Logitech MX1000 Mouse…Hot or hype?
Written: Jul 27 '05
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Product Rating:
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Pros: Lots of buttons and options. Programmable buttons. Great battery life.
Cons: Bulky, weird shaped and clumsy. Firefox brower users must program buttons.
The Bottom Line: For a high-tech mouse it works. It is accurate and does its job well. But it does not work better than the other computer mice.
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| roostrfsh's Full Review: Humminbird Piranha Max 20 Fishfinder |
“World’s 1st Laser Mouse,” is the way the Logitech box promotes the company's new high-tech mouse, “Optical is obsolete.” Is this wireless laser mouse really better?
The mouse promises to work on Win 98, Me, XP and the MacIntosh OS X operating systems. I’ve only tried the mouse on Win XP.
This is a very high-priced mouse retailing for almost $80. Luckily the local brick and mortar store had a sale on the mouse. With an instant rebate and a $10 mail-in rebate the price of the mouse was $39.95. That price was lower than the price I paid a couple of years ago for the Logitech MX700 wireless LED mouse. The decent price and a standard 3 year warranty convinced me to tryout the cutting edge technology mouse.
The Logitech mouse features include claims of:
20x the tracking power of optical (mice)
A high tech rechargeable lithium-ion cell (that) never needs replacing
Corded performance that equals USB corded connection.
New thumb-button controls with Universal page forward and back and application switch quickly moves between open windows
Superior grasp
Illuminated 4 level battery monitor
Powerful scrolling, wheel tilts, cruise control rocker and zoom
More information from the outside of the box reads: 5.8 megapixel/sec., resolution 800 dpi and surface sensitivity of 20x versus optical.
The specifications sound good or better than my old MX700 LED mouse. Do the increased specs translate to a better mouse?
In the high tech looking, prism artwork box is the mouse, rapid charging base, CD with SetPoint software, installation guide in different languages, a USB to PS/2 adapter and the AC power adapter. Everything the box claimed was where it should be.
I full expected to see a miniaturized Star Wars Defense System laser beam to be pouring out of the bottom of the mouse when I clicked a switch. Sadly that was not the case. There is no visible beam coming out of the wild looking mouse.
The MX1000 mechanically installed easily and worked. The promise of the software installation to untap the full power of the mouse features was the next step. Simply use the CD and follow the onscreen instructions to have the software installed. I recommend installing the software for full programming use of the MX1000. The programming feature came in handy later.
Internet Explorer users can skip this paragraph. To my dismay I found out the MX1000 out of the box will not support the full functions of my favorite web browser, Mozilla Firefox. The forward and back page keys on the side of the mouse didn’t work. Googling through the Net came up with the MX1000/Firefox fix. Through the SetPoint software the MX1000 left side buttons must be manually configured to move forward and backward one page. 15 minutes of programming, using the web page instructions and following the complicated and cryptic menu and options rewarded me with the full functions of both I.E. and Firefox. I guess Logitech doesn’t know there are other web browsers in the world.
Another function I changed was to the scroll wheel. The standard function of pushing down on the scroll wheel is to zoom into a picture. I reprogrammed my scroll wheel so when it is pushed down the command is now to go to the bottom of a page. Now when I go to my favorite web forum a simple push of the wheel drops me to the bottom post of a thread. That makes me a lot happier. All controls on the MX1000 are easily programmable can easily be reset to default with the use of the SetPoint software.
The 20x tracking speed of the laser mouse doesn’t thrill me. It works just as good as my reliable, old, MX700 mouse. The MX700 mouse is more than adequate for speed. Until I can learn to go over 20x faster then I won’t see any speed increases of the mouse. The MX1000 and MX700 are equally as accurate with point and click.
For battery life I’d say the MX1000 is excellent. I assume the mouse recharges. The battery indicator located on the lower left side of the top of the mouse always reads full. The mouse is so frugal with power that I haven’t seen the mouse indicate it needs a refresh charge. At the end of a computer session I simply drop the mouse in the charging cradle knowing the mouse will refresh its battery charge. That is great!
I thought the old MX700 mouse was bulky and weird shaped but I got used to it. The MX1000 is more of both and I cannot get used to it. Pressing the secondary switches is not as easy to do. You have to contort your fingers and thumbs around other switches. If you don’t then you end up pressing the little auxiliary switches and messing up what you really wanted to do. For instance on the top of the old MX700 I liked the placement of the Quick Switch button on the top below the scroll wheel. One finger would tap the switch and I could choose with application to use. On the new MX1000 the Quick Switch between the left side rockers switches. I have to contort my thumb to press in the middle of the two rocker switches. The side rocker switches are clumsy to work with but having to hunt for a Quick Switch is just plain stupid. The Quick Switch is now a Slow Switch. The other switches simply do not feel right. The seem just three millimeters from where they should be. Ergonomics of the MX1000 loses big time over the older MX700 mouse.
Logitech add a potentially useful function in the scroll wheel. The wheel tilts laterally to scroll on large images. But I use the scroll function rarely. I really have to remember to use the function.
Is it a hype or hit for the MX1000 mouse? I really don’t see any earth shattering ideas to design a new mouse with a laser. Is the laser mouse worth the extra money? Not the way I see it. My old MX700 mouse works just as fast and feels better in the hand.
The MX1000 laser mouse is more hype than new ideas. The normal high price would be more than I would justify paying for a computer mouse. If you want leading edge technology and a higher tech mouse than your neighbor this is the mouse for you. If you need a competent mouse then there are cheaper ones available that work just as good and feel better.
Recommended:
Yes
Amount Paid (US$): 39.95
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Epinions.com ID:
roostrfsh
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Location: Stockton, CA, USA
Reviews written: 14
Trusted by: 2 members
About Me:
STILL living in and loving California.
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