Microsoft make something good!??! (Microsoft Intellimouse Optical)

Member Name: Bob Barley

Product:	Microsoft Intellimouse Optical
Date:	08/07/01 (21 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: High quality sturdy mouse, Precise and accurate

Disadvantages: Carries a Microsoft label :)

Since my early days of computing I'd been content with low cost dodgy mice. You know the sort which only has two buttons and a name that doesn't exactly fill you with trust. After about my third one I decided I wasn't really getting anywhere with these cheapo mice and that it was about time I splashed out. Not to mention my game playing was suffering because of these poor mice.

So just as Christmas was approaching I started nagging to my girlfriend about how mad my mouse is and how there have been soooooo many good things said about Microsoft Intellimice. Then low and behold on Christmas day I open a mysterious package to reveal a Microsoft Intellimouse Optical.

The Microsoft Intellimouse Optical is one of a series of Mice manufactured by Microsoft which use new optical beam technology. The mouse has a small 'eye' at the bottom which projects out a little laser a few thousand times a second. The mouse can then track and movement and more the cursor on the screen. The result? No ball!!! No clogging either :) It also comes with the option to plug it into your computer via a PS/2 mouse port or USB port. Unlike some of the other optical mice the Microsoft Intellimouse Optical can be used by both left and right handed people as it is moulded especially for neither, useful for left handed people like me.

I was immediately impressed with this mouse. The cursor seemed to move more smoothly across the screen when I was using just normal Windows. Also, the mouse was detected very easily by Windows and installing it was no problem at all.

There are one or two small downers to the mice which I think in no way outweigh the benefits of this fantastic little thing.
Sometimes when you leave the mouse on the table and look at the screen you could almost swear you saw the cursor move just a little bit. That's because it does. every now and again you'll see little twitches produced by the mouse, which is
n't really a major problem.

Another problem I found is that the software package that came with the mouse, Intellipoint 3.1, wouldn't work properly and I couldn't fully configure my mouse. This meant that I had to connect to the internet and download the Intellipoint 3.2 software which didn't take to long.

So overall this mouse is a little beauty of a product which I highly recommend. Microsoft have done themselves proud with this product.

A final interesting fact is that the electronics inside the Microsoft optical mice are more advanced than an old Pentium 486 computer.

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