Computer peripherals in the modern day come in all shapes and sizes, and from many independent manufacturers. A lot of consumers take a side-step away from these and tend to stick with a well-known brand name, even if this is more costly. But, as I have recently re-built my desktop computer, I have found the costs of trying out unknown and cheaper parts and peripherals has literally, paid off. This is a perfect example, a corded optical mouse from a brand I had never heard off. Here are my thoughts on this USB Optical Mouse from Nexons (iiView).

--A Raving Neon Rodent...--

I'm a sucker for everyday items that look more bright and fun than usual, so whilst browsing for a new optical mouse, the glowing colours that this mouse produces initially draw me in. My previous dell mouse was as dull as ditch-water, and had became unreliable so it was the first part to get replaced. After looking at the stats and prices, it seemed to be worth a punt on purchasing this mouse. I had never heard of Nexons or iiView (Identical product under two different brand names) before, so wasn't expecting much, but I'm quite pleased with the chance I took.

Budget priced computer mice are abundant on sites like Amazon, but few look any good compared to the big brand makes like Microsoft, Apple or HP. This stood out from the others, and certainly looked a little different. The mouse itself is slightly smaller than a regular standard mouse, but not the size of a mini-mouse. It's about 9cm x 5 1/2cm with a cord length of about a metre. It plugs straight into any USB socket and doesn't require any drivers.

--Cost and Packaging--

No costly flash-branded packaging here, it comes in a simple bubble-wrap bag in an padded envelope. Safe, simple and sound. It comes with a simple leaflet for the very basic installation of, erm, plugging it into the computer. Anything electronic costing less than £3 is always going to raise suspicious of quality, but at £2.99, I feel you can't really complain even if it only lasts a month. Thankfully, this is not the case and it will last as long as you don't bang nails in with it. It's available from Amazon from various suppliers, but the price can vary with each one. Look for the lowest price as it is exactly the same mouse.

--Design and Performance--

The outward shape and design of this mouse, whilst not ergonomic, is comfortable the easy to handle. It does feel small in the hand if after using a full sized mouse however, so that takes a little getting used to. The buttons are big enough, give a satisfying click when pressed and incorporate the scroll-wheel nicely. The overall general responsiveness of the buttons and the optical sensor are good, and works on a variety of surfaces. As mentioned before the works straight away without drivers on Windows 7/XP2, but like many USB devices, it can go missing now and then. A reboot sorts this out. The cord is quite a thin gauge, so may be something to watch out for, not too pull it hard or snag on other objects. Finally, due to the very low cost, the whole unit has very little weight to it, so some people may hate this. Personally, I don't mind the weight of any given mouse, so this is not a problem for me.

Performing as an average budget mouse should, things are satisfactory but it's the looks that I really like. It has a black and clear plastic shell, on top of a black plastic base. This lets the light of the red optical sensor shine through, and by adding a blue LED under the scroll-wheel, we get a Red/Blue/Purple glowing, rather tripping-out mouse indeed. With the added retro aspect of showing the insides, it's a neat looking cheese-muncher indeed, and whilst it my not have the ultimate precision of an expensive Jerry, it makes up for it with more interesting funky look. If you have a LED backlit keyboard, it would make a good partner for it. Looks brilliant in the dark too!

--Conclusion--

For a price as cheap as this, you get what you pay for in the performance department. The mouse works well enough without major issues, maybe not pin-point but good enough for general use. (Maybe not for photo-editing software... etc) This is predictable, but I feel you can't really go wrong with it's compact size and cheeky funky looks. It's not going to last a long time I would think, but should be adequate for a good year or so. Certainly brightens up the computer desk somewhat too. Cheap and a bit of a novelty, good for a backup too and not as bad a little squeaker as the price would hint too.


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