I recently purchased the Microsoft Wireless Laser Mouse 6000 at the company store for $25. It’s selling at Amazon.com for $43. I originally got it because I wanted to check out the new laser technology that all new mouse is sporting and also wanted to see how wireless mouse have improved over the years. I’ve hated wireless mouse 5 years ago because the lag was just killing me. Here’s my review on it.
The mouse is based on Microsoft’s High Definition Technology which claims:
- 1000 DPI (dots per inch)
- 6000 FPS (frames per second)
- 85 MOPS (million operations per second)
The mouse has a good feel overall and is made ergonomically for right handed users. Before this mouse, I used the Microsoft Intellimouse Optical, which is also the mouse I use at work and back home in Monterey Park. That mouse sells for $22 on Amazon.com. It’s actually a great mouse and I’ve fallen in love with it multiple times and actually prefer it over many Logitech mice. But lets get back to this new mouse.
The new mouse has 5 buttons, just like my old one. but has the 2 extra buttons on the left side (for the thumb) instead of one on each side. I still haven’t decided if that is something desirable. I can see why they moved it to the left side. I had to use the side of my ring finger before to hit the right button, but one of the left buttons now require my thumb to stretch, which doesn’t really feel natural. The scroll wheel (middle click) introduces a new technology called tilt wheel, where the wheel can actually tilt left and right, allowing you to scroll left and right. Since I’m running my screen resolution at 1920×1200, horizontal scrolling is no issue, and it never really was to begin with anyway. The default software that comes with the mouse (IntelliPoint 5.4, though I’ve upgraded to 5.5) does not allow you to reprogram the tilt wheel which is surprise. I’ve contacted the mouse department regarding this and haven’t heard back yet.
The default buttons are also a bit weird. The back button is natural, but one of the thumb buttons turns on the magnifier which seems like a neat feature, but not something I’d use often enough to waste a whole button on. I’ve reprogrammed it to forward like my previous mouse. The middle click was also not defaulted to middle click, instead it was defaulted to Next Window, which seemed more like it was minimizing the current window and setting focus on the window immediately behind it.
The sensitivity is great! It took awhile to get used to, but I think my overall mouse movement has decreased with increased precision. I haven’t really tested the range yet, but my receiver is hidden behind a Kleenex box and is about 2ft from the mouse and the software has prompted me twice already that the signal is weak. It came with new energizer AA batteries, so I doubt it’s the batteries’ fault. Speaking of which, the mouse runs on 2 AA batteries, so it’ll be useful to stock up on some AA NiMH rechargable batteries. The website claims the batteries can last up to 6 months. I haven’t found a way to turn off the mouse yet, so I think it’s always pending and probably goes to sleep when there’s no activity. However, it wakes up rather quickly and I detect no delay after coming home and moving the mouse.
Since this was a laser mouse, I was expecting to also use like an laser pointer. But apparently the laser is invisible, meaning you don’t see anything coming out. I highly advise that you don’t look directly into the hole. The bottom of the mouse says: Class 1 Invisible Laser Product.
There IS one big fault about the mouse. The middle button is rather hard to click. It requires a lot more force than I’d expect and am used to. I’m thinking of switching to the Microsoft Laser Mouse 6000, basically the wired version of this mouse. Also sells for $25 at the company store, but Amazon.com is selling it for $37 after rebate. One of my neighboring colleagues uses it at work and it’s identical to the wireless in every way besides the cord and the fact that the middle click is a lot easier to use.