Introduction:

I've been looking for some time now for a rechargeable wireless mouse to replace my trusty Logitech Cordless Optical Mouseman which I've had since 2000. The original Cordless Optical Mouseman was the first cordless optical mouse and while it featured excellent ergnomics, it lacked an on/off switch or a recharging facility. So, I've been left constantly replacing batteries (usually once every 3 months or so). Also, unless you installed Logitech's bloated drivers, there was no way to tell when your batteries were about dead - that is, until the mouse started exhibiting jerkiness. Otherwise, this was a great unit all-around, but when I read Maximum PC's review of the MX-1000, I was chomping at the bit to get one as it seemed to address all of the shortcomings of the Mouseman.

At first glance:

The MX1000 boasts the world's first laser tracking system. This is supposed to make the MX1000 far more sensitive and accurate than typical optical mice which use a red LED that bounces light off the surface you're using it on. This normally works great except on certain (usually glossy) surfaces. Since the MX1000 uses a laser, it can be used on any surface without any of the side effects common to normal optical mice (jerkiness or non-responsiveness). The MX1000 comes with Logitech's usual dizzying array of special function buttons including "cruise control", which is a fancy way of saying that it has buttons that you can press and hold down instead of scrolling with the mouse wheel. It also has page forward and back buttons and a clickable scroll-wheel that also allows you to scroll horizontally by pressing it left and right (similar to the newest Microsoft mice). The MX1000 also comes with a charging cradle and an LED charge indicator on the mouse itself. All-in-all the MX1000 has a feature set not available on any other mouse on the market, which allows it to command a premium $79 pricetag (as of this writing).

Set-up:

The MX1000 comes with a cradle, power cable, adapter from USB to PS/2, setup disc and a printed quick start guide in addition to the mouse itself. There is no need to install batteries as there is already a lithium-ion battery pack inside the mouse that is actually replaceable (although you shouldn't need to do so for the life of the mouse). You simply plug the cradle into an open USB port (or use the adapter if you prefer PS/2), plug the power cable into an outlet and then into the cradle and you're ready to go. There is no need to install the drivers on Windows XP, although you might want to if you'd like to assign additional functions to the special buttons.

Impressions:

Let me say right up front that I made the foolish mistake of snagging this mouse right off the shelf without trying it out to see how well it fit my hand first - as I've said in other reviews (yes, I know what you're going to say: "what's wrong with you?"), always try a mouse before you buy it. In my defense, I've never used a Logitech product before that had a problem with ergonomics - and based upon the size and shape of this mouse, I really thought it would be a home-run. Unfortunately, it isn't. This time around, Logitech made the mistake of assuming that once a user puts his/her hand on a mouse, they never take it off. The problem is, people shift their hands constantly, especially when repositioning the mouse. This doesn't jive well with the deep thumb-grove and narrow area provided for the middle and ring fingers on this mouse.

My primary area of complaint is that afore-mentioned right-mouse button area. If you're like me, you usually set your middle and ring finger on the right mouse button. Your pinky usually grasps the side of the mouse. Unfortunately, on the MX1000, there's no room for that ring finger either on the right-mouse button or the rubberized area along the side of the mouse. This takes some figuring out to try to get comfortable and in my opinion is unacceptable. However, it might work if you have small hands - or perhaps only three fingers in addition to your thumb. Speaking of the thumb, the MX1000 has a deep groove for it. I find this slightly annoying because it makes it very difficult to reposition your hand on the mouse which I find I do very often - particularly while gaming. The bottom line is that an ergonomically designed product should feel completely natural. You should be able to put your hand on the mouse and feel like it belongs there. This is simply not the case with MX1000 and I suspect that many people will shift their fingers incessently trying to find a comfortable position.

My only other nit-pick would be that the cradle requires a power connection instead of charging from the USB bus as so many other devices do. But really, this doesn't really bother me as it might some people because if it didn't plug into the wall, the mouse would only get a charge when the PC was powered on.

Otherwise, this mouse works like a dream. It is very accurate - on par or better than corded optical mice. Logitech claims that this mouse is 20x more accurate than a typical optical mouse. My seat-of-the-pants feeling on the subject is that 20x must not really be all that noticeable because this mouse feels just a little better than my old cordless Mouseman. Where it really differentiates itself is in "wake-up" time - that is, it starts working immediately once you start to move it. Other cordless opticals need a second or two to "wake-up". Since this mouse has an on/off switch on the bottom, there really is no reason for it to sleep in the first place, so this might not be an attribute of the laser mechanism.

I really like the rubberized areas on the mouse that give it a more substantial feeling than other all-plastic mice. The scroll-wheel is a bit loose (which is a matter of preference) but does work amazingly well, as do the other special feature buttons, even without specific drivers.

While I mention it, let's talk about mouse drivers. If you're like me, you hate programs that run in the system tray and take up memory and system resources - again, Logitech's drivers do just that - as if we all don't have enough annoying icons in that area. But take solice in the fact that you will not need to install Logitech's bloatware to use this mouse. All of the functionality is there by default without the driver.

Conclusion:

The MX1000 is a worthy contender in the high-end mouse market, but check to make sure it meets your hand's expectation of the way a mouse should feel before you buy it. I'm sure I'll eventually find a way to live with this thing - and that's the best part of this mouse, it works so fluid and has such a great feature set that it makes you want to take the time to get used to it.

Recommended: Yes