Microsoft Re-Launches Its Classic 'IntelliMouse' (hothardware.com) 133
An anonymous reader quotes HotHardware:
Every so often, a company will tap into our penchant for nostalgia. That is the case right now with Microsoft bringing back its iconic IntelliMouse, which was first introduced back in 1996... Microsoft continued to update the IntelliMouse for several years, up through 2003 when it released the IntelliMouse 3.0. The new 'Classic IntellMouse' for 2018 is based on that 15-year-old design with the same classic ergonomic look and feel, but with improved performance and features built around modern technology.
So, what exactly is different? "We improved two really important factors, the tracking sensor and the tactility and feel of the buttons. What we know our fans will see and feel is that it's the exact same shape and size of the IntelliMouse Explorer 3.0 from 2003. However, underneath the hood it's all brand-new technology, brand new mechanical engineering and brand-new structures so it's a lot more rigid than the original. The build quality is really excellent," Microsft explains.
HardOCP notes that Microsoft has also released "a fantastic Rube Goldberg machine video unveiling the mouse."
So, what exactly is different? "We improved two really important factors, the tracking sensor and the tactility and feel of the buttons. What we know our fans will see and feel is that it's the exact same shape and size of the IntelliMouse Explorer 3.0 from 2003. However, underneath the hood it's all brand-new technology, brand new mechanical engineering and brand-new structures so it's a lot more rigid than the original. The build quality is really excellent," Microsft explains.
HardOCP notes that Microsoft has also released "a fantastic Rube Goldberg machine video unveiling the mouse."
The new 'Classic IntellMouse' for 2018 (Score:2)
New for 2018: a different spelling for "IntelliMouse".
Re: The new 'Classic IntellMouse' for 2018 (Score:1)
Every so often, a company will acknowledge that their newest products are sh!t.
-ftfy
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Let's hope it's as good as the old ones... Literally the only Microsoft product I use is an old IntelliMouse Explorer 3.0 a friend of mine (hardcore gamer at that time, so it had already received a lot of abuse) gave me once the 4.0 or whatever came out. That was around 2004; I use it a lot, every day, and apart from replacing the micro switches once after they got bouncy; it's still going strong. Built like a tank, although my fingers have long since worked through the surface coating.
Anyway, given the e
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I agree, I really liked my "slim" version. One of the best MS products I've ever used. And likely the only one I'd actually pay for for myself to use (using Office365 at work doesn't count in my book)
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I used to use their "notebook" mice on my PC. They only lasted a year or so so I bought a stock of them when they were in the bargain bins. I've got none left now though.
Microsoft have made some good mice.
Re: The new 'Classic IntellMouse' for 2018 (Score:2)
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If it hadn't been for the Evoluent vertical mouse I would still be using an IntelliMouse also. Still use a MS Ergonomic keyboard. For years I kept a collection of Gen 1 Natural keyboards alive (including PS2->USB adapters), but the 4000 model is a good replacement so those are now gone.
Now if they would finally make a keyboard that is able to lock the caps-lock, which I never use anyway.......
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I still have a bunch of natural keyboards. Mine are all USB and PS/2. They are great keyboards. Spill water on them, though, and they are done. It seems to oxidize the contacts.
The Natural 4000 keyboards are also very good, but I've been through four of them in the last 6 or 7 years, and they all seem to fail in the same way. Invariably a couple of keys just stop working. Possibly one line of the switch array goes bad. I've tried to fix them, but the flimsy circuit plastic isn't repairable.
I've finall
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Yep, still have my Intellimouse Explorer v1. The only thing I've done to it is unscrew it and cut the internal harness back and reattach it after it started having some intermittent connection problems a few years back.
It's a tank.
Too many buttons (Score:2)
There are too many buttons if it left off the extra buttons that its added then it would be more of a classic and would be worth considering.
Left right scroll is enough, most other buttons are accidentally triggered and can slow you down.
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Left right scroll is enough, most other buttons are accidentally triggered and can slow you down.
Are you insane? I regularly use a mouse with 13 buttons [amazon.com] and only very rarely accidentally hit one.
For gaming it's absolutely better. And for regular work, being able to set up common tasks as simply a button click is super helpful.
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Honestly it depends on what you are doing. Gaming, sure why not ,but a lot of interfaces are pretty much set up for 1 or 2 buttons + scroll. Sure if it's your machine you can set up the extra buttons to do whatever but on a work machine , not really.
I think there is a sideways click you can do with a scroll wheel in some browsers which takes you back a page. It's annoying since for me the previous page is a login page. When all that was wanted was to scroll up or down to see specific data. These extra but
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Are you insane? I regularly use a mouse with 13 buttons [amazon.com] and only very rarely accidentally hit one.
Amateur. I couldn't use anything less than my 18 button mouse. [wired.com]
This is all your fault (Score:3)
If you don't like the extra buttons, don't use them. Simply program them to do nothing. Let those of us
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Then you overslept. Trackballs have been cool for a long time.
Re: meh (Score:3)
Re: meh (Score:2)
Re: meh (Score:2)
I would love to find a KVM that connects a Bluetooth trackball and keyboard with USB going from the KVM to the computers.
Re: meh (Score:2)
trackball (Score:1)
Now bring back the trackball. Please. nice big ball, contoured to your hand, buttons in the right spots. Too bad they have moving parts that do wear out.
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Giggity.
Re:trackball (Score:4, Interesting)
Now bring back the trackball. Please. nice big ball, contoured to your hand, buttons in the right spots. Too bad they have moving parts that do wear out.
Still exists... Take a look at the Kensington Expert Mouse... plus, they have a 5-year/3-year warranty for the wired/wireless version.
I've tried their wireless versions and I always go back to the wired version due to inteference/lag. I haven't tried the newest Bluetooth version yet, though. However, wireless is much less important for a proper trackball than it is for a mouse.
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New ones don't help. There is still lag with bluetooth.
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Not really an equivalent to the Microsoft trackballs - take a look at this [materiel.net]
Admittedly, the MS product is right-hand only, unlike the Kensington, but it fits the hand very well indeed.
Re: trackball (Score:2)
The only issue I have is that the Bluetooth occasionally does not connect when the laptop (Mac) is sleeping. This issue also applies to the Bluetooth keyboard, so I do not think it is a flaw in the trackball. When this happens, I have to wake the laptop up with the physical keyboard and occasionally go to settings to get the laptop to sync to the Bluetooth devices.
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It will be a sad, sad day for me when my Logitech TrackMan Marble FX dies. :(
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Now bring back the trackball. Please. nice big ball, contoured to your hand, buttons in the right spots. Too bad they have moving parts that do wear out.
Still exists... Take a look at the Kensington Expert Mouse... plus, they have a 5-year/3-year warranty for the wired/wireless version.
I've tried their wireless versions and I always go back to the wired version due to inteference/lag. I haven't tried the newest Bluetooth version yet, though. However, wireless is much less important for a proper trackball than it is for a mouse.
My local dollar store sells a wireless mouse for $4.00. It truly works like a charm. It has a high resolution scan system and automatic shutoff if the mouse is not budged for a few minutes. It takes 1 single AA battery.
scroll wheel can click if tilted left/right or down. A much better deal than my logitech mouse for $20.00
Given that a wireless mouse retails for $4.00, what do you think the manufactured cost of the MS mouse to be and what would be the marketing and distribution costs? Betcha it's under $1
Quite agree... (Score:2)
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I'd prefer a resurrected Trackball Explorer.
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Trackballs are great for HTPCs. Or any other PC that are in a place that you can not have a flat plane to move a traditional mouse.
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Kensington Expert Mouse.
Have been using them for 20 years.
Disagree (Score:2, Informative)
First click! (Score:2)
Like early Razer (Score:2)
Re: Like early Razer (Score:2)
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Great Video but WTF Marketing People? (Score:2)
Seriously, *that* was supposed to show off the mouse?
I'd like to know why a lot of money was put together for a video announcing a mouse when it's only shown for 11s of a 120s video?
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I'd say the marketing people absolutely know what they're doing.
The target demographic being "nostalgic IntelliMouse users", they'll already have recognized the mouse at the beginning, the middle Rube Goldberg Machine part is to increase the nostalgia felt toward the mouse to increase the desire to buy one and it ends with the new model to further increase that desire with a "oh, new shiny" shot of the product, just long enough to pique your interest but not enough time to let you make a rationale thinking
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I guess I'm not part of the target demographic.
As noted in my second post, I actually care about what I interface to my computers with.
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The f*ck they do. Look at Windows 10...look at it. Tell me people wanted that abomination.
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Surprisingly Limited OS Compatibility (Score:5, Informative)
Looking at the Microsoft spec page for this mouse - https://www.microsoft.com/acce... [microsoft.com]
I can see that it's only compatible with Windows 7 and up (although the way they say it's not customizable with Windows 10S is pretty awkward) so why would I buy it? I suspect that "compatibility" means "customizable" in terms of buttons and dots per inch and, somewhat ironically, it will work like the original Intellimouse on other systems.
Personally, I demand that I go between systems with a minimum of mechanical transition; that means I use the same keyboard and mouse whenever possible for all my systems. OSX is always going to be problematic, but I think it's reasonable to expect to be able to have identical human interfaces on my Windows Linux systems.
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disappointing. I like these mice but not compatible with osx? no sale.
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Get a mouse that has hardware memory for it's settings - set it once in whatever OS is "supported" and save it to flash on the device. Then it just acts as a regular HID mouse in operating systems that aren't officially "supported".
Logitech makes several devices that do this.
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I can see that it's only compatible with Windows 7 and up (although the way they say it's not customizable with Windows 10S is pretty awkward) so why would I buy it?
If people only bought hardware "compatible" with the OSes they run then Linux would barely run on anything. In other news the Surface Pro 3 is only "compatible" with Windows 8 and 10. Interestingly it has fully working native kernel modules in Linux for all the hardware despite how specific that hardware actually is.
Mind you if you only bought "compatible" hardware you probably would give up with computers altogether. I mean have you ever actually found RAM from the QVL of a motherboard available at the sam
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Great mice (Score:1, Flamebait)
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Funny, I think the same about the Logitech G502 gaming mouse.
Know what you like, like what you know (Score:2)
If the only car brand I ever owned was AMC which fulfills the requirements of "Some small, some full sized. Some really wacky, like The Pacer", I'd probably feel the same way about Microsoft mice.
Next time you got to Best Buy, Frys, whatever, why don't you take a look at the competition?
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I have looked. I've got some physical limitations that require me to look at all kinds of mice. The only other maker of mice that I've seen is Logitech, and theirs are all covered with tons of buttons for games. I'm not aware of any other mice manufacturers that aren't cut-rate Chinese junk.
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I still recommend looking around.
I'm really particular about mice and keyboards and I'm using a $7.99 "Minibird" gaming mouse on my systems right now: https://www.amazon.ca/ICAN-Min... [amazon.ca]
Wired, excellent resolution that can be set on the mouse and only two side buttons for forwards and back (all that I want). The original has gone for two years and I have two others in constant use as well. I don't know why you can't see the mouse on Amazon.com - I got mine at Canada Computers for $7.99 CDN each.
I tried it b
I'll stick with Logitech, thanks (Score:5, Insightful)
In an age of cheaper, cheaper, and cheaper, Microsoft seems to be the only maker of quality mice.
You didn't put much effort into looking.
Logitech's mice and trackball offerings have always been more comfortable and maintainable. In both the ball and optical versions, the design and function that the extra few pennies bought me was worth it.
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Re:I'll stick with Logitech, thanks (Score:4, Informative)
Elecom are my current favourite for mice. They do multiple sizes so you can get the one that fits your hand best. Their wireless seems to be reliable too - I had problems with Microsoft wireless products dropping out before, especially in offices with lots of wireless devices.
Oh, and the wheel is great too. I click the wheel a lot (middle mouse button) and most wheels, including Logitech's, are mushy crap that you end up accidentally rotating when you mean to click. Microsoft's were pretty good though.
They make decent keyboards too. Nothing too fancy but their rubber dome keyboards are cheap and surprisingly good to type on. Nice tactile feel.
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Thanks buddy, I had a good chuckle at this.
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been more comfortable
Opinion
and maintainable
What the hell is maintenance? Are you saying logitech mice need maintenance? Now there's a turnoff.
Not the OP but I do remember looking at mice and finding logitech had at the time no cordless mice on offer to suit a full size desktop that didn't also come as some kit with a keyboard. I like my (logitech) keyboard and wasn't about to replace it, but I sure as hell wasn't about to play with some miniaturized laptop bluetooth mouse.
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Logitech's mice and trackball offerings have always been more comfortable and maintainable.
Comfort is personal preference isn't it? I have a Logi gaming mouse and the 720 but prefer my MS mouse over both even though it's cheaper.
Maintenance for optical mice is non-existent.
Lacks a REAL middle-button (Score:3)
It still lacks a real middle button. They could have added a real button instead of the weird bump before the scroll wheel.
It is too difficult to not scroll by mistake when trying to press down the wheel. I mean, you can press accurately 95% of the time, but each of those of the 5% mis-clicks are errors that you should never have made.
It has a cord... (Score:1)
*SOLD*
It better have a cord (Score:2)
Cords?? It needs BALLS! (Score:2)
None of this "Optical" shite - a man's mouse has balls.
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Plural? I'm . . . impressed.
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I'm talking about a MAN'S mouse. Not something that's only fit for women and democrats.
The kind of man that takes his best shot and only a Ferguson can handle it - https://sketchfab.com/models/3... [sketchfab.com]
Too bad they didn't have this years ago. (Score:2)
I was looking for an exact replacement. Went with the Microsoft Basic Optical Mouse because I couldn't find one. It's sufficient though.
Did you know... (Score:2)
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It may sound silly to deal with, but using 5 times more energy and creating 5 times more pollution for the same functionality that we had before sounds silly to me. Before you balk at the low amount of pow
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That's an interesting point, tho I wonder how it works out when all factors are considered -- there's less mass (shipping weight) and fewer moving parts in today's optical mice, so possibly less energy expended on manufacturing. Whether they last longer or not seems to be a toss-up; seen it go both ways.
I liked my old ball mice, used on glass (not a mouse pad) but as the old ones wore out, seems the newer ones didn't track as well, or had poor DPI, or one way or another just weren't up to snuff. (Admittedly
Is it still geared for righties? (Score:2)
And Logitech, how about the MX Revolution? (Score:2)
One other "legendary" (in my opinion) mouse would be the MX Revolution. It's defining feature is the "free wheel" scroll wheel.
The sad part is that all of the following models are inferior to the one that came out in 2006. The only other one with an electronically controllable scrollwheel is the MX Master, and unlike the original, it doesn’t tilt. It also has reliability problems that the original didn’t have.
I still have mine, works flawlessly. It came in replacement to... a Microsoft Intellimo
Trackball Explorer (Score:2)
Now bring back the Trackball Explorer for a reasonable price.
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Anything less than the $400-$600 they sell for on eBay is more than reasonable. I'd happily pay $300 for a brand new one that comes with zirconia oxide bearings installed from the factory. And I'd continue to buy them for the rest of my life. The only things that really wear out in them are the soft steel bearings that wear flat spots (hence the need for the zirconia oxide replacements you find when searching eBay for the device) and the meshing parts in the scroll wheel eventually start smoothing out an
Hard to find a good mouse (Score:3)
Last time I went shopping for a mouse many years ago ended up with comfort mouse 6000 (S7J-00010). It's the best mouse I've owned so far. Only problem with it using scroll wheel as middle button is virtually impossible without having click register as a scroll.
Apparently this new IntelliMouse suffers from losing track of where it is when moved rapidly. Reviews so far gamers seem to hate it.
It's like they don't even bother testing hardware before release. These are all things that should have been easily identified and resolved prior to releasing product.
I had a stockpile of old IntelliMouses for years because eventually the left and or right clickers would always break. The rough plastic material also really sucks. It always accumulated gunk that was impossible to remove. Shiny plastic like the comfort mouse is best because gunk slides right off and mouse always looks brand new.
There seems to be a huge gap when it comes to wired mice.
You either end up with some tiny cheap ambidextrous POS made by the lowest bidder, some crazy "ergonomic" BS or ridiculous "gamer" machination that looks like it came out of a transformers movie. Almost got a razer death mouse until I found out driver calls home and requires an Internet connection to work. No chance in hell.
Companies that do nothing but HID like Logitech have all of a single wired USB mouse I would even consider (M500). I don't understand why mice are so screwed up.
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Mostly because there is little money in the segment -- The vast majority of the market is served by $2 mice with zero profit that get bundled by Dell/HP/Whatever when grandma buys a new PC or thrown in a bulk bin at Big Lots, and a good chunk of the people who are willing to pay extra for a mouse are near-impossible to please gamers. To MOST peop
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Pro tip: If you use the mouse long enough, it gets smooth instead of rough. Also, hard surface sanitizing cloths do wonders for cleaning the hardware.
I have 3 Intellimouse 1.1A models, keep one at home and the other 2 at work. All are wearing smooth at this point. The weight, size, shape, and function hits all the sweet spots for me. The only complaint I have now is that the Intellimouse software doesn't work on macOS Sierra. I mean, sure, it runs, but the software fails to recognize a USB 2.0 mouse plugged
I was going to buy one, but (Score:1)
I still have my original intelimouse that I got by sending in the coupons that used to come with OEM bundles of Win9x it was my favorite mouse ever but had two flaws. 1 It has a cord and 2 it would randomly point straight up in FPS games (this is/was a known issue). I clicked on the link to buy the new one but it still appears to have a cord, what a shame.
If we're bringing back retro...Trackman Marble FX (Score:3)
I miss my old Trackman Marble FX. GIS for it; I think old ones were going for $100.00 as a collector's item a few years ago. GOFK what one would cost you today.
It put a large ball with lots of intertia in your hand. And by "in your hand", I mean your gripping fingers traversed the center of mass of the ball.
It was awesome--You could easily throw the pointer across the screen(s) or tweak pixel by pixel.
It was a throwback to the PS2 days, but PS2->USB adapters are easy to get.
There were also a few buttons scattered around the device.
If somebody would build a device with modern electronics and that sort of mechanism I'd buy it.
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Buy a Kensington ExpertMouse?
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Completely different. Only one hemisphere is exposed; you can't grab it like the real thing.
Now, if you wanted to play missile command...
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Trackball Explorers are plentiful on eBay for about $125-$150. You can even find the rare unopened brand new one occasionally, if you don't mind spending $500-$600. A highly recommended upgrade for them is zirconia oxide bearings to replace the steel ones. The steel is so soft that the red ball actually wears a flat spot in them, and the worse it gets the harder it is to turn the ball. Replace the bearings with those ones and it's like new. And they won't wear out as quickly as the steel, if they ever
Sensor probs? (Score:2)
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Good info! I prefer a glass surface (too many years with fussy ball mice) and of course that drives the standard types nuts. (For real fun, try a mirror.)
All new... for 2017 (Score:2)
The FA mentions at the end that the mouse is available direct from Microsoft [microsoft.com], and the MS page gives the part number as HDQ-00001. But that part number is also available from Amazon [amazon.com], which says, "Date First Available: October 16, 2017".
In fact, I have one of them; Amazon tells me that I "purchased this item on March 11, 2018". I like the mouse a lot: it's corded, the BlueTrack sensor works well, and I like the shape. It's a good mouse, but it's not all that new.
P.S. I
These are/were great mice (Score:1)
I still use an Intellimouse from the early 2000's. Back in the day I competed with the best, like Thresh and Fatal1ty (sort of, the guy was a n00b). It was the best mouse then and continues to be because kids don't understand what is possible, only what is fed to them, and that is crappy Chinese shit that flashes in different colors. Meanwhile they accuse ME of cheating just because I have skill and hardware their tiny dumbass minds can't comprehend. Seriously, I have been banned for using a bot when in fac
Um, maybe, (Score:2)
but I'm using a Sculpt mouse now, very happy with it, though the switches don't last long and I've been resoldering them while I find replacements.
Yes, swap the right and left button switches, new life!
I may or may not try a new Intell*mouse, dunno. Sculpts are fine for me.