Recently I was given a job of picking a mouse to replace the mouse devices used so far in our company. We used all sorts of mouse devices but all had in common a ball on the bottom which required constant cleaning.
The first decision I made was that all future mouse devices will be optical. Even though they cost a bit more I believe optical technology has a lot of positive sides.
Secondly, I decided to choose Microsoft as a supplier. I have used Microsoft mouse devices a long time and have found them to have excellent ergonomics and good quality.
The usual supplier of computer parts for my company offered two mouse to test, the first one was a plain Microsoft Wheel Mouse Optical and second the new Microsoft IntelliMouse Explorer 4.0. I tested them for a week and decided to share my experiences with the epinions community. This review deals with Microsoft IntelliMouse Explorer.

Optical technology

Microsoft web site explains: Optical technology refers to the use of an optical sensor to track mouse movement, rather than the traditional use of mechanical parts—rollers, pins, and mouse ball. The tiny optical sensor inside the mouse rapidly records and compares images of the desktop, and translates those differences into on-screen cursor movement.
In theory optical mouse will work on any surface except glass or reflective surfaces like mirrors and the mouse should be more precise with consistent performance. There is no mechanical parts so the mouse should last longer and will require much less cleaning and maintenance.

The mouse

The first thing to notice on this mouse is its unusual design with a lot of curved surfaces and its unusually wide rear part which is designed to be the rest for the thumb. The mouse is silver on top and black on the bottom. The surface is of top quality and will not get dirty easily. It is possible to buy the mouse in many different colors.
The left and right buttons are also grooved so the index and middle finger will sit nicely on them. I must say that I was skeptical when I first saw the mouse but after a short period of time I got used to the design and find it excellent. The mouse sits very well in the palm and the hand doesn't get tired after a long usage.
There are additional two "Thumb buttons", as Microsoft calls them, located next to the left mouse button. They are meant to be pressed with the thumb. In my experience using these buttons is not very comfortable as it requires to move the index finger while pressing them. Other than that the buttons can be quite useful as they are programmed as Forward and Back in internet explorer. That makes surfing the web more quicker.
There is the usual scroll wheel located in the middle between the left and right buttons. It is nicely designed with the rubber like grooved surface. There is no steps in the movement and I found that to be very good in scrolling through web pages and documents but not so good in games.
The biggest news on this mouse is "Tilt Wheel" technology. The wheel can be tilted right or left in addition to front and back. That is designed to be used as a horizontal scroll in documents. I found it quite useful in Excel and Photoshop and to some degree in Word. This addition is most useful in CAD application where horizontal scrolling is much needed.

More information about the mouse

Key Features
Ergonomic design
USB connector
Customizable buttons
Wheel scrolling
Microsoft Optical Technology
PS/2 connector

Additional Features
Tilt wheel technology
Microsoft Optical Technology
Ergonomic design
PC- and Mac-compatible

System Requirements for Microsoft Windows-based computers

Processor: Windows XP Home Edition or Windows XP Professional: Pentium 233-MHz or faster processor; Windows 2000 Professional or Windows 2000 Server: Pentium 133-MHz or faster processor
Memory: Windows XP Home Edition or Windows XP Professional: 128 MB of RAM; Windows 2000 Professional or Windows 2000 Server: 128 MB of RAM
Hard Disk: 35 MB of available hard-disk space
Drive: CD ROM Drive
Operating System: Windows XP Home Edition, Windows XP Professional, Windows 2000 Professional, or Windows 2000 Server
Other: Available PS/2 or Universal Serial Bus (USB) Port

System Requirements for Macintosh computers

Hard Disk: 15 MB of available hard-disk space
Drive: CD ROM Drive
Operating System: Mac OS X version 10.1 to 10.2 (excluding 10.0)
Other: An available Universal Serial Bus (USB) port

The software

The mouse comes with a software driver which Microsoft calls IntelliPoint. I have downloaded the newest version 5.2 from their site. The installation is pretty easy and quick, all you have to do is pick the type of the mouse.
There are a couple of complaints about the installation. First, after installation it is required to restart the computer even in Windows XP environment. Secondly, the shortcut to the software is created on the desktop without asking the user.
After installation the user interface is integrated into Control Panel->Mouse. There are a lot of options which can be configured.
On Button tab it is possible to reprogram both buttons and the scroll wheel functions, There is also the option to enable Program-specific settings. That means that you can have different button functions for different applications. For example you can program the wheel button as Forward or Back in internet explorer and the same button can be Copy or Paste in Word.
On Hardware Tab under Properties->Advanced Settings it is possible to change the Sample rate of the mouse. The sample rate is the rate in which the mouse sends its status report to the operating system so the higher setting should mean a smoother scrolling. This increases a processor usage but is insignificant on higher performance processors.
On Scrolling tab it is possible to enable Accelerated scrolling and adjust its rate. Accelerated scrolling is a nice feature which detects the speed in which the wheel is turned and adjusts the scrolling speed accordingly. This is useful in Internet explorer when scrolling through a long web page or in any other application when you have to scroll through a lot of content.

Final thoughts

This mouse features one of the more unusual designs. Microsoft claims that the design is the product of much ergonomic testing and I tend to agree with them. The mouse has an arched design which provides a lot of support for the palm in the proper position so the hand never gets tired. The buttons are large and easy to use.
The wheel features a smooth scrolling with no stepping in the movement. I found that feature a mixed success. In applications like Word or while scrolling the internet it is quite good as it enables fast scrolling together with "Accelerated scrolling" feature from the drivers. But this "smooth scrolling" doesn't give the proper feedback when playing games. For example in Doom 3 I use the forward and back scroll to switch weapons but with smooth scrolling I can never precisely move the button to switch to the desired weapon.
The tilt wheel is also mostly good addition. For office use it is excellent as it enables faster and precise horizontal scrolling. In CAD horizontal scrolling is very valuable addition. But, again there is trouble in games. I tried to use left and right scroll for weapon switching but Doom 3 refused to recognize the buttons. I'm not sure if this is a problem with the game or the mouse drivers.
There is another problem I noticed in Doom 3.The problem appeared when I increased the sample rate to 200 reports/second. Then I noticed small distortions in the form of white dots on the screen in black portions of the picture. The problem disappeared once the sample rate was decreased.
The mouse performs well on different type of surfaces usually found in the office. It scrolls nicely on paper, desktop surface and on mouse pad. There is no noticeable fall in performance when moving the mouse on the leg also.
For office use in word processing, spreadsheet and CAD applications this mouse is an excellent product. For internet browsing it is also excellent with smooth scrolling the pages are viewed more quickly and thumb buttons help with navigation. It has a nice design, great ergonomics and excellent performance. There are just a few problems with games but that may be fixed with patches to games or mouse drivers.
This is a very good product. It is easy to install, configure and use. The software driver is very good and brings a lot of useful additions. It is possible to use the mouse without installation of the software but then you loose some advanced adjustments and are stuck with basic features.
I decided to use this product also in my company for advance users which can use it's potential to the fullest. There is also the price of 30$ which is twice the price of Wheel Mouse Optical which I described in the previous review.

Web Links

Product description:
http://www.microsoft.com/hardware/mouseandkeyboard/productdetails.aspx?pid=003

Driver download:
http://download.microsoft.com/download/7/C/0/7C07FB08-CA20-4405-B090-F4D1980DBB77/IP5_2Eng.exe


Recommended: Yes

Amount Paid (US$): 30