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| Microsoft Wireless Optical Mouse Periwinkle (blue) |
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Not as good as I expected
This is a BIG mouse. More of a rat really. Thats because of the twin batteries of course, so its just one of those things. But sometimes it feels clumsy and slow witted. The little pads underneath dont help: theyve got very sharp adges and catch on the slightest thing.
Every so often, it loses touch with the base station too so needs a reset, though it takes only a second.
Its fairly comfortable to hold, but the size counts against it there too.
The rest is pure Microsoft mouse, though the wheel doesnt "click" around. It does tilt from left to right for horizontal scrolling which is an excellent feature.
Im using mine with Mac OSX 10.3 and its absolutely fine, no problems with software.
So its better than the Apple Mouse that came with my new iMac, but almost anything would be. Id try this in your hand before you buy it if I were you.
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Microsoft Wireless Optical Mouse 2.0 - Periwinkle
First the good points:
Nice feel, nice weight and smooth action.
Optical technology means no more furred up mouse balls.
Wireless technology means no more snagged wires.
Mouse mat not required.
Responsiveness is good - no noticeable lag with the cursor movement.
Batteries are supplied and are reputed to last 6 months (though I cant confirm that yet, of course).
Connectors for both PS/2 ports and USB ports are supplied.Middling points:
It works fine up to 1 metre from the receiver. Definitely doesnt work above 1.20 metres (thats OK, but not brilliant).
Left and right mouse buttons have nice light feel, but the tilt-left and tilt-right buttons need a long deliberate push (probably OK, they wont get pressed accidentally)
The wheel button also requires a deliberate push and sometimes doesnt register if the wheel is slightly tilted.
Unlike earlier wheel mice, the wheel is notch-less - I preferred the tactile feedback of feeling the notches while rolling the wheel, but it is probably just a matter of taste.
The lower half of the mouse is translucent plastic and the radio receiver is completely translucent. Both glow due to the embedded LEDs and both look a bit odd to me, but its another matter of taste. Bad points:
Theres only one - the supplied Intellipoint 5.0 mouse software will only work with Windows 2000, XP and Mac 10.1 or higher (it says this on the box, so its not a bug). The software will not even partly install on earlier versions of Windows - its a total no-no. If you want to use the mouse on Windows 98SE, like me, there are some options:
1. The mouse will work quite happily with no software installed at all, except the tilt-left and tilt-right buttons dont do anything and you cant configure the mouse defaults.
2. Microsoft Intellipoint 4.12 is downloadable from http://support.microsoft.com and will install on Windows 98 - but this makes the mouse movement jerky and is far worse than no software at all.
3. Microsoft Intellipoint 3.2 isnt downloadable from Microsoft, but may be available elsewhere. I had an old copy from 2001, so I installed that, telling the software I had a Wireless Intellimouse Explorer (picking a 4-button mouse from the list). Normal mouse functions such as button assignments and speed can now be configured, though the tilt-left and tilt-right buttons still dont do anything.
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Very good but not perfect
Ive recently replaced my Logitech Mouseman Optical with the red version of the Wireless Optical Mouse 2.The main reason for replacing my previous wireless optical mouse was its bad battery life & right-hand only design. This MS mouse is symetrical & has the best feel of any mouse Ive used. Being left-handed, I was more than willing to forgo the extra button the Right-handed Explorer version has. I tend to use my index finger for all buttons which is very easy with this mouse or occasionally use both index & middle finger. MS appear to have solved high battery comsumption, with a quoted 6 month life from 2 AA alkalines. Ive used this mouse heavily for 2 months & the battery indicator is still showing about 80%. The response time seems fine so gamers should be happy. As has been mentioned by others, the range this mouse works over is very good & the use of mobile & DECT phones or Bluetooth devices near it causing no problems to any device. The main new functions (to me) are to the scroll wheel which now sports left/right scrolling whos linear rate can be adjusted. This function works well in most MS apps like Office & Windows Explorer but is far too slow at panning in PaintShop Pro for example. Vertical scrolling now has adjustable acceleration as well as speed which can be disabled for linear scrolling. The only disadvantage I can think off is that vertical scrolling doesnt have any indent at all - probably by design rather than oversight due to the acceleration capability rendering indents less predictable. I would prefer the indent action to be re-introduced on future models with linear tracking at low speeds. Be careful not to set either vertical scrolling speed nor acceleration too high or you will find using so-called Spinbox controls overshoot. MS always seem to keep the general amount of tweaking the same from version to version of their software so new functionality pushes out the old. If you hold a mouse at a skewed angle, theres no longer adjustment to correct it. Strangely, theres no adjustment of accelration of the mouse itself - just on or off but not really a major issue (now called Enhance pointer precision). The Snap To function remains which I use with Windows set to single click. The software includes a tab for wireless that shows both battery level & signal strength. Button assignment could be better - eg, F keys are missing. I find clicking the wheel easy & have no issues on the physical useablity of using left/right scrolling. Due to vertical acceration, moving from top to bottom of web pages, documents & Explorer views far quicker with this mouse. So not quite perfect but the best mouse this left-handed user has encountered. I have connected via USB but use the PS/2 port which is easier to bring WinXP out of Standby mode without tweaking motherboard settings or jumpers. The receiver is bigger than really needed, not particularly pretty & sports a green LED & is made of the same translucent plastic that the concave sides of the mouse have. Good construction, price & the plastic stands up to my acidic fingers without marking - almost a piece of sculpture :) The blue version of this mouse looked boring, so I waited for the red version - also available in grey for you roughy-toughy guys :)
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-As an optical mouse it some times has problems on certain surfaces that Ive not had problems with on other optical mice.
I already have one of these on my pc so when i saw this at such a goodprice i had to buy one for my Sons pc.
It performs exactly as specified and installation is easy, but there are a couple of things that would make me pick something else if I was choosing again. 1 - The weight of the batteries upsets the balance of the mouse. When you pick it up to reposition it on the mouse mat it tips backwards. I find.. 
The mouse is great. A bit smaller than I expected, but great if you always use a laptop... 
This mouse is ideal for most standard uses except for one thing - the batteries in the mouse weigh it down by a surprising amount. This leaves it heavy and clunky to operate.