Synapse Review | Razer Insider
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Synapse Review

  • 28 December 2020
  • 8 replies
  • 183 views

To preface - I'm a lifetime Razer product user. Every mouse I've ever used since the dawn of my realization that peripherals impact gaming has been a Razer product.

That said...

Where do I begin with this amazing piece of software you guys have developed for your customer base?

I think the logical place to start is with your awesome resource utilization! Wouldn't you agree?

A quick look at my Task Manager reveals that your MOUSE SOFTWARE requires the following resources just while running off a clean boot:

- GameManagerService - 49.8MB
- Razer Central Service - 26.5MB
- Razer Synapse Service - 66.8MB
- Razer Synapse Service Process - 16.7MB

TOTAL = 159.8MB of RAM used just to run... wait for it... a mouse.

I suppose I should be grateful that it doesn't take 160MB of RAM to run your mouse.

Onwards to my other bone to pick.

Can one of your wonderful "leaders" explain to me why I need to login to a friggin account on the internet to use the features of my mouse?

These are not rhetorical questions. I want answers. I want to have an explanation from a C-level pinhead as to why on God's Green Earth I need to have a friggin internet connection to use the full featureset of a MOUSE and/or KEYBOARD!

Why can't I opt out and use this product locally? Answers please.

To be more blunt for those executive types that can't figure out that you're pissing your goddamned user base off - your company has manufactured a product that uses more RAM than the drivers for my Video Card, Sound Card, NIC, and both of my SATA controllers along with... well... every other driver on my entire computer. For a mouse. A MOUSE! WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU GUYS THINKING?!

*ahem* Anyway...

I'm happy to inform you that I've already scrapped a keyboard from your company (double ttaappppiinngg kkeeyyss) as your company refused to support it and recommended I buy another of your keyboards (HAH!). Turns out that it did, in fact, suffer from a lead deficiency - I promptly remedied that particular shortcoming. Then I went out and bought a Logitech keyboard and haven't looked back. The moment this mouse starts acting funny, looking funny, or generally displays what I like to call "Razer qualities" - the lead deficiency it has will be remedied as well.

Logitech makes a far better keyboard and I am sure I will find another manufacturer for a superior mouse. Or maybe an inferior mouse - I'm not picky as long as it works correctly without an internet connection and uses less RAM than a Windows XP machine loaded with a Creative driver circa 2001.

TLDR;

Executive suits made bad decisions. Your product is a resource hog. People don't like having to dial in to the mothership to run their hardware. Most importantly - I won't be buying any more of your products and I'm looking forward to going completely razer-free in the near future.

I challenge any of you to step up and contact me about the questions I have posted. I won't hold my breath - corporate entities are generally spineless and can't handle direct criticism except by obfuscating and the ol' "smile and wave" treatment.
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8 Replies

A few years ago, I was excited about the decribed prodicts and promised functions of the Razer peripherials.
But I got more and more disappointed. Quality was missing, software a whole bunch of bugs.
Now Synapse 3 is still in Beta, thats OK, because it's still garbage.
In a few days I will shut down my last Razer device (Orbweaver), all other I have already sold with lots of minus.
And guess, Razer, for me .... NEVER EVER !
Never made such a terrible experience with a brand.

sry website is broken like all Razer things, so no edit

Really sad what Razer has become. Used to be an innovative, badass company. Now... just a bunch of lazy slobs looking to cash in on the next gimmick.

Not a single response from anyone at Razer. I'd say I'm shocked - but I'm not.

ARMOR_152
  • Insider Mini
  • 417 replies
  • January 21, 2021
placeIndigoWebrush235
To preface - I'm a lifetime Razer product user. Every mouse I've ever used since the dawn of my realization that peripherals impact gaming has been a Razer product.

That said...

Where do I begin with this amazing piece of software you guys have developed for your customer base?

I think the logical place to start is with your awesome resource utilization! Wouldn't you agree?

A quick look at my Task Manager reveals that your MOUSE SOFTWARE requires the following resources just while running off a clean boot:

- GameManagerService - 49.8MB
- Razer Central Service - 26.5MB
- Razer Synapse Service - 66.8MB
- Razer Synapse Service Process - 16.7MB

TOTAL = 159.8MB of RAM used just to run... wait for it... a mouse.

I suppose I should be grateful that it doesn't take 160MB of RAM to run your mouse.

Onwards to my other bone to pick.

Can one of your wonderful "leaders" explain to me why I need to login to a friggin account on the internet to use the features of my mouse?

These are not rhetorical questions. I want answers. I want to have an explanation from a C-level pinhead as to why on God's Green Earth I need to have a friggin internet connection to use the full featureset of a MOUSE and/or KEYBOARD!

Why can't I opt out and use this product locally? Answers please.

To be more blunt for those executive types that can't figure out that you're pissing your goddamned user base off - your company has manufactured a product that uses more RAM than the drivers for my Video Card, Sound Card, NIC, and both of my SATA controllers along with... well... every other driver on my entire computer. For a mouse. A MOUSE! WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU GUYS THINKING?!

*ahem* Anyway...

I'm happy to inform you that I've already scrapped a keyboard from your company (double ttaappppiinngg kkeeyyss) as your company refused to support it and recommended I buy another of your keyboards (HAH!). Turns out that it did, in fact, suffer from a lead deficiency - I promptly remedied that particular shortcoming. Then I went out and bought a Logitech keyboard and haven't looked back. The moment this mouse starts acting funny, looking funny, or generally displays what I like to call "Razer qualities" - the lead deficiency it has will be remedied as well.

Logitech makes a far better keyboard and I am sure I will find another manufacturer for a superior mouse. Or maybe an inferior mouse - I'm not picky as long as it works correctly without an internet connection and uses less RAM than a Windows XP machine loaded with a Creative driver circa 2001.

TLDR;

Executive suits made bad decisions. Your product is a resource hog. People don't like having to dial in to the mothership to run their hardware. Most importantly - I won't be buying any more of your products and I'm looking forward to going completely razer-free in the near future.

I challenge any of you to step up and contact me about the questions I have posted. I won't hold my breath - corporate entities are generally spineless and can't handle direct criticism except by obfuscating and the ol' "smile and wave" treatment.

Maybe you have old products, but as far as I know all the latest mice/keyboards from the last 2 years or so have onboard memory so you don't need to login. You could also install Synapse, get everything set up, and uninstall it. I don't worry much about the RAM usage because RAM is cheap and I would think most gamers would have 16GB by now. Also most people will want the software running so you can sync all your products together, be able to use the Chroma effects on supported games, and have Cortex give you rewards. So yes, Synapse is using some resources, but that's the point. If you don't want any of Razer's features then another more basic brand would probably be better for you.

Sye_The-Vie
Vanguard
  • VANGUARD
  • 1943 replies
  • January 21, 2021
Hello new Insiders,
As I mentioned on this thread, when it comes to consumer products and services there will always be areas where people / consumers like and do not like.

I do not write this post to give a lecture, but to share my strong opinion and see what people think~~~

Let us talk about Synapse RAM usage

With the amount of RAM the Synapse is using, I don't think 160 MB is not even a topic to discuss. We are talking less than 1 GB here; 16% of 1 GB of RAM is being utilized by RAZER applications.
For Windows 10 installation, minimum RAM requirement is 1 GB, which is an absolute "no" "no" level if you want to use your Windows on a specific job or purpose.

Depending on what you use your Windows 10 platform on, you need a good level of hardware specs to give good to excellent level of computer performance.

I recommend following RAM capacity for some specific use of computers

  • School work, low graphics gaming: 4 - 8 GB
  • Professional office work, a good graphics gaming: 8 - 16 GB
  • IT workers, high graphics gaming: 16 - 32 GB
  • Professional work environment that involve large data works (servers) and any gamers: 32 - more GB

The point is, the above recommendations are way above 160 MB, so a 16% of 1 GB is not a heavy burden for most computers of today. My PC uses just shy of half a 1 GB on RAZER applications. That is because I have things like RAZER RGB peripherals and Synapse 2 running also, but I'm not complaining.

Synapse 3, RAZER peripherals only work with active Internet

I can ask the same for why does Windows, MacOS and other OS platforms need Internet?
Why do Microsoft and Apple release new OS versions and updates?
Answer: So that they provide their customers with some of the followings

  • Some protection of security from dangerous malwares, trackers and hackers
  • Better OS user interface update
  • To give permission for OS approved third party applications (RAZER synapse) to be installed and utilized on their OS platform

Same for RAZER, they also release new updates

  • To provide better user interface updates
  • Better drivers for RAZER peripherals
  • Protection for their application from Hackers
  • RAZER exe files to be compatible with the updated OS platforms

Depending on the magnitude of what RAZER applications provide for your pc; bigger the job it does, the more RAM it consumes.

OS development companies work with RAZER and other third party companies, to continue develop their software platforms so that both platforms work together as one to deliver a well working user interface machine.
Some updates can be a bad release, that is why they recall their releases and go back to the drawing board.

I don't think all RAZER peripherals require internet login to work. Which ones you ask? I hope someone else from RAZER Support or Insider can answer this.

In conclusion

As I mentioned before there are always reasons why people like and dislike consumer products. Some reasons of dislikes can be really unforgiving, from bad initial releases, poor internal hardware / circuitry designs, poor software design etc. But that is how consumer product companies grow, they learn from their mistakes to make better or improve their products. An example is, nvidia and their RTX 3000 series GPU initial release. I found an old article so have a read of it.

https://www.hardwareheaven.com/nvidia-the-first-problems-are-coming-on-the-rtx-3000/

Sye_The-Vie
Vanguard
  • VANGUARD
  • 1943 replies
  • January 21, 2021
aeroDarkJungleGreen316
sry website is broken like all Razer things, so no edit

This was written on Dec 30th 2020. Insider website was having some issues throughout 2020 Christmas to early new years of January.

RAZER officials would not raise a P1 and call in web engineers during public holiday period, just because the website was having some minor issues.

And during the public holidays, I bet there were not many RAZER staff working.

The web portal was working just not in a perfect way. They added in a DDoS protection throughout the holidays to prevent any damages from bad browser surfing and hackers from causing Cyber and Botnet attacks.

I see the replies here and all I see is a combination of excuses being made and blame-shifting to me, as the paying consumer. At the end of the day... you're both right - I don't need to spend my hard earned money on a product that doesn't perform at the levels that I expect.

In response to Armor_152 - I don't need a more basic brand - I need a more advanced brand. An advanced brand that puts control at the user's fingertips and has a support base designed around supporting the user. Clearly Razer isn't up to the challenge of offering a user a choice between having an always-on internet connection, or not. That's fine - there are plenty to fill the void. Logitech has already come to my rescue with a new keyboard that doesn't have any need to connect to the internet unless I command it to do so. Best part? The driver suite, in its entirety with everything enabled... runs at right around 10mb of used memory. Screw efficiency though... Clearly not as advanced as Razer!

In response to Sye_The-Vie - Since you're stating that you're sharing your opinion and asking for input - let me offer mine.

Your opinion is a joke.

The first line of your joke is to compare a frickin peripheral driver suite requiring internet access to the needs of an operating system. An operating system, by the way, which has full function if I do not have an internet connection. Hate to break this to you but Razer's software != Operating System.

The second line of your joke is the justification of this craptacular software for "updates 'n things". No dude. No. Every other hardware manufacturer posts their updates on their sites and users can go get them if they need them. At most, their software packages include either an "on click" updater or an unintrusive background updater that version checks and closes out with or without a prompt. The vast majority of background updating services can be disabled by the user or set to a manual option.

The punchline of your joke is your entire RAM usage breakdown.

I think Razer has forgotten something in the time they've risen up from nothing to becoming the bloated, intrusive monstrosity that they are today. They aren't the only ones that have forgotten this, to be sure.

That something is... My hardware resources ARE NOT YOURS, be light, be efficient, or be gone.

You may find it entirely acceptable to burn half a gig of RAM on peripherals because pretty colors. I do not.

You may find it entirely acceptable to have a peripheral software suite require internet access for full function of a local product. I do not.


Razer, if you're reading this - Put your software on a diet and give connectivity choice back to the user.

Until then, I find it entirely acceptable to go with a more advanced, higher quality, more user-friendly alternative for my peripherals.

In other words...

No happy customer.

No happy money.

Sye_The-Vie
Vanguard
  • VANGUARD
  • 1943 replies
  • January 30, 2021
@placeIndigoWebrush235 , everyone has their freedom of speech.

As I mentioned, I'm just here to give my opinion, whether the Insiders agree or not, that is their decision; and if that is what your mind speaks than fine by me.

At the beginning and the end of my thread, I pointed out "when it comes to consumer products and services there will always be areas where people / consumers will like and do not like."

No such thing is a 100% satisfactory consumer products and services.

Every consumer products compared to their competitor or predecessors have its advantages and disadvantages, ups and downs, goods and bads, likes and dislikes. It is just a matter of how you like to accept it is a question.
Complain and move to the one you really want, or see the good side of consumer products and learn to enjoy it.

If you do not like pc peripherals because your opinion matters, than look for the one that matters to you. RAZER might listen to your words and re-develop their products, but there are millions of pc enthusiasts who are loyal to @mltan and love his products.

Even I have my standards that define the meaning of a good product, if that standards are breached then that is where I raise my voice also. There will never be a consumer product/s that will give 100% satisfaction as long as the competitors and fixated satisfying predecessors exist.

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