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Hardware

MX700 Cordless Optical Mouse w/Charger 191

Posted by michael from the still-pumped-from-using-the-mouse dept.
dkgamez writes ""To make a long story short, here I am, with my dream - a cordless-optical-rechargeable mouse. You can't imagine how good I feel right now.""
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MX700 Cordless Optical Mouse w/Charger More

MX700 Cordless Optical Mouse w/Charger

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  • riight (Score:3, Informative)

    by dr_labrat ( 15478 ) <spooner&gmail,com> on Monday September 30, 2002 @05:45AM (#4358094) Homepage
    I'm sure HP have been selling something very similar for a very long time....
    • Packard Bell (NEC by any other name I believe) were selling these in Dicons Retail Group stores earlier this year.

    • I have been using a mouse made by Micro Innovations for alomst a year now. It's cordless and has rechargable batteries. All you do is plug a cord into the side of the mouse to recharge it.

      When the batteries get low the scroll wheel lights up.

    • Re:riight (Score:2, Informative)

      by Blkdeath ( 530393 )
      As I pointed out in an earlier story [slashdot.org], A4 Tech has been making a cordless optical mouse for quite some time - but it uses a much better charge mechanism - a USB charge cable. When the batteries run low, you simply attach the cable to the front of the mouse and until they charge, you're using a corded optical mouse.

      Saves having to put the mouse in the cradle and sit there uselessly while you wait for it to charge (or, have a hot-spare mouse sitting ready to be swapped in ... )

      P.S. - Does Logitech pay for these ads?

      • well, wouldnt it be more practical (and more on the "cordless spirit") to put the mouse on its cradle while the computer power's off?

        Same as your palm... you recharge it while you sleep (you do sleep, don't you?)

  • Ouch (Score:5, Funny)

    by Wrexen ( 151642 ) on Monday September 30, 2002 @05:48AM (#4358102) Homepage
    Microsoft OLE DB Provider for ODBC Drivers error '80040e4d'

    [Microsoft][ODBC Microsoft Access Driver] Too many client tasks. /articles.asp, line 107


    Slashdotted with 3 comments posted. Apparently the webserver is wireless and runs on batteries, too

  • Not the first one... (Score:5, Informative)

    by staili ( 200478 ) <ville.vataja@gmail.com> on Monday September 30, 2002 @05:49AM (#4358104)
    At least Dexxa [dexxa.net] and HP [hp.com] have similar products.
    • OK, I've found the Dexxa Wireless Optical Mouse [dexxa.net] which seems to be very similar indeed to the Logitech MX700, for a full $30 less! However, I can't find something similar from HP [hp.com]. Anybody around here know what the HP equivalent is?

      On a side note, I've been using Logitech mice for around fifteen years now, and I've always preferred them due to their (usually) great ergonomic design, good looks, and durability. In this case, I don't know if a $30 savings would be enough to lure me away from the company that I've come to know and trust when it comes to mice. I guess I'd have to spend half an hour or so in a B&M store with both mice to really be able to decide. (Yes, I am unusually picky with my mice, in case you hadn't noticed. Keyboards, too.)

      Here's another question: I seem to vaguely recall that Dexxa is (or used to be) a reseller of rebranded Logitech OEM mice. Is this correct, or am I thinking of another company?
    • Yeah, that mouse id a dog compared to the logitech mouse though.
    • From the Dexxa webpage:
      Dear Customer,

      Dexxa no longer exists. We would like to thank all our customers for their support for the past years.

      If you have technical questions about Dexxa products you purchased in the past, please consult our technical support pages. This website will be maintained until the end of 2002.

      And yes, I'd assume Dexxa was a logitech rebrander - not only do all their "products" look exactly like logitech equivalents, their webpage is essentially a recolored version of logitech's old page.

  • Rechargable batteries (Score:3, Insightful)

    by ElPresPufferfish ( 612395 ) on Monday September 30, 2002 @05:50AM (#4358108)
    What was stopping people from recharging the batteries before?

  • Kinetic mouse? (Score:5, Interesting)

    by G-funk ( 22712 ) <josh@gfunk007.com> on Monday September 30, 2002 @05:52AM (#4358113) Homepage Journal
    How about a cordless mouse that charges up with movements, like a wristwatch?
    • so...... how fast can you say "file a patent"?

      I'm not kidding, that's a very, very good idea. Just do your wristwatch homework to see if there's enough kinetic energy available to power the laser and wireless transmitter.

      -shpoffo
      • it doesn't have to be a counter-weight system either, it could have an old-fashioned ball, but instead of using the ball for tracking (crap), use a optical sensor for tracking, and generate electricity with the ball.
      • If someone wants to patent it, any of the competing mouse manufacturers can point to this discussion as "prior art"
    • Damn, that's a really, really, really good idea. I'm drooling already. You really should patent that, as someone else has already suggested [slashdot.org].

      Seriously, get to work on a prototype. I want one now!

    • Great idea.

      Pity that it's the other hand that is furiously generating kinteic energy in the typical Internet user.

    • Re:Kinetic mouse? (Score:3, Interesting)

      by Lumpy ( 12016 )
      or better yet, a cordless mouse that doesn't have batteries but get's it's electrical charge from the induction coil in the mousepad (or under the mousepad).

      this would be really cool, yet deadly to floppies and Jaz disks.
      • I use optical mouses for the fact that I don't have to use a mousepad. I like using it with my laptop especially, as I can use my leg as the "mousepad".

        Does that I mean I need to wear pants with an induction coil built in? Talk about a tough time getting though the airport metal detector! :P

    • While we're brainstorming, how about a "mouse" that reads the delta your hand makes in a very weak magnetic field and translates it as movement? Like a theremin, but for quake...

  • I know this is slashdot, but... (Score:4, Funny)

    by GnomeKing ( 564248 ) on Monday September 30, 2002 @05:52AM (#4358114)
    When you dream about cordless optical rechargable mice, you really need to go down to the pub and meet some girls!
  • atleast at the moment " Active Server Pages error 'ASP 0113' Script timed out /articles.asp" :)

    But I quess you mean the GyroMouse [gyration.com] by Gyration [gyration.com], or maybe something else. Anyway, there seems to be atleast a dozen devices to fullfill your dreams - lucky you ;))

  • Why all the excitement? (Score:5, Funny)

    by Anonymous Coward on Monday September 30, 2002 @05:55AM (#4358122)
    "You can't imagine how good I feel right now."

    Why, does it vibrate as well?

  • Google cache (Score:2, Informative)

    by staili ( 200478 )
    At here [216.239.39.100].
  • Don't "make a long story short" unless you're sure your Web server can handle the traffic of every Slashdot reader trying to make the short story long.
  • Illegal instruction in C:\WinNT\System32\DRIVERS\mouclass.sys

    My mouse was charged for this illegal deed. So you see, my mouse is optical, and charged *too*
  • Now this is something useful. My Microsoft Cordless ball-less mouse is a vampire. It loves its batteries.

    What would be nice is a mouse with two slots with electrodes in the slots. Then you could park the mouse over its charger. You could even make the charger flat and tappered so the mouse could "drive" up the ramp, before parking.

    Since this site is slashdotted, I guess the AA rechargeables will have to stay.

    Anyone want to make rechargable mouse mods?

  • Article Text (Score:1, Informative)

    by Anonymous Coward
    Introduction
    I guess you may call me a "mouse freak", and I suppose that I am one indeed. With lots of high-tech mice, including the Logitech Cordless MouseMan, TrackMan FX and Microsoft's IntelliMouse Optical, floating around my desktop, I still wasn't satisfied - well, until I got the MX700. My "mouse dream" has been finally fulfilled by Logitech.
    You will soon see why.

    The story goes back to the year 2000, when I had to choose between two top-of-the-line mice - the then just-released Microsoft IntelliMouse Explorer with optical technology and the Logitech Cordless MouseMan. It was a hard decision: optical or cordless. I remember wishing there were a mouse that combined both of these desirable characteristics - that were both optical and cordless. Eventually, I decided to go for Logitech's Cordless MouseMan, preferring to have "cordless freedom" at the expense of optical technology. The Cordless MouseMan remained my trusty mouse for about a year.

    However, nothing lasts forever, and one day, while shopping at Best Buy, I unexpectedly came upon the Logitech Cordless TrackMan FX. Even though it was a trackball, the fact that it was cordless and had a built-in optical sensor deeply attracted me. I immediately decided to buy it and that may have been the biggest mistake I had ever made. The AA battery needed to be changed every once in a while, and it took me a lot of practice to get used to the trackball. Believe it or not, learning how to use the TrackMan FX is actually harder than learning to drive a car. So, my advice to all of you reading this article is, do not buy any trackballs unless you are a "mouse freak" like me or have some kind of problem with your wrist. I mean, it is a freaking marble! Also consider that I had bad quality rechargeable Ni-Cd batteries and was forced to change them almost everyday. In fact, I didn't even have the battery compartment cover set in place. I then wished that there were a mouse with a built-in charger of some sort, using which I wouldn't have to change the batteries all the time.

    To make a long story short, here I am, with my dream - a cordless-optical-rechargeable mouse. You can't imagine how good I feel right now.

    The Package
    All right, now let's get back to the review. The box that Logitech MX700 comes in is larger than those of most other mice on the market (the size of the box seems to be directly proportional to the price and functionality of the product).

    Inside the package are an MX700 mouse, a Rapid Charge Base Station, a USB to PS2 converter, an AC adapter, 2x 1700mAh AA size Ni-MH batteries, a Quick Start Guide, and a driver CD. (After the first day of using the MX700, I found that the quality of the batteries that came with the mouse was rather bad. I strongly recommend that you replace them with a pair of good Ni-MH batteries.)

    The AC adapter provides the power needed to charge the mouse on the base station. One interesting detail is that the power jack connects to the USB plug but not the back of the base station. That eliminates one extra cord on my already messy desktop.

    The Rapid Charge Base Station looks rather weird. It doubles as the charger and the signal receiver. When you want to recharge your mouse, all you have to do is place it on the base station, just like you would place a PDA in its cradle. It takes less than two hours to fully recharge the 2 AA Ni-MH batteries inside the mouse. You can recharge the batteries whenever you want to, due to the fact that the Ni-MH batteries do not have a "memory effect". The base station is one of the most wonderful things a cordless mouse can come with. Imagine a cordless phone that cannot be recharged on a base station. What a hassle it would be to take out the batteries and put them into a battery charger! The release of the MX700, I believe, marks the beginning of a new trend in cordless mouse technology that will prevail in the future. There's no way for me to go back to using my non-rechargeable cordless mice anymore.

    The Technology
    The Fast RF Cordless technology used in the MX700 has been improved by Logitech to match the speed of a USB connection, allowing you to use the mouse within a six foot radius of the receiver. Unlike the older cordless mice which could only transmit signals at a rate of 40hz, equivalent to the speed of a PS2 port, the new Fast RF technology can transmit signals at 140hz, which is actually faster than what the USB port can handle (125hz). You won't miss out on a bit of the optical performance or accuracy because you will not be limited by the speed of the radio signal. Logitech uses a 27Mhz frequency to transmit the signal as opposed to the 900Mhz used in some other cordless devices. This helps avoid signal interference between the mouse and some cordless telephones used by many people.

    By now, you should already know about the advantages optical technology has over the traditional mechanical technology. Optical mice do not trap dust, are more precise than the traditional ones, and work well on almost any surface except glass. It is true, however, that there are several downsides to the optical technology used in the first generation of optical mice like the Microsoft IntelliMouse Explorer version 1.0. When you move your mouse very quickly the mouse pointer might skip or jump around the screen because the 2500 pictures per second taken by the optical sensor are not enough for the mouse to process moves that exceed a maximum speed of 14 inches per second. In other words, the optical sensor cannot keep up with the speed at which you are moving the mouse, which results in a "loss" of the pointer on the screen. Even though Microsoft has upgraded the optical sensors in its optical mice product line to take 6000 pictures per second, which translates into a maximum speed of 30 to 37 inches per second at 400 dpi, they still are not as good as the MX sensor used by Logitech's MX series mice. The Logitech MX Optical Engine takes an astounding 8000 pictures per second at 800 dpi and is capable of handling mouse movements made at a speed of 40 inches per second. The sensor captures images at the rate of 4.7 megapixels per second, providing users with the greatest degree of accuracy and the smoothest mouse movement ever. You won't have to worry about the "pointer skipping" even in fast paced games like Counter-Strike and Unreal Tournament 2003.

    The Mouse
    Like other Logitech mice, the MX700 feels solid and "in-one-piece". I personally own a Microsoft IntelliMouse Optical, and its quality is not nearly as good as that of the Logitech mice. When squeezed, the IntelliMouse Optical makes a crackling noise, and when shaken, it seems that the plastic parts are not firmly held together. The MX700 is not too large, just about the right size for most people's hands. When you place your hand on the MX700, it feels like something that has been integrated into the palm of your hand. The scroll wheel does not feel loose like the ones on the Microsoft mice, and it doesn't make a loud scrolling noise either. I got accustomed to the shape of MX700 in a very short amount of time.

    There are eight customizable buttons and one scroll wheel which doubles as a clickable button on the MX700. That should certainly make all the "button lovers" happy. The left and right click buttons are installed in a very interesting fashion, which adds a "hype" factor to the mouse. They are actually part of the silver body of the mouse. The buttons do not feel like those on the Apple Pro Mouse, which requires you to press on the whole mouse body to make a click, and they feel like regular mouse buttons. There are three little round buttons between the left and right click buttons. Two of them, located at the two ends of the scroll wheel, comprise the "Cruise Control Scrolling System", which allows you to scroll up and down through a long webpage or document at a constant speed. Logitech designed the cruise control buttons for high speed scrolling and the scroll wheel for line-by-line scrolling. Therefore, they made the default scroll speed for the wheel to be 1 line, which I'm still not very used to. Fortunately, you can customize all the buttons using MouseWare. Fixing the the scrolling problem is easy: just set the scrolling speed to "screen". I believe this is a MouseWare problem, and that it will be resolved in future versions of MouseWare. The third button in the "scroll island" is called the "Quick Switch Program Selector". It helps you switch between different application windows with a touch of a button. However, I found the app switch button to be placed too low, in an area that is darn hard to reach for my index finger. I would rather stick with the "Alt-Tab" app switch method. Just below the app switch button, there is a little LED indicator that shows you the current status of the battery. The LED becomes green and flashes while the mouse is being recharged on the base station. When the battery is fully charged the light stops blinking and turns off after five minutes. The LED turns red and blinks when the battery is low and should be recharged, and, of course, you can recharge it whenever you want. The LED battery indicator is really useful considering that the battery status application that comes with the MouseWare driver doesn't always show the correct information. There are two browse buttons on top of the thumb rest that can help you move backward and forward if you are in a web browser or file explorer. I found these buttons to be well placed and pretty useful for surfing the web.

    The latest version of MouseWare (v9.73) available at the Logitech website does not work with the MX700, and I was forced to use version 9.70 included on the driver CD instead.

    Although I miss the cool glowing Logitech logo found on the older Optical MouseMan, the new silver brushed metal logo isn't that bad at all. I suppose the people at Logitech took the illuminated logo out to conserve battery life.

    Turn the mouse over and you will see the optical LED. Unfortunately, it is still the boring red, but that is fine with me because I couldn't find any optical mice on the market that didn't not have a red LED. I wonder, wouldn't a blue LED look so much cooler? Okay, here we go again. I think I just found another good "dream thought" - blue LED! I guess the designers might have had technical difficulties with using wavelengths of different colors, but I've no doubt that these problems will eventually be resolved as further advances are made in the field of optical technology. Another concern is that the optical LED does not turn off when your computer is shut down. You have to place the mouse on the base station in order to make the light go away. We might have an answer to this problem when we get more information from Logitech.

    I have tried using the mouse while playing several fast-paced action games, including Counter-Strike, Unreal Tournament 2003 demo, Battlefield 1942, and No One Lives Forever 2 demo. Amazingly, it worked great in all of them. I was unable to detect any skipping even when moving the mouse really quickly in some of the games. The MX700 is quite heavy because there are 2 AA batteries inside of it. This makes it hard to lift it up, and sometimes slows down mouse movement in some of the newer first person shooters. Hardcore gamers might want to choose the corded MX500 or MX300 instead.

    Conclusion
    Logitech's MX700 is a cordless-optical-rechargeable mouse with all the buttons you've ever wanted. Its ergonomic and comfortable design makes it an enjoyable tool to use. Super fast RF cordless technology and the MX optical engine make this mouse perfect for desktop applications as well as games.

    Pros:
    # Rapid charge base station

    # Ergonomic design

    # MX Optical Engine

    # Fast RF Cordless technology

    # Battery status indicator light

    # Lots of buttons

    Cons:
    # MouseWare needs improvement

    # Heavy

    # Awkward application switch button placement

    # Bad quality stock batteries

    - Larry

    Update: the scrolling lag is caused by the MouseWare. Until a newer version of MouseWare comes out, you can temporarily use the mouse without the MouseWare or with Microsoft IntelliPoint, which works perfectly with the MX700; the only drawback is that you will not be able to use the app switch button.
    • There's something very odd about this article.

      Possibly the author has some obsessive/compulsive mouse fetish combined with a charmingly naive enthusiasm. Possibly it's is a piece of satire just marginally too subtle for my Itchy and Scratchy addled brain to grasp.

      Either way, it's a strange thing to find on the /. front page. Still, beats stuff about Lego and/or Lord of the Rings.
    • I have, since the spring of 2002, a cordless optical mouse made by Maxxtor, with re-chargable batteries that get charged when I put the mouse into the cradle. The only thing I'm not that happy with is the USB connection it uses, which makes for some problems when installing a new Linux.
    • I have to agree with the article author. For ages, I've been wanting a new mouse with *lots* of buttons to bind to interesting window manager functions (for example, I have my current fourth button bound to drag windows, which is a bit timesaver...I can also use it to bring windows to the front without "passing through" the click to the application...but I don't have to disable passthrough clicks, so I can still work when I'm copying and pasting from one window to another). The problem is that Logitech firmly refused to put out any new mice...just these little awful rounded four button mice. I loved their original "wedge" shapes, and I refused to buy an MS mouse (plus, the MS mouse button layout is really annoying...if you've used one, you know what I mean).

      Then they come out with this thing. If I want a wireless optical many button mouse, I can get one. If I *don't* want the wireless bit (I, like some other people, am not a huge fan of wireless devices.), I can drop one model down and get the same mouse sans wireless bit.

      These mice are *rechargeable* with a cradle, and no batteries, so if you're a fan of wireless mice, you can't get much better.
  • ...all they need to do is make a dual optical cordless mouse for us gamers. THEN i'll be really happy.

    although...the article mentions that the high-resolution of the sensor on the MX700 results in very little cursor skipping, even in video games. do I even need a dual optical?

  • I like mice too, but..... (Score:4, Funny)

    by z_gringo ( 452163 ) <z_gringo@NosPam.hotmail.com> on Monday September 30, 2002 @06:03AM (#4358149)
    From the article:

    "the fact that it was cordless and had a built-in optical sensor deeply attracted me. I immediately decided to buy it and that may have been the biggest mistake I had ever made. "

    I can relate. Yes, I too understand being deeply attracted, and later realizing it was a huge mistake. My biggest ever mistakes, didn't usually involve mice, but maybe I get out more..

    it took me a lot of practice to get used to the trackball. Believe it or not, learning how to use the TrackMan FX is actually harder than learning to drive a car.

    You actually have to leave the house to drive a car..

    It does sound cool though, and one nice detail which would have been nice to include in the article would have been the price.

    • it took me a lot of practice to get used to the trackball. Believe it or not, learning how to use the TrackMan FX is actually harder than learning to drive a car.

      You actually have to leave the house to drive a car..


      I'm really scared of this guys ability to drive. I mean, it's a thumb and your index finger vs. two feet (stick, auto is one) and hands, and all sorts of levers. Then you have other people that are trying to kill you, or your trying to kill them. Equating "learning" how to use a mouse and driving a car is just scary. Maybe this guy doesn't have opposable thumbs.. lets hope not.

  • Is this just an advert? (Score:4, Insightful)

    by tjensor ( 571163 ) on Monday September 30, 2002 @06:05AM (#4358156) Journal
    I mean, these are not new - we have had one sat on our receptionists desk for ages - months at least. I fail to see anything here that is
    a) news.
    b) stuff that matters.

    Bizzare.
    • I'm with you on that. August this year I contemplated buying one, and decided against it because with the cord it was $15 cheaper. Why would I need wireless anyways? To get so far from the screen that I can't see where it's pointing anymore?
      • Wireless has it's uses -- a lot of general computer users like it because they don't have to deal with the cord getting caught on stuff, pulling at the mouse, etc. Some people's computers are located far enough from the mouse pad/area that the cord isn't long enough for good movement (or isn't long enough, period).

        And wireless mice are great for HTPC's - when your screen is 8 feet diagonal you can sit a wee bit further away and still see the pointer.

        Wireless mice are disliked amongst gamers though - most claim that there's a slight bit of mouse lag added to both movements and button presses.
        • Well when I have a budget of like $20 I think an optical mouse with a cord is sufficient anyway ;)

          It would have been nice to remote control my PC DVD player from further away when I get my TV-Out card, of course.

      • Why would I need wireless anyways? To get so far from the screen that I can't see where it's pointing anymore?

        When you use a 3072*1024 desktop and need precise movement over the entire screen, you quickly come to appreciate what a wireless mouse can do for you. (That and a 60*40 cm mousepad!)

        I went to an M$ Wireless Intellimouse Explorer a few months back, and will never go back. I will however upgrade as soon as they have a rechargable version! I go through batteries once a month.
    • The MX series are new. The feature higher resolution and include the base station. A Wireless Optical MX series mouse can now compete with a wired mouse in terms of resolution whereas they couldn't before. And iirc, this is the first wireless optical mouse logitech has made with a base station.
  • Well I can understand being happy having a cordless optical mouse. I just got mine back after waiting for three weeks. Logitech almost refused to cover the warranty after 9 months because I use Linux. He claimed that he could not help me unless I installed Windows. Of course it was just plain dead and did not care what O/S it was running under.

    If I had not insisted that I knew what I was talking about, the tech was just going to hang up.

    What I don't understand is why the world should care about our new mice?

    Has slashdot been taken over by aliens? : )

  • Wha??? (Score:1, Redundant)

    by Draoi ( 99421 )
    I can't imagine why this merits the front page. Our local chain store [www.lidl.de] was selling these last year, along with the fruit & veg, for 35. I'm not making this up, either.

    The link has also been slashdotted which makes the above story even more cryptic. BTW, why does it say;

    Microsoft OLE DB Provider for ODBC Drivers

    error '80040e4d'

    [Microsoft][ODBC Microsoft Access Driver] Too many client tasks.

    /articles.asp, line 107
    ... instead of something sensible??? WTF is error '80040e4d' - MicroSoft's special error code for a good reaming from the /. crowd?
    • Wow,

      Amazing. Here in London The only stuff Lidl sells is cheap and nasty food. Real budget meals.

      The only mice i've seen there are running across the floor.

      Or mugging the cockroaches.

      It;s the same Lidl tho'

      OK, so you can mod me down for being off-topic...
      • I'm in Ireland, FWIW. Not only does Lidl sell meeses, but also laptopses, optical keyboardses & dodgi-cams. It's also a popular dumping ground for cheap and nasty Windoze software ...

        Every Thursday is 'Hardware day' where they try to flog all manner of weird stuff. People queue outside when an interesting product comes up & when the doors open a feeding frenzy ensues.

        (OBGeek: they did a run of DMMs recently for 5 each! Yow!)

  • I have a slick panasonic razor that gets charged right through the plastic by induction. (this link isnt the one I have, but I believe this charges the same)
    Panasonic Catalog [panasonic.com]BR Then you could use your mouse anywhere, and just by using it on the mousepad or by leaving it on your desk when you leave, it would recharge. Why isnt this type of recharging technology used in more applications??
  • I guess the interesting part of the article must have been cut out by the web server or something.

    The little text I can see talks about a optical-wireless-rechargeable mouse I can purchase in a local store [vobis.pt] near my house for at least half an year.

    Or is this little country called Portugal more advanced than the US when it comes to mice?

    By the way here goes the only link [addison-technology.com] I've found about this mouse.

  • When Optical mice came out me and my friends referd to them as female mice. ...no ball(s)

    With cordless mice we called them Neutered Mice. ...tail was cut off..

    Now we have neutered female mice ya gotta recharge thier batteries before ya can play with them. We do not have anything to call them.

    Anyone have a susgestion?
  • When it comes to a mouse, I want something that I can get attached to and keep for a very long time. Unfortunately, mouse manufacturers are a lot like cordless phone manufacturers: models are constantly discontinued and new ones come out. I have two Logitech TrackMan Marble FX trackballs, one at home and one at work, that I love.

    Unfortunately, Logitech stopped making them a while ago and, while they do have trackballs still, I don't like any of them as much as my current one. I'd be afraid that one day my rechargable battery would stop holding a good charge and, due to engineering idiocy on the part of the manufacturer, they would not allow you to replace the battery (in the hopes of getting you to buy another one).

    A lot of products use non-replacable rechargable batteries. If this mouse uses them, I'd probably not buy one. Of course, since I can't read the article, I don't know if the article even addresses this point. If Logitech does allow replacement, then good for them (and us!).
    • I LOVE my wireless Logitech (optical).

      I have only ONE complaint... The batteries die every 2 months and the mouse gets sticky (just like a regular mouse).

      Replacing the batteries on the wireless optical takes longer than cleaning the trackball on the regular mouse.

      Bah.

    • With optical mice, you don't need a trackball ... just turn it upside down and rub it back and forth on the underside with your thumb.

      --
      I haven't seen people this excited since the public beta of mechanical hamsters with retractable leashes (PAT PEND)

  • Intel has released 486DX2 processor....

    Get it?.... Such devices are common, I have owned one for a year. A processor is understandable... but I guess free advert for mice is a bit off the head.

    Reminds me of slashdot omellete... I certainly dont like mice in my omelette

  • Cordless Optical Rechargable GYRO mouse! (Score:3, Interesting)

    by MartyJG ( 41978 ) on Monday September 30, 2002 @06:24AM (#4358200) Homepage
    If you want to go one better, try this, a gyro mouse (Gyration UltraPro [gyration.com]). You control the mouse in the air. Not only do you get rid of the cable, you get rid of the desk as well! I've used the non-optical version, and it's very intuitive - it automatically switches back to desk-mode when you put it down again. It's ideal for armchair or presentation use. It's just the price tag that may let it down a bit.
  • I welded a chain to my cordless mouse, so I can find it back between the mess on my desk. I was wondering whether Logitech or Microsoft would want to pay me royalties for this invention.
  • ...that sells for about $30-$35 on CompUSA. I got one and it is a piece of crap (DOA, Mickey Mouse buttons, terrible cradle design...). The wife later bought herself a MS wireless optical blue which was a lot better (read: did not die after 2 days) than the Maxell. Later she got a MS Office keyboard bundle at Costco (it was so cheap that the mouse was literally free) that came with a MS Wireless optical Explorer, which is what I use now. Great mouse and it does not eat up batteries.
    • The article has a link to the story, and in that link it is shown that this is a premium made logitech mouse... it amazes me how posts like yours get modded up so easily...
      • 1. the link was slashdotted within minutes. That is why I started with "I hope..."

        2. My post started at 2, probably some karma voodoo.

        3. Still, I think the "informative" mod up was not fair, but that has been taken care of already, hehe.

        4. I still stand by my statement: that Maxell is a piece of crap :-)

    • Curses! (Score:3, Funny)

      by Akardam ( 186995 )
      I was perusing your entry when my mind perceived the magic phrase "MS Wireless Optical Blue". "Sweet Sparc above!" I intoned. "Someone's made a mouse with a blue diode!" So off I sprint to Microsoft's website to get all the juicy details, and I find that it is a blue coloured mouse... ... with a red diode.

      I feel so let down.

      *breaks down and sobs*
  • We've all read stories with cliches. Long, repeated phrases that you've heard a thousand times, and communicate nothing? Needlessly wordy paragraphs, commas, poorly chosen adverbs, excessive verbiage? I guess you could say that this article is crappily written. I suppose you could say that this gentleman needs an editor. Eventually, I will get to the point and say that this guy needs to get acquainted with the "cut" function of his word processor. Believe it or not, entire classes currently exist on how not to write like this!

    gag
  • From the Logitech Website [logitech.com]



    The Logitech MX700 just raised the bar of expectation on precision and control. With its powerful MX optical engine, the MX700 instantly responds to even your fastest movements. The rechargeable Fast RF cordless technology gives the responsiveness of a corded connection, but without the cord. Our two Cruise Control buttons provide continuous scrolling through long documents or websites. And the rapid charge base station acts as a receiver and a charger in one. You made the demand so we built the device.

    • MX Optical Engine delivers more accuracy and control on more surfaces than ever before
    • Fast RF cordless technology delivers corded quality on a cordless device in a six foot range, even on crowded desks.
    • Rapid charge base station ensures that your mouse is always ready.
    • Cruise Control scrolling system provides more efficient scrolling through long documents or web sites, and two thumb buttons let you quickly move forward or back between pages on the Internet.
    • Quick Switch Program Selector lets you switch between active programs and documents easily.
  • You can't imagine how good I feel now.

    I know what you mean:

    Microsoft OLE DB Provider for ODBC Drivers error '80040e4d'

    [Microsoft][ODBC Microsoft Access Driver] Too many client tasks.

  • Okaaaaay ... (Score:2, Insightful)

    by the bluebrain ( 443451 )

    From the article:
    Okay, here we go again. I think I just found another good "dream thought" - blue LED!

    This is either quite brilliantly subtle satire, or the most pathetic article I have ever seen linked from /.

    ... ah, well :) to each his own.
  • I like the optical mice. I like the idea of cordless devices, especially rechargeable ones. However, I'm the first to admit that my Palm m505 is dead a couple times a month because I forget to charge it. I'm willing to live with that because its default location is my wallet, not my desk.

    Frankly, I'm going to get sick of that occurring with a computer mouse, whose immediate and successful operation is considered [bold]absolutely necessary[/bold] when compared to my PDA. The blame for a dead battery is immaterial.

    The trade-off for a cordless device that never strays more than 6" from its primary location is one I rank as extremely unappealing.
    • Are you going to carry your mouse around in your wallet too? Your argument makes very little sense. I don't see why you'd move the mouse away from the PC and the mouse has a base station that will be sitting right next to the PC. When you're not using the PC you plug the mouse into the base station. Even the cream of the crop of idiots could get by without ever running down the batteries.
      • Perhpas you didn't actually read my post. The simple fact is that people forget to charge things. Having a cordless mouse doesn't offer me any benefit because (you're exactly right) I don't carry it around with me.
  • Now if only Logitech would release the Cordless Dual Optical iFeel Mouse...

  • Yaaaawwwnn..... Seen that before. Never seen a left-handed one though! (And non-handed doesn't count - they're even worse than right-handed ones...) Anyone know where I can get a left-handed cordless optical mouse?

    On a side-note, best mouse I ever had was a Logic3 pen mouse. That thing rocked. I could sit with my feet on the desk, arms folded, doing CAD by scribbling on my shoulder. Funny thing is, I used that in my right hand.

  • I don't know what the big deal is because I CAN'T READ THE ARTICLE!!! However, my current Optical 5 button wheel USB/PS2 mouse is fully rechargeable and has a docking station and retailed at $25 at CompUSA....

  • I have a Logitech cordless desktop optical.

    Last year I lived in a dorm, and often when I was out (and my computer was on...), I found lots of text in my windows, and the mouse pointer moving around whenever I got back.

    So the receiver apparently switched frequencies and picked up someone elses signals.

    This would imply that maybe one or more of my neighbours picked up whenever i wrote, say:

    su
    <password>

    So, does anybody know is Logitech has done anything about this? It can't be that hard to implement some simple encryption or something...

  • Scrollwheel bug (Score:2, Informative)

    by doc modulo ( 568776 )
    "Update: the scrolling lag is caused by the MouseWare. Until a newer version of MouseWare comes out, you can temporarily use the mouse without the MouseWare or with Microsoft IntelliPoint, which works perfectly with the MX700; the only drawback is that you will not be able to use the app switch button. "

    Don't count on it. This scrollwheel bug has been in mousewhare forever, I've even sent them a detailed bug report, all I got was a standard letter back telling me to "use the newest MouseWare software version". They are never going to fix this bug.
    I guess they are using a weird floating point algorithm to keep track of the scrollwheel, this ofcourse leads to rounding errors and this makes the scrollwheel not respond with some clicks, and skip 2 clicks at once with the next.

    Which is very irritating if you use your scrollwheel during games. Want to switch to another weapon? Scroll, nothing, scroll, switches 2 weapon spots at the same time, die, D'oh.

    The best way to fix the Logitech Scrollwheel bug is to install the MouseWare software, configure it the way you want, then stop the MouseWare process running in the background.

    (Ctrl + Alt + Del then stop the EM_EXEC process).

    With every reboot and reconfiguration of your mouse, EM_EXEC will be running again. To stop EM_EXEC at every reboot, delete the automatic startup entry in Windows Registry:
    HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\...\...\...\Run\

    Done, have fun playing, laugh at the idiots of Logitech's software departement.
  • A couple of points:

    To those who say this isn't news: it is. It may not be the first cordless optical mouse that comes with a recharging station, but it is the first from Logitech.

    To those who say this is a useless product: beauty is in the eye of the beholder. Don't knock it until you try one of these mice. I don't think there are many people who would doubt the advantage of optical over mechanical mice. The wireless feature, however, is one of those "once you've had cordless, you won't go back" things. The recharging station is a nice feature, because without it, you're guaranteed to get annoyed for a couple of minutes at least once ever month or so when your mouse batteries run down. It also opens the possibility that Logitech has fixed a problem with their earlier versions of this mouse.

    This article touches briefly on the sampling rate of this mouse, which was nice. When you go down and compare these optical, cordless mice at the store, you find that none of them have any hard specs about their sampling rates. I have one of the earlier Logitech cordless optical mice, and really liked it. However, it couldn't come close to the accuracy of a corded optical mouse. The optical sampling rate was low enough that the difference in accuracy was very noticable. This reduced sampling is done to improve the battery life. A low sampling rate is an issue that can make you hate your mouse.

    With the inclusion of a recharging station, it is possible that Logitech modified the mouse to sample at a higher rate and use more energy, because battery life isn't as much of an issue any longer. The batteries are capable of driving the mouse over several days, even at high consumption rates, so as long as the user puts the mouse in the cradle overnight occasionally, the mouse can be less efficient and perform better. It is one of those myriad little user-friendliness things that can make or break a product's popularity.

    Personally, I'm happy to see this mouse. Microsoft makes good ergonomic keyboards and crappy operating systems, but Logitech, IMHO, makes the best mice.

  • Seriously, why can't I easily find a wireless bluetooth mouse? Why should I have a stupid little dongle hanging off my laptop when it has bluetooth built right in? Isn't this exactly the kind of thing it was designed for? I should just be able to put my laptop down on a table and start using the mouse that's sitting there.
  • Maybe they should design these things so they don't get interference from a cheap RC car.

    I'll stick to cords for now, thank you.

  • Am I missing something? I got a cordless, optical, rechargable mouse at CompUSA over a year ago....For 15 bucks no less....I think I will check MySQL's bug database and see if there is a bug that confuses September 30,2002 with Jan 1, 2001. I thought of /. as a place to see the cutting edge gadgets? Or maybe it is the MySQL bug that confuses Sept 30 with April 1.

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