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Technology Review - Logitech MX1000
Logitech MX1000
Taking the mouse out of the box and plugging it straight into the USB port on my Windows XP machine, I was pleasantly surprised to find that it was partially charged up and worked straight away, with Windows detecting the new device. Before installing the software to configure the mouse, it showed itself to be very sensitive, with the merely flick of the wrist enough to send the point half way across my screen.
It seems that it's impossible to buy any hardware these days without getting a vast bundle of software with it. For some reason the Logitech MX1000 includes Musicmatch and an Ebay shortcut, both of which I chose not to install. This is just a mouse! The rest of the software is fairly representative of the whole product: overkill.
Logitech's Setpoint software allows you to configure the mouse settings (e.g. sensitivity, buttons and so on) and yet it weighs in at a whopping 22MB.
Moving onto the hardware itself, the MX1000 is more like a large black rat than a mouse, being one of the largest mice I've ever used. That said, for right handed users, it does sit fairly comfortably under the hand once you've got used to it for a day or so. The myriad buttons scattered around the body of the mouse extend on previous generations of Logitech rodent and in my opinion, they seem to be there for the sake of it.
On the left of the mouse are three buttons: two directional buttons and an application switch button. I found the latter very difficult to press without also moving the mouse or accidentally pressing the direction buttons. Perhaps Logitech should also sell it as a finger exercise device. Besides the now familiar wheel (which also moves left and right for horizontal scrolling), the top of the mouse body also has what Logitech refer to as "cruise buttons". Out of the box, these do pretty much the same as the mouse wheel, but more quickly. The trouble is that, unless you're blessed with extraordinarily long and nimble fingers, you will find using them very awkward withouth repositioning your hand on the mouse. I found that the mouse wheel runs nice and freely in the up-down direction, but the downside of this is that flicking it left and right is tricky without also scrolling up or down a little.
Anyone wanting to see a nice red laser beaming out of the mouse's underbelly will be disappointed as the device uses an invisible infra red laser. The use of a laser allows the mouse to detect movement with more accuracy than a regular LED-based optical mouse.
One problem with other wireless mice is that halfway through the evening you find the AA battery runs out and you're left with a choice between switching off your PC, or a trip to the 24-hour petrol station to buy a new one. This device gets around that problem by using an integrated rechargeable Li-Ion battery. Although the mouse looks pretty cool sitting on its tilting charging station, I was disappointed to find that it doesn't seem to charge from the USB port, meaning you'll have to find yet another free mains socket for the supplied mains adaptor.
To sum up: for those with long, lean fingers on their right hand, who want more than 2 buttons and a wheel on their mouse and have plenty of wall sockets, this is a good mouse, but I suspect most people can live with a normal optical wheel mouse.
