Dream Machines DM1 FPS Gaming Mouse (Hardware)
Official GBAtemp Review
Product Information:
Review Approach:
Dream Machines are PC enthusiasts who specialise in optimising every aspect of your devices. Based in Brown City Michigan, Dream Machines offer high-end gaming laptops, incredible mouse mat surfaces, and highly-tuned precision-built mice for all levels of gaming. It's their fastidious approach to testing and enhancing that separates them from the crowd, with constant feedback from consumers and critics alike for advanced knowledge of their target user-base.
- Max speed: 7.0 m/s
- Polling Rate: 1000 Hz
- Control: 6 buttons + Scroll
- Sensor: Optical PMW3389
- USB: Gold plated
- DPI: 400, 800, 2400, 3200, 4800, 16000
- LOD (LIFT-OF-DISTANCE): ~1.8 mm
- Left switch: Huano 20.000.000 clicks
- Right switch: Huano 20.000.000 clicks
- Side switches: 3.000.000 clicks
- Scroll: TTC 20.000.000 clicks
- Size: 126 x 68 x 39 mm
- Weight: 83 g (without cable)
- Cable: Shoelace cable (1.8m)
- Surface: Noir, Blizzard White - Matte, Ocean Blue, Blood Red - Glossy
- Backlight: Scroll
- Content: Mouse, instructions, additional sliders
Upon receiving the DM1 FPS mouse from Dream Machines my first impression was that it was underwhelmingly understated; perhaps this is a ploy by the marketing team to downplay the awesomeness of the device, perhaps they are just not great at packaging their products. Opening the box I was met with a basic instruction manual, a set of spare sliders, and the DM1 FPS mouse in Ocean Blue. Initial looks at the mouse make for an understated matte black plastic finish, with a glossy coloured body that fits snugly in the palm of your hand, and weighing in at just 83 grams it's as light as a feather. Button-wise there are two on the left-hand side, one central control button in the shape of a shield, the obligatory standard left-click and right-click buttons, and an LED encapsulated mouse wheel that falls directly between your index and middle finger, allowing you to use it as you wish. The side buttons are aligned satisfactorily with your thumb, which is perfectly fine assuming you're right-handed. With no kind of ambidextrous options available, left-handed people may be left wanting.
The buttons themselves are of the Huano variety and to those who don't know, these are stiffer and more accurate than the standard Omron switches (which have been known to suffer double click issues) and yet are still guaranteed for over 20 million perfect clicks, which is an amount most people will have retired their mouse long before reaching, so you're all good! The mouse also comes with a gold plated USB on a generous 1.8m shoelace styled cable and replaceable slider pads in the box. These slider pads paired with the flexibility of the cabling grants this unit an extremely smooth and forgiving feel in terms of the range of motion and overall cable management, I never found that it was in the way or pulled against my movements, which was surprising and very welcome.
The accompanying software definitely elevates this device several levels once you get past its basic looks—this is where it comes into its own. The driver package allows you to create custom profiles, set macros, tune the report rate, specify the DPI zones, alter the colouration of the LED, and more. The DPI settings can be completely customised and split into up to 6 zones ranging from 200-16000 DPI sensitivity, thanks to the PixArt 3389 sensor, allowing you to switch between slow and steady and ultra-fast lightning reflex modes at the click of the shield button. This on-the-fly feature lends itself extremely well to switching tasks quickly like setting up your game or operating your PC in general at 1600-2400 DPI and diving into CS:GO or your favourite FPS games and clicking the shield to insta-ramp-it-up to the incredibly fast 16000 DPI mode to get major precision for headshots or general sniping scenarios. I should stress how this mouse is 100% designed for FPS gaming, perhaps leaving players of other genres wanting adjustable weight, or for a different LOD. Though the DM1 FPS may not cater to every kind of genre so specifically, with FPS games it goes beyond.
The macro settings are something that I honestly never used to bother with in general, until I realised just how handy they were on controllers, keyboards, or mice. With the DM1 FPS, you have a super simple macro editor which is so intuitive to use that you can craft macros in seconds, something other peripheral manufacturers could definitely learn from in their configuration tools, and have any combination of keys or actions trigger at the drop of a hat. The only down-side of the configuration is the LED brightness. I would say on a scale of one to 10 for luminosity this thing puts out a strangulated 3 at 100% brightness according to the configuration tool. To be perfectly honest it was a shock to see the LED options in the software as I hadn't even noticed it until I covered it with my hands to make the ambient light darker and peered into the gaps to check it legitimately even had LEDs in it. I don't know if my unit is defective or the LED's are simply understated in its design yet again, but it's something that would have been nicer had it been more pronounced. Given the fact you can adjust it from off to 100% brightness, I don't see why you couldn't have had it loud and proud if you really wanted to.
Once set-up and you're happy with your individualised loadout, you will find that his mouse feels great in virtually any situation it may be thrown into; be it a heavy FPS gaming session or general day to day use, it's just so incredibly versatile. Technically this mouse is an absolute wonder, it's just so understated and yet feature-rich and simple to use. One measure of its brilliance is testing the ability to draw circles with it, as mice typically sense horizontal and vertical input and try to intelligently guess interpolation of diagonals, so drawing a circle in paint or something similar is a good test of the diagonal dead-zones. I'm happy to report that the DM1 FPS succeeded in drawing superb circles considering the person operating it. Dream Machines have stripped out any unnecessary ergonomics, fiddly bits and over the top things, to craft a simple yet deadly mouse which can sit unassumingly at your side during the day for work, and immediately switch into gaming mode with little effort. I could easily play a multitude of genres of games with this device, including but not limited to FPS games, action games, strategy games, and definitely puzzle games—comfortably and without criticism. To think you get this mouse for the nominal RRP of £49.99 or less too, and unless you're a southpaw, and barring a few very minor things I cannot find a solid reason not to recommend it to anyone.
Site: https://www.dreammachines.pl/en/dm1fps
Drivers: https://dreammachines.com.pl:5443/sterowniki/DM1%20FPS%20Driver%20Setup.rar
Contact: [email protected]
Verdict
- On-the-fly DPI sensitivity tuning
- Huano switches are incredibly responsive
- Incredibly comfortable and lightweight
- Plastic aesthetic looks cheap
- The LED brightness is disappointing
