Zowie Gear is a relatively new company, especially in the states, they specialize in gaming gear like mousepads, headphones, skates and mice. They sent me over their new IO1.1 Professional Gaming Bundle for review which consists of a mouse carrying bag, large mousepad, skates and a re-painted Microsoft Intellimouse. The Intellimouse is an optical mouse that is very popular with gamers, touted as one of the best out there from what I’ve read, so I was curious to get to try it out.

First up I’ve got the unboxing video for you:

And here are some still pictures as well:

The mouse come pre-installed with skates, but they’ve included another spare pair for you:

The Mousepad is large, and rubber backed with the Zowie logo in the corner.

The little Co/Genes mouse bag is a nice way to carry your mouse with you, nothing really special about it, but it seems well made.

Specifications:

IO1.1 Professional Gaming Bundle (Black version)

Feature :
* Microsoft IO1.1 optical mouse with special coating
* ZOWIE GEAR G-RF mouse pad : 440 x 380 x 4 mm
* CO/GENES mouse bag
* ZOWIE GEAR speedy mouse skatez

The mouse included in the bundle is the very popular Microsoft Intellimouse, many gamers all over the world love this mouse, and I’ve heard it proclaimed as the best there ever was. This mouse though is custom painted a glassy black, with the Zowie logo on the back. Included also in the bundle is a USB to PS/2 adapter.

It’s a standard 5 buttons mouse, including the scroll wheel.

As I mentioned already the mouse comes pre-installed with the Zowie skates:

So it’s a redone MS Intellimouse, but not for the better really. The paint job is glossy, and after using it for a while it becomes sticky, your hand will actually stick to the mouse, a bit uncomfortable really. Personally I think the mouse is too lightweight, I prefer a much heavier mouse. The mouse though works fine, and I had no problems with it tracking on the Zowie mousepad. (I’ve owned many mice, and still do, but I don’t understand what the big deal is with this mouse…)

On to the mousepad now. It’s big, there’s not doubt about that coming in at about 17″ x 14″ in size. This will not fit on many desks out there I’m sure, but for me it’s fine, I’ve got a nice larger desk.

The mousepad itself has a very rough texture to it, looking at it it almost reminds me of denim really. Some people might not like the rough surface, but to me it’s not a big deal.

I used it with both the MS Intellimouse and my MS Sidewinder X8 and both worked fine with it for the most part, though slow movements with the X8 are a bit jumpy at times. Using the X8 with the mousepad actually made it track a bit better or faster actually, at least it seemed that way. I think it felt faster because it made the mouse jumpy. So basically what I’m saying is that the mousepad isn’t quite compatible with the X8 from my experience. The Intellimouse however worked perfectly fine with the pad.

Conclusion:

The IO1.1 Professional Gaming Bundle is not a bad bundle really, it includes a lot of nice stuff and could be considered a nice starter gaming kit. I don’t think it’s quite on par with being a ‘professional gaming bundle’ though as it needs some improvement.

The paint job on the Intellimouse looks good but it’s not the best choice for an actual gaming mouse where you’ll be gaming for hours.

The mousepad works fine with the Intellimouse, but I ran into problems using my MS Sidewinder X8 with it, so it’s not quite compatible with all mice.

 

Pros:
+Nice bundle of stuff for gamers
+Popular mouse included
+Large mousepad

Cons:
-Mouse is very lightweight
-Mouse gets sticky after using for a while
-Mousepad not compatible with all mice

Grades:
Overall
Design
Performance