Installation
Installing the mouse is as quick and easy as plugging the mouse into an open USB port. However if you want to use the 4-way scrolling or fine tune your mouse you’ll need to take a couple extra minutes. When you pop in the installation CD into your computer you’re greeted with a splash screen which allows you to install the 4-way scrolling driver and Gaming Software. Both only take a few seconds to install. Once you open the software you have a multitude of options to adjust the mouse.
First you must select which of the three modes (profiles) you want to make adjustments for. You can either create your own macro for a button or you can select from a set already provided. Using the command editor allows you, if you choose to enter quite a number of keystrokes and also records the timing in between keystrokes up and down. The default group commands listed are Browser Control, Launch Program, Media Control, and default. In the Browser control group the options are: Back, Forward, Search, Zoom In, and Zoom Out. Under the Launch Program group the defaults are: E-mail Reader, Media Player, and Web Browser. Under the Media Control group they are: Fast Forward, Mute, Next Track, Play, Play/Pause, Previous Track, Rewind, Stop, Volume Up and Volume Down. The Ungrouped group has nothing by default.
You also have the ability to save and load your profiles as well as create new groups and commands. Also for each mode you have the ability to adjust the DPI in increments of 100 from 400 to 3200 DPI either in a 1:1 ratio or adjusting the X and Y axis separately for the four different DPI levels.
Usage
The OCZ Dominatrix had a nice comfortable feel with a real grip to it. It felt very similar to a previous mouse that I reviewed. I tried to test the mouse on every default DPI setting (400, 800, 1600, and 2000) for gaming and found out that the 1600 DPI setting seemed to fit me perfectly. I didn’t have to fine tune at all, but I decided to anyways with the included software. The 100 DPI increments doesn’t give you a super fine tuning like other mice, but I think for most people it would work fine. The nice benefit of this mouse is having different DPI settings for the X and Y axis. Say for instance you like to use a low DPI for gaming, but you often need to turn around quickly. Adjusting the X-axis gives you the ability to have these two settings for an interesting setup.
After many hours of testing games such as Counter-Strike: Source, Team Fortress 2 and Age of Empires 3 I found no problems with this mouse. The soft surface and rubber grips kept my hand comfortable throughout this duration. I found the button placements and adjustability of them to be very useful. Using the included program gave me many options to change the settings for a button since in most games the extra buttons don’t do much of anything.
For daily use I found the Dominatrix to be very useful. The forward/back internet buttons became very handy as also did the four way scrolling. The button sensitivity seems to be perfect while it’s not too hard or too easy to press. I just seemed to enjoy using the mouse very much.