Customer Reviews

GE HO-97990 RF Optical Mouse

5 star:		(5)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(4)
1 star:		(20)

 

 

Like others who've written reviews, I went through an unbelievable amount of batteries. I use my machine a couple of hours a day and probably changed the batteries two or three times a month. Last weekend I changed the batteries and after about an hour of use, one of the batteries exploded and the crackling noise coming out of the mouse was audible for about 30 minutes. I figured there was a problem with one of the batteries so I put in two more fresh AAs ... 30 minutes later, another explosion. I'm going back to my wired, trackball mouse.

Dont get it , hard to sync and it is almost impossible to sync up. (Need to hold 2 buttons down at the same time and planets need to be alligned etc......)

As said above, it eats batteries (mine did not explode them). The motion is really jerky, probably due to the fact that the receiver/mouse connection sucks. If there was ANYTHING between them, no signal. Nearly blinded myself trying to sync them. On a positive note, being wireless makes the mouse very throwable, for when you're tired of putting up with it. It smashes very nicely.

I got one for a gift. It synched up once, and was as jumpy as a flea on a frying pan. The instructions said to re-synch it. It never worked again.

A wireless, optical mouse.. ... no one I know sells such a combo for this price. In all, I think it's a good bargain. I run this mouse on a Windows XP os. The package contains a cordless mouse and a "receiving unit" that does have a wire that plugs into a USB (or PS2) connector on your computer.

The optical part works on "RF" (radio frequency) with a range of 5 feet. Optical in my opinion is better than the original "ball" mouses (or meeses). Ball mouses tend to get dirty or come apart or just break down. An optical mouse won't fall apart as easily, will need some occasional cleaning, and definitely change the batteries when you detect "inoperability".

You can adjust the frequency in case you get interference. Me, I had no problems out of the box even though I have a wirelss internet connection going (USB adapter).

As far as the wireless part, there is no wire attached to the mouse, but there is a wire attached to the receiving unit to the computer. You can put the "receiver" just about anywhere in-and-around your computer, regardless of line-of-sight. The receiving unit comes with a USB connection (you can turn it into a "PS2" connection with an included converter piece). Both worked for me fine.

The person who experienced functioning problems on this board probably didn't change the batteries. I did have minor difficulties getting the thing to activate off the bat.

The install is plug-and-play and you really don't need the CD, whether you're using USB or PS2 connector. However, you have to press this "connect" button on the underside of the mouse and then the "connect" button on the underside of the receiving unit before you can use it. I had to do trial-and-error before I could get the mouse to work. I would recommend putting both side-by-side initially so you can experiment. After that no problems. The mouse does sleep after period of inactivity and take a few seconds to awaken again (i don't think you can set the inactivity period).

Overall, I think it's a cost-effective wireless & optical mouse.

When new this mouse was barely acceptable. The software that came with it didn't work. I had to download new software form the company that made it (NOT GE) to even get it to work. The motion was a bit rough but I could live with it. Every day the mouse seemed to get worse. Changing the batteries sometimes helped, but you shouldn't have to replace them every day. After about 2 months it became completely useless. One star is generous, I'd give it ZERO stars if I could.

There are quite a few wireless mouse options on the market, but this package is all inclusive, even batteries! I haven't experienced any problems so far and it basically installed itself on my computer. I've seen some of the other, pricier versions on my friends computers and they seem to react a bit better, but the difference is negotiable.

I have a wireless trackball at home made by Logitech that I love. I needed a new mouse at work, so I picked this one up based on my previously wonderful experience with wireless input devices. For a month it was great. Since then, the batteries seem to die every two weeks. My logitech trackball goes about 6 months before I need to change the batteries. I'm amazed at how fast this things chew up batteries. After 2.5 months and 4 battery changes, I'm going to buy a logitech trackball.

The price of this mouse was great. However, it is a pain to use. This mouse uses small black touch sensitive buttons to sense when you have you hand on the mouse in order to get it out power saver mode so that it will start working. Problem is, where my fingers rest on the mouse is not where these touch sensitive buttons are. So you have to make sure you are touching these buttons before you start using the mouse.

Also, I had some trouble positioning the receiver where it could receive the signal from the mouse.

And by temporary, I mean a couple of days. This mouse while slick and sexy in styling leaves a lot to be desired on the functional side. The one given to me installed fine, but stopped working after a couple of days. Couldn't get it working again, so I guess this was my rebound mouse relationship and I have a choice to go back to my previous love or find another. To me price was high considering in only worked for a few hours spread out over 5 days (cost ~$10/hr, that's more than minimum wage). If you buy it, I hope it works for you, but I know I will steer clear of other GE branded items except NBC, I like that network.