trying to press the thumb buttons in. This makes the use of them to me fairly useless in FPS games; a place where I would make the most of them for things like grenades/kicks etc. Without using the thumb buttons, I did actually have a much more enjoyable experience and found the Alcor to handle Titan Fall well.
One thing I would like to touch on is the build quality, although relatively a piece of plastic, it does feel very well built and the use of Omron switches further enhances the quality of the Alcor itself. I never missed a click which is very important with the amount of clicks I do on a daily basis and overall my experience was an enjoyable one with the Alcor.
