Pros: No mouse ball to clean, smooth movement, wheel and extra buttons
Cons: Tendency to double click, occasional tracking problem
The Bottom Line: This mouse is a very good buy, but the several bugs associated with it's design can sometimes be a hassle. If not for these, this mouse would get 5 stars.
sidious81's Full Review: Microsoft Intelli Optical (D58-00026) Mouse
Don't you just hating having to clean the mouse ball and rollers in your mouse every couple of days just in order to get smooth movement with your mouse? If so, then this mouse is a godsend.
Using an LED and light sensor, this mouse tracks movement based upon the visible surface it is being used upon. This allows for very good precision movement as compared to traditional mice.
I purchased mine about 5 or six months ago, and upon installing the drivers, a process which posed no troubles intrinsic to installing new hardware, I was instantly hooked. The difference between an optical mouse and the traditional ball mouse is astounding. In addition to the accurate reading of movements of the mouse, with the lack of a ball and rollers to become clogged with dust and other things, the movement of the mouse over any surface is incredibly smooth. There is no need for a mouse pad here. The closest one ever has to come to cleaning this mouse is brushing off the pads which contact the surface. How often can you have a mouse work consistently just sitting on a desk? Not very often in my experience.
This mouse also boasts 5 programmable buttons. In addition to the two standard, there is a button on each side of the mouse, right where one's thumb and ring-finger sit comfortably on the mouse. There is also a wheel on the mouse useful for scrolling down pages, which also doubles as the fifth button.
The mouse is very ergonomically designed, allowing for comfortable placement of one's hand on the mouse. It is also designed that both left- and right-handed people can comfortably use it.
There are also several problems associated with this mouse. One minor trouble is that since the wheel also can act as a button, sometimes one may scroll up or down when intending to depress the button. This is really only a minor annoyance, and can easily be ignored.
There are, however, two more serious problems. First and foremost, after long usage of the mouse, it seems that the contacts in the button become worn, and if one does not click firmly down on the button, it has a tendency to double click. I've tested this out many times, and it seems that the mouse button triggers sometimes even before it clicks. Thus, if one can put up with remembering to be firm clicking the button, this shouldn't be too much of a problem.
Finally, every so often it seems that the mouse hardware and software become 'confused' as to where the mouse is and whether it is moving or not. The tracking of the mouse operates by remembering features on the surface it sits on and reports movement by monitoring changes in the features it is currently sensing. After a time it appears that the mouse gets caught by a pattern in the surface, sending bad messages to the software. This occurrence is noticeable on screen by the mouse pointer seeming to fly in different directions around the screen. Picking up the mouse and setting it back down clears up this problem, but it can become a real pain while in the middle of a game.
All in all, this mouse is a very good investment, and I recommend it to anyone. The ease of use and benefits of the optical feature of the mouse far outweigh the cons associated with it. I am very happy with mine, and I imagine that others who have it are too.
The more efficient way to work. The IntelliMouse lets you browse the Web without using toolbars or the keyboard. Simply use either side button to goMore at TigerDirect.com
Work on any surface while you easily navigate documents, Web pages, and spreadsheets with the convenient scroll wheel and Internet navigation buttons;...More at Microsoft Store
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