THE SIMPLE MOUSE... (Microsoft Intellimouse Optical)

Member Name: Jaxle

Product:	Microsoft Intellimouse Optical
Date:	30/12/03 (77 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Looks great, Good driver software, Optical - more accurate

Disadvantages: A little expensive

The simple mouse. It has been around for ages, and yet remains the most popular way of interacting with desktop computers. As it is used so often, I wonder why people put up with using the cheap, tacky and uncomfortable mouse that maybe came with their PC. When I was getting fed up with using the ugly lump of plastic with a few buttons plonked on it, I thought it was time for something new.

Wow ? after changing from one to the other, the difference is massive. When I now come to use the computers at school, or any other computers with ?basic? mice, I really appreciate the difference that having a good mouse makes to your computing experience as a whole.

One of the major problems with old mice is the way in which they ?pick up? the movement that the mouse makes across the mat. This is done with a ball that sits just inside the mouse, with a small part coming out of the bottom. Then when you move the mouse back and forth, the ball moves too, and this is picked up by rollers that are in contact with the ball inside the mouse mechanism.

There are two problems with this ? firstly the mouse relies on moving parts. The rollers and springs inside the plastic case don?t last forever, leading to rubbish performance from the mouse. The second problem is dust and dirt. It?s amazing how quickly it builds up inside the cavity where the mouse ball sits in normal operation, and unless you clean it out very regally, the pointer will not move evenly across the screen as you use the mouse.

So, Microsoft being the innovative and creative (ha!) people that they are, they have come up with the Microsoft IntelliMouse Optical, available almost everywhere for about 25 quid.

OK, lets looks at some of the mouse?s good points (well there are quite a few actually!). Firstly, and I guess where most of your money goes to, is the optical sensor that replaces the archaic mouse ball. This is quite simply a fantastic improvement on the old design. When u
sing the mouse you will be surprised at the clear and accurate response on screen as a result of your hand?s movements. The optical sensor makes the mouse glide easily around, and the results are a huge improvement on the mouse ball.

The sensor basically works by shining a bright red light down onto the surface and then a component in the mouse tracks the movement of the mouse by monitoring the reflections. Because of this, the mouse can be used upon any surface you want ? so no more of those tiny mouse-mats that restrict your working area (although I?m a bit sad to see the old mouse mats go ? there are some excellent deigns out there!) One point to remember, however, is that the mouse doesn?t work on shiny or glossy surface.

The mouse is fine for both right and left handed users; in fact I actually trained myself to use the mouse in my left hand with the Microsoft IntelliMouse Optical. This is so that I have my right hand free to write things down (this is actually very useful when you need to take down notes from a web site, for example).

The mouse can connect to the standard PS/2 socket, and it also has a USB connection if you would prefer. One thing I should mention at this point is that if you use the PS/2 connection then the bright red light that is part of the optical sensor stays on all of the time, even if your computer is shut down. This can be annoying if your computer is in the same room that you sleep in. If you use the USB connection then there is no problem.

One of the most useful features of the mouse is the black wheel that is instead of the centre button. This is set up by default upon installation to scroll up and down the page. This is so much easier that having to move over to the scroll bar on the side of the screen, and really helps when you?re working on long documents, or want to scroll up and down (or sideways) in a dialogue box. In most graphics applications, the wheel is used to zoom in and out as you
move it up and down ? again very useful. You can get the wheel to do this in word processing applications by holding down the Ctrl key as you move the wheel.

The mouse has a robust feel to it, without being too heavy. The surface of it is slightly textured and is white, giving the mouse a quality feel. I think that the mouse looks sleek and stylish, and at the same time looks as though it will last for many years.

Microsoft have also added some cool design features to the mouse ? the lower sides of it are made of translucent plastic, so that when the red optical light is on, it shines through, making the mouse look excellent. There is also the small red light that shines out from the back of the mouse that all mice in the Microsoft Optical range have.

The driver software that comes with the mouse is excellent ? Microsoft IntelliPoint 4.1. This allows you to customise the function of all three mouse buttons (the wheel can also be pushed into the mouse and ?clicked? like the other mouse buttons). Although you really need the two side buttons for left and right click, I currently have the wheel button set up to close the active window. I find this very useful as I often have many windows open at once, and everything can get too congested on the desktop. There are many other functions that you can assign to buttons too ? such as to minimise the active window, or to carry out the ALT + TAB function of changing to the next window.

Installation of the driver software is easy ? just pop the CD into the drive and an easy to use wizard pops up to guide you through the set up process. There is also a clear and detailed instruction manual that comes with the mouse.

I think that the only disadvantage of the mouse is the cost ? at £25 it is not cheap. However, I think the cost is well justified ? I?ve had my mouse for a couple of years now and nothing has gone wrong with it, and the extra cash is worth it in the difference made by t
hat optical sensor. The mouse is also full of other great features that make this product well worth the money.

A truly excellent mouse ? if only Microsoft could apply the same innovation and design to some of its other products!

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