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In their early years one of Razer's big selling points was that your configuration could be saved to the device's onboard memory and function without any additional programs running on the host machine. This was one of the coolest things to come out of the new focus on high-end input devices. Unfortunately they seem to have moved away from this and not only require that an executable be running, but it's some lame "cloud-based" thing that requires the Internet. Supposedly the devices do physically have memory, it just isn't used for reasons unknown. This seems like a huge step backwards, especially as it never caught on with other brands either. Does anyone know if there are new products being made that do have functional onboard memory?

Most of logitechs gaming oriented devices have this.

I have the logitech gaming software on my desktop which I use to change settings, the settings are stored onto my devices onboard memory and when it is plugged into my gaming laptop I do not have to have the gaming software installed for my devices to work with the settings I need.

NovusBogus wrote:

In their early years one of Razer's big selling points was that your configuration could be saved to the device's onboard memory and function without any additional programs running on the host machine. This was one of the coolest things to come out of the new focus on high-end input devices. Unfortunately they seem to have moved away from this and not only require that an executable be running, but it's some lame "cloud-based" thing that requires the Internet. Supposedly the devices do physically have memory, it just isn't used for reasons unknown. This seems like a huge step backwards, especially as it never caught on with other brands either. Does anyone know if there are new products being made that do have functional onboard memory?

They did what now? That's some serious BS. My Naga works just fine, and the executable is mainly for profile mgmt, calibration, and such. There is zero reason for anything cloud-based relating to mice/keyboards.


If I were you, I'd grab an older Razer mouse and a good keyboard, and avoid all that new garbage. It's expensive as hell, but doesn't the Optimus keyboard have onboard memory (for images/setups for the OLED keys)?

Do the Cherry MX keyboards come with onboard memory? I wanna try some of those sweet-sweet keyboards they make.

Mionix mice have this capability. The software is just used to create the settings, then they are stored on the mouse. The last i knew, Logitech's 'G for gaming' software had to be running for the settings to apply, but maybe that's not true for the high-end mice.

Hz so good wrote:

They did what now? That's some serious BS. My Naga works just fine, and the executable is mainly for profile mgmt, calibration, and such. There is zero reason for anything cloud-based relating to mice/keyboards.

Agreed, but it is what it is. Synapse 2.0 does have an offline mode once registered so I'm guessing they took their inspiration from Steam: gamers are fine with internet DRM if it comes with a vaguely empowering marketing pitch. Their new stuff will work without Synapse, but only as generic plug and play devices with none of the features that justify the high price tag.

I wound up with a Taipan and DA 2013 following a hard drive misadventure so I'm not currently in the market, though sometimes it would be nice to have a full-featured mouse. I might have to check out Mionix though, I like how the first thing in their specs list is the onboard ARM microcontroller. As an embedded-systems guy and occasional hardware hacker, that speaks to me.

Logitech's site does say that the G500s and G600 have onboard memory and can be run without the software going. I don't like the direction Logitech design has gone over the last few years though--too busy and cluttered.

The SteelSeries Sensei Pro mice (not the "Raw" models) have an on-board 32bit ARM processor and some memory. In fact, many settings can be changed through the mouse buttons using the small LCD screen on the bottom of the mouse. You can select from one of 5 stored profiles, then edit various sensitivities, acceleration, etc.. Some settings, such as assigning keyboard keys to mouse buttons, or changing colors of the LEDs, are only available via the SteelSeries Engine Windows software. But, as far as I know, other than perhaps some sharing of profiles, there's no "Cloud" involved.

I've got a Cooler Master Storm and an Anker gaming mouse. Both can be configured and have onboard memory. You should look at reviews or download the configuration program for the mouse you want to program though, each one has different capabilities, particularly with macro programming.