Gaming mice are usually complicated affairs, and wireless gaming mice tend to be even more involved. Besides a cable, high-end gaming mice usually have a charging cradle and are designed to sit quietly on a desk when not in use. This is great if you have a desktop gaming system, but if you like traveling around with a gaming notebook, it feels a bit bulky. Mad Catz's mobile gaming mice offer an alternative. The R.A.T. M is a particularly small, portable gaming mouse with all of the extra buttons and laser sensor resolution (6,400 dpi) you could want, but at $129.99 (direct) it's very pricey and it's just a little too small to be comfortable, especially compared to the you-won't-notice-it's-much-bigger-in-your-bag M.O.U.S. 9, which costs the same and will cause less cramps for larger hands.

Design

The R.A.T. M feels like a more compact version of Madcatz' other R.A.T. mice, and is dwarfed even by the M.O.U.S. 9, a similar MadCatz wireless mouse. The mouse takes Mad Catz' distinctive shape, with an angular, futuristic profile punctuated by a large thumb rest, an index finger button located to the left of the regular left mouse button, and a prominent, ridged metal wheel. Besides the additional index finger button, the mouse has two thumb buttons and a four-way directional nub on the thumb rest, plus a switch located just under the mouse wheel that toggles between high and low sensitivity.

Under the R.A.T. M, a small USB receiver sits in a spring-loaded hole, so you don't have to worry about losing it when the mouse isn't in use. A small switch under the optical sensor turns the mouse on and off. A battery compartment sits under the palm rest and holds two AAA batteries. The mouse comes with a drawstring pouch made of a black mesh material, for keeping the mouse safe when traveling.