Sandio 3D O2 Gaming Mouse - Software Setup and Configuration
| Article Index |
|---|
| Sandio 3D O2 Gaming Mouse |
| First Impressions and First Look |
| Software Setup and Configuration |
| Testing the Sandio O2 and Final Thoughts |
Software Setup:
I'm not exactly sure where to start with the software, basically a CD was supplied in the box containing drivers for the mouse as well as a program to customize your joystick key bindings and other various options for the mouse.
Software - Input Management
Upon starting this program, I was presented with an impressive list of preset profiles ready for use. The list included most of the popular games in use today, but those that aren't in the list I could create easily by clicking the “new” button and typing the label I wanted the new profile to be under. Loading profiles I found equally easy. After I hit the “load” button 2 seconds was all it took to activate my profile, and the window was conveniently minimized. Also, instead of going through the entire list of profiles (which could get quite long), there is a favorite box in which profiles can be transferred, which then can be found easily and quickly.
 Software - 3D Setup |
 Software - 3D Setup |
This program offers quite an impressive amount of customizable key bindings for the mouse. Not only does it have one direction (I.e. Up, down, left, right) key bindings available for each individual joystick, it also has multiple joystick key bindings. So pushing up on the left joystick and down on the right joystick and vice versa, as well as pushing forward one the left joystick and backwards on the right joystick also vice versa, could potentially have a key set to that movement. Adding this all up makes a total of 16 potential key bindings, which makes for a great increase in readily available shortcut keys.
Software - 3D Applications
The program also offers some links to drivers needed for online applications, such as Second Life and Google Earth, just in case the automatic driver fails to initialize. But strangely enough, it doesn't provide one for Google Sketchup, we will see how well this turned out later.
Software - Cube Rotation
Another cool little program is the “Cube Rotation Sample,” this nifty little program let me play around in a 3D environment using the default controls Sandio Tech has set up. This handy little program helped me get accustomed to the 3D environment controls that are in Google Sketchup.
On the last page we'll test out the mouse and see how it holds up.
