I had been umming and erring as to whether to get this particular mouse in a while. It's features were exactly what I was looking for - cordless and optical, with rechargeable batteries. However, as some of you may be aware, Packard Bell are not renound for their input-device making skills. Also, there appeared to be no mention of this product on their website, and hardly on the net at all. What finally pushed me to buy was the fact that I saw the mouse in Curry's incorrectly priced at £30, so I thought if I was saving £5 I would get it.

The mouse came with a recharging/storage unit, an instruction leaflet and an additional slip of paper on the underside of the box. The latter informed me that the mouse should be charged initially for at least 8 hours - something I had expected. It also explained (badly) that a flashing red light meant it was charging whilst on the base unit. However, the red light is solid when the mouse is first placed on, and sometimes will remain that way unless it is cajoled into flashing by moving the mouse around. The battery inside the mouse is an Ni-Mh, which is one of the elder style of batteries used in such phones as the Nokia 3310, and before that the 5610. I think this means it can suffer from the "battery memory effect", whereby a battery "forgets" it has some capacity if it is not drained and fully charged at least once a week. The unit plug does tend to become hot, so it is advisable to unplug it when the mouse isn't charging - it doesn't need to be on when the mouse is being used. I've also learnt from the other excellent review of this mouse that leaving it in the charger unit whilst it is not on can lead to battery drainage.

The mouse lets you know that it requires charging by making the wheel glow red when moving the mouse around - quite handy - however, I don't often look at the mouse when I'm moving it around. Normally I let the battery run pretty mu
ch dry and recharge it again overnight. No problem.

Installing the mouse was relatively easy, running on my machine (which you can find a review of in the Mesh Computers section by the way :)). The mouse and unit must be activated by pushing small buttons on the base of each, and the drivers supplied are digitally signed for Windows XP, so it gets on with it. This also produces a small 4-cornered icon in the System Tray, which can be used to select things like sensitivity and programming the buttons.

The range of the mouse is impressive. I recently stood at least 12 yards away, between a wall and the receiver, and the mouse worked as normal, which leads me to believe it is probably ultrasound. Normal working time is in the region of 15-16 hours. I've had it last up to 4 days without requiring a recharge, however this is for no longer than 5 hours a day. The mouse glows red to indicate it is on and ready for use, and this disappears after approximately 10 minutes. Clicking a button activates the mouse, of which there are 5 - left, right, centre, and two additional side buttons which can be programmed. I currently have them set for Back and Forward on Internet Explorer, but they can be programmed for almost any major keyboard and desktop function.

The design of the mouse is attractive. Both the unit and the base are a sleek silver, with buttons 4 & 5 metallic blue. It must be said it looks like the part it plays - functional and technologically advanced (well, as far as a mouse can be technologhically advanced). It is comfortable, and can be used on most surfaces, even red ones.

Overall, the mouse was a good buy, and although £30 for a mouse is quite an amount, I think I will have my mone's worth for being able to play Championship Manager from the comfort of my bed.