A little mouse without clogs in (Microsoft Basic Optical Mouse)

Member Name: davidbuttery

Product:	Microsoft Basic Optical Mouse
Date:	10/11/09 (45 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Unobtrusive, reliable, businesslike looks, inexpensive, quite comfortable

Disadvantages: Very occasional pointer jumps when used on shiny, hard surfaces

It's not so very many years since one of the regular chores for the computer user was the ritual cleansing of the mouse ball, something as alien to most modern users as punched cards, valves or Netscape. This routine usually involved undoing a catch on the underside of the mouse, extracting the ball, dropping it, swearing, accidentally kicking it under the table, swearing again, grovelling around on your hands and knees, grabbing the ball, rising in triumph, hitting your head on the underside of the table, swearing more violently, clambering back on to your chair, cleaning seemingly impossible quantities of fluff off the ball itself and a couple of little plastic rollers inside the mouse, replacing the ball, closing the catch and - finally - resuming work.

The coming of the optical mouse has done away with all that: instead of a ball, the mouse judges its position on the desktop (or, if you're a traditionalist like me, on its mat) by means of a beam of light whose position tracks movement. In the case of the simply-named Basic Optical Mouse from Microsoft, as indeed for most if not all optical mice, that light is a bright red colour that can look mildly eerie if you pick the mouse up in a darkened room. This light comes from an LED, and the beam it emits bounces off the work surface and is picked up by a CMOS sensor - just like the ones in many digital cameras, which is unsurprising as this *is* a specialised form of camera. A chip in the mouse can then work out where and when the mouse has moved, and pass this information to the computer.

That Microsoft name may concern some people, but it really shouldn't: in spite of their, shall we say, mixed record when it comes to software, Microsoft peripherals have been of consistently good quality for many years now, and the Basic Optical Mouse (BOM from here on in!) is no exception. Firstly, it's reasonably inexpensive: you should be able to pick it up for around £10, which is a few pounds more than the absolute cheapest optical mice but in my opinion worth the small extra cost. It also looks the part: both the white variant I have and the alternative black mouse give a reassuringly solid, businesslike impression. They're not ideal for showing off at gaming sessions...

...but then this is not a gaming mouse in any case. The resolution of its sensor is simply not good enough for that - though it's perfectly adequate for the casual gamer - and in any case if you want to wow the crowds you'll want to invest in a laser mouse, which instead of an LED uses... yes, you're ahead of me. Back to the BOM, then. It's a wired mouse, which does add a little bit of extra clutter to the desk, but which also means that you'll never need to worry about batteries as it's powered from the USB port. It can be used with a PS/2 adapter, but I've never had reason to use that, so have no idea how well it works that way. I can't see why it would be a problem, though.

This mouse is a little bit smaller and lighter than some, in keeping with its "Basic" name, and if you have large hands or are coming to it from a chunkier mouse then you may find it a little cramped, at least at first. I do find it sits snugly and comfortably in my own hand, though, and can and do use it all day without problems. The buttons click fairly lightly and quietly, but they don't feel imprecise. The scroll wheel, which doubles up as a clickable middle button, works acceptably smoothly, though it's positioned a tiny bit further back than I would have found absolutely ideal. The mouse doesn't seem to get grubby easily, which is a definite plus.

One of the best things about using a Microsoft mouse is that you are not going to have to worry about whether Windows will support it properly. It is advertised as working with every version from Windows 98 up to Windows 7, and certainly I've never had the slightest trouble with it when using Windows XP - it's been "plug and play" in the best sense, with absolutely no further setup needed after connecting it to the USB port. It also worked without a hitch in Mandriva Linux, and though I haven't tested it on an Apple it is also designed to work with Macs with OX 10.1 or above. In short, any even remotely common home operating system should have no problems.

In use, I hardly ever think about the BOM, which is the way it should be. It goes about its business smoothly and unobtrusively, and the one slight flaw it exhibits - a very occasional tendency for the pointer to "jump" when the mouse is used on a hard, shiny surface - is so rare when using a mat as to be literally remarkable. I would very happily recommend this mouse to anyone who valued function over form and just wanted to get on with using their computer.

(How am I supposed to rate "speed" for a mouse? I've given it full marks simply because it glides across the mat nice and quickly!)

Summary: Does exactly what its name suggests, and does it well

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