Large and flashy (Microsoft Intellimouse Explorer)

Member Name: Retron

Product:	Microsoft Intellimouse Explorer
Date:	28/07/01 (18 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: No ball - no cleaning needed, Extra buttons make browsing the web faster, Well built and reliable

Disadvantages: Not good for first person shooters, Doesn't work on all surfaces, Not suitable for left handed users

Microsoft's Intellimouse Explorer certainly looks like a high tech mouse when you see it: large, silver - and glowing. The Explorer uses what Microsoft calls an IntelliEye, rather than a ball. The IntelliEye is a specialised digital camera that takes several thousand pictures a second; these are then compared by the mouse to work out which way you've moved. This has several effects - firstly, the mouse feels light (and slightly skiddy). Secondly, because there's no ball, you don't have to clean anything (in theory - I've found that the front feet / glide pads under the mouse get gunked up, but that's only a cosmetic effect). No ball also means no mouse mat - providing you don't place the mouse on a reflective surface, you can use the mouse on almost anything.

The optical technology does have its downsides - try moving the mouse really quickly (as you do in Quake 3, for example), and you'll get nowhere - because the mouse can't work out the relationship between the pictures the mouse is taking. The mouse pointer also judders at times on its own - you'll be reading a web page, when the pointer will move (only by a few pixels) several times a second. Moving the mouse cures it, so it's merely an irritant.

Other features of the mouse include the now standard wheel (for scrolling; also for use as a third button), plus two extra (programmable) buttons on the left - these are set up to move forward and backward in a Web browser, and are very useful. The connecting cord is generously long (6 feet or so), while the mouse itself is a USB mouse. Microsoft provides an adapter to convert the USB plug to a PS/2 one, meaning this mouse is suitable for most modern PCs (and Macs). The Explorer doesn't work with a PS/2 to serial adapter, so people with mid-90s PCs won't be able to use it. Left handed users will probably have problems due to both the mouse's shape (angled to the right) and the positioning of the extra buttons on the left.

The standard warrant
y is 3 years - I've not had any problems so can't comment on Microsoft's support.

After 18 months of daily use, everything's still working fine, although the Microsoft logo has rubbed off - a very good mouse for everyday use, but no one for FPS gamers or left handed folks.

Summary: