Maybe your mouse isn't such an important part of your life then! (Logitech Pilot Serial/PS2)

Member Name: GR-Design

Product:	Logitech Pilot Serial/PS2
Date:	27/10/01 (61 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Price, Comfort

Disadvantages: Basic

Now, before I write this, I don’t have a fetish for mice! It’s just I’m getting rid of some computer bits and pieces to make more room for the bits I want to keep, and the bits I want to keep are the decent bits, so I think they are worthy of a short review, and this one will be short, as it’s a pretty basic mouse!

If you are the sort of person who doesn’t like all the gadgets and gizmos, or who can’t justify spending over a tenner on a mouse, then the Logitech Pilot Mouse is the ideal mouse for you (or the Microsoft Basic Mouse, see my review!!) This mouse will cost you roughly £9.99 from your local Currys, Dixons or IT supplier, and really is just a 3 button, ball driven mouse, nothing more, nothing less, oh, apart from the fact that it has the Logitech Logo printed on it, which will raise the price a bit, just like the Microsoft Basic Mouse.

Some of you may remember the mice that cam out before this one. They were a small mouse, shaped much like the basic mouse, with an indent in the left button. These mice, although a bit on the cheap side, were actually very reliable and comfortable to use, however, they were used widely by other computer companies, so Logitech didn’t see it as their own and decided to create the ‘pilot’ mouse. Why it’s called pilot I have no idea, answers on a postcard!

The mouse itself consists of 3 buttons, like the old style mice we used to have. Now, we only seem to get 2 buttons, even on mice without the wheel. It is made of a light grey, textured plastic which seems to wear pretty quickly, you can easily see where my fingers been doing its thing, as it’s left the plastic all nice and shiny! The mouse is symmetrical in shape, so both lefty’s and righty’s can use it as easily as each other. It is comfortable, until you feel a different mouse, so basically it’s not the best for comfort, but a lot better than the other mice on the
market around the same price band. You get what you pay for after all. The clicks are good, if a little ‘hard’ to depress. I don’t mean you have to really force it down, I mean you have to give it a good click, it’s not at all sensitive to a bit of pressure, and when you have clicked it, you’ll be rewarded with a nice, if a little loud, clickety click sound.

On a very positive note, like my well used Logitech Mouseman +, the ball does seem to attract dirt, which does stick to the rollers, but unlike other mice, this doesn’t cause you any problems, and in fact, you probably wouldn’t realise that it needs a bit of the cleaning treatment. On some mice, you can feel the dirt, this one, and indeed, all Logitechs that I have used, seem to just push the dirt to the side and continue on not worrying about it.

I don’t have the manuals as I got the mouse either off the back of a lorry or with a machine that I sold on, to be honest I can’t remember, but I kept it back anyway. I do believe though that you can set up the middle button to work as a shortcut button, a bit like the wheel buttons on the more advanced mice. This enables you to do most things that the more advanced users can, in the same amount of time that they can, all from your £9.99 mouse. Well done Logitech!

For those of you who use your mouse constantly, need a wheel etc etc, don’t bother with this one, and get yourself a mouse that’s a step up (although you can get a Pilot with a wheel now). However, for those of you who use your mouse sometimes, or don’t have the need for a wheel and all the frills (a bit like our receptionists at work, their need for a mouse ends when they have pointed and clicked) then this could be an ideal mouse for you. It comes with the Logitech name, a good, sturdy design, it’s ok on the comfort side and comes with a 2 year warranty.

Don’t buy those £2 mice, save you
rself some money in the long run and but yourself a Logitech Pilot mouse, or maybe a Microsoft Basic Mouse, I can’t make up my mind, they are both unbeatable value. This mouse gets a 5/5 from me purely because of it’s price and quality.

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