Well worth the price... awesome piece of equipment.
Written: Dec 10 '00
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Product Rating:
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Pros: Shape & Size are great, good drivers, excellent accuracy, longetivity.
Cons: Not for "lefties"
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| hansmuff's Full Review: Microsoft Intelli Explorer (B75-00001) Mouse |
From a technical viewpoint, it is clear. There's a small camera in there that takes pictures and compares them, then sends detected movement signals to the PC. Fine. But how did they pack that kind of technology that is really advanced compared to the rubber ball into a $60 mouse ?! That's something that's hard to understand.
This was a christmas gift from my wife to me, and it's one of those gifts I really appreciate. It works wonderfully, except minor glitches:
Glitch 1: The buttons are pushed down too easily, not enough resistance. In the beginning, when I lifted the mouse to re-position, I often pushed the right button by accident. I got more or less used to it so it doesn't happen much anymore.
Glitch 2: The left button sometimes releases when I move my finger on the button while it's pressed. In other words, when dragging an icon on the screen, i sometimes lose it because the button releases even though my finger is still on it. That happens very rarely, but only with this mouse.
So those are the glitches, but I've learnt to live with them, and I cannot say that I read about Glitch 2 anywhere else. Glitch 1 is common.
On the positive side, the wheel is simply awesome, it has a great feel to it and just the right resistance for me. Also, it acts as a 3rd button, which works out quite well, and is not so easy to push that I'd do it by accident. Buttons 4 and 5 on the left side of the mouse (thumb buttons) are simply outstanding for web surfing. I use one as the 'back' button and one as 'Alt+TAB' to switch back and forth between two browsers. I really love those thumb buttons.
The shape of the mouse is simply perfect for my hand. I have medium size hands I think, and I get a really excellent grip on the mouse, and my hand rests comfortably on it. Some people think it's too big, but I don't think so.
The looks of it are.. well, a matter of taste. I absolutely love it, the red tail and everything. Looks different and appealing, I would love to have a blue tail light though.
So anyway. Operating system support:
Even though the Intellimouse Explorer works differently than other mice, it's perfectly compatible to other PS/2 mice. It works without any problems in Linux, Windows NT/9x/2k and OS/2 Warp 4 (remember that ?), at least when plugged into the PS/2 port.
The USB port connection won't work in Windows NT or OS/2 Warp, and probably flaky in Linux until kernel 2.4 comes out, but I've tested it in Win2K and it worked just fine.
Microsoft has drivers available for Windows 9x/NT/2K, which let you customize the buttons and the scroll wheel. No problems there, at least not with the newer versions (3.0 and up) of the driver software. Older versions are reportedly having some weird problems sometimes.
Many people heard/read that there are problems with the mouse tracking when it's moved fast. That's only partially true, and only under the following condition: When the mouse is "flicked" across a surface very fast, like some hardcore Quake3 players reportedly do, a ball mouse has no trouble keeping up, and the player on the screen will turn around real fast. With the Intellimouse Explorer, this alledgedly is a problem.
I personally am not a hardcore player, but a play Quake3 often, and I never ever had the mouse mis-track or malfunction in any way, even when moved very quickly. I don't know if this problem is just a rumor or not, and if not, whether it wasn't a problem with the old drivers, but I have never personally experienced it.
The mouse tracks very accurately, and smooth. Detail work on the screen is a joy with this tool, and it makes my work go smoother than ever (even though I don't really do detail work but just software development).
I use the mouse on an old, dirty, cruddy, coffee stained, black cloth mouse pad, and have no accuracy problems at all with it.
I absolutely love this mouse and wouldn't want to miss it, no ball mouse for me again! The price is justified, looking at the technology that's used. This one is really a winner.
One drawback it has, it's only for right handed people. I have not seen a left handed version... that's sad for the 'lefties' among us. But you might want to look at the new white intellimouse with the 33% faster technology, it looks like it'll work for right- and lefthanded people !
Recommended:
Yes
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Epinions.com ID:
hansmuff
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Location: PA, USA
Reviews written: 36
Trusted by: 3 members
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