Gigabyte Aivia M8600 Gaming Mouse Review

Gigabyte has taken some chances with the mouse design as well.  The shape of the mouse and battery packs has an angular shape that reminds me of the stealth bomber.  The overall shape is larger than most gaming mice I have used and lends its self to a palm grip.  Symmetrical button placement allows the M8600 to be equally accessible for left handed gamers.   The tread on the wheel is firm and easy to find and the sensitivity buttons are easy to manipulate without looking down.

The angular design creates a ridge along the center that may be the only misstep in the design.  It just feels wrong and makes it difficult to rest your palm on the mouse comfortably.  Even when you get used to it the ridge tends to push your hand back and to one side.  The result is you may find the front buttons on the side have slid out of reach. 

The M8600 is powered by an impressive Twin-eye Laser capable of running 100 - 6500dpi (Hardware: up to 5600dpi) with a 1000Hz polling rate.  The front of the mouse opens to allow you to run the mouse in a wired mode by locking the cable in place.  This also charges the battery and effectively runs the M8600 in a wired mouse state.  

During testing the M8600 struggled to track on my favorite glass mouse pad the CorePad Magna but redeemed itself by performing flawlessly on every other surface tried, even my jeans.  I settled on an XTrac Hybrid pad for gaming with no complaints.

The battery can be removed via a similar locking switch in the back.  Gigabyte claims the change can be done in ~2 seconds and each battery has a life of up to 50+ hours in power saving mode.  I found it goes about every three days of mixed used for me.  The mouse can also be charged by placing it directly on the charge base as seen here.  Unfortunately the shape of the batteries does not allow you to charge the battery and the mouse at the same time.  This is not as big a deal due to the long battery life.  Still I wonder where they expected the other battery to go when the mouse is charging.