Customer Reviews

Kensington 64321 Wireless Studio Mouse USB

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

 

 

I don't really understand all the bad reviews here on this mouse. It puzzles me because I have had 0 problems with mine. It's asthetically pleasing & functionally brilliant. I have both the wired and wireless versions of this mouse and love them both. The only reason I give this 4 stars is because it is not great as a portable due to the power adapter for the base. For desktop use, or for laptops in their main area of use (i.e. office or home, but not for travel) it is perfect.

I love the satisfying click it gives and the amazingly comprehensive programming (via mac system preferences pane). You can make this mouse do anything, design configurations for specific programs (I particularly find the button under the scroll pad to be useful for double click function and left+right buttons for "find"). You can set different speeds for slow or fast movement (!) and scrolling speed.

The scroll pad is NOT a touch pad, as mentioned by other reviewers, but it does not require you to press hard (come on folks, I am a scrawny 130lbs and it doesn't require "effort"). It scrolls as you drag your finger down and if you press either end it continuously scrolls. Very cool.

I also have had no problem (as others have mentioned) with installing software, getting it to work perfectly, optical tracking, clicking, etc. Again, I am completely puzzled because I love this mouse!

I have the wired version of this mouse, and I am a fan of Kensington's mice--heck, besides Apple's, I have never used another brand. But I digress...

I was disappointed by this mouse for a couple of reasons:

1. Instead of charging via USB--which could be done--the dock for the mouse has an AC adaptor which plugs into the USB plug. It just looks awkward.

2. The mouse is not very responsive. Often, I would have to click twice for a menu or dock item to be selected. Scrolling long menus was a joke since the mouse would disengage before scrolling the entire menu.

I was disappointed, and I returned it immediately. I love the design of the Studio Mouse, so I am using the wired version again.

I got this mouse for free from a hardware vendor I buy tons of stuff from. The price they want for it here is insane considering what you get. So I'm glad I got it for free.

This is possibly the ugliest mouse you can buy in the price range. As for ergonomics, take a look at it. This mouse has the design of a flipflop missing straps and two buttons added. The upside is that the design is completely flat so it might be the best choice in cordless mice for a left hander. If you prefer using your right, get one that is made to fit your hand. The right click button is awkward and the scrolling pad in leu of wheel is plain goofy.

The charging base has two really bright LED's on it that I put tape over because the constant flicker of green light in the corner of my eye was just annoying. Plus the frequency they use to transmit the signal gets picked up by the speakers I have on my work computer. So every time I move the thing I can hear a mosquito like sound comming out of my speakers. Maybe the boss didnt buy me the greatest speakers in the world with adequate shielding but I'm just calling it as I see it.

If you're looking for a cordless mouse, I highly recommend the Logitech MX 700. My 2nd pick would be the new Microsoft "blue" with tilting scroll wheel. The DPI, which is the accuracy of mouse tracking in the Logitec is the highest of any cordless (even most corded) mouse made today.

Kensington markets this Mouse as the must have for graphics pros, I found it's tracking to be very impresise and jerky. I tried to use it for 3 weeks and finally gave up. Also graphics pros use Mac OS X and the coolest features don't work in OS X. Stick to the wire.

This is not a portable mouse. This item does not come with a tiny portable USB receiver as other wireless mice do. What you see in the picture (minus the cable which attaches the base station to your computer) is all that you get. In order to use the mouse, you must take the mouse-size recharger & its attached cord with you wherever you go, because the charger IS the base station/ wireless RF receiver. Other wireless mice (including one from kensington itself), include a small USB dongle which sports the mouse's RF receiver. When you get to the coffee shop, or to your interview, or go from your office to your home with this "wireless" mouse, you still need to plug in a mouse-like device and find room on the table for it the way you did using a corded mouse. It looks foolish during an interview and takes up a lot of room at a coffee shop. Something about still being tied to a wired computer sort of defeats some significant benefits of going wireless.

Noteworthy is the innovative scroll pad (which replaces the scroll wheel). The scroll pad is a good idea. I'd like it to be more responsive - to allow a user to lightly touch it the way that the second generation iPods function. Instead, it asks that I press firmly on it to make it function. This makes scrolling laborious and takes more focus and determination than I'm used to with a scroll wheel. I found that USB Overdrive recognized this mouse's functions. I also tried the software and drivers that Kensington ships called MouseWorks - it's fine for what it does. A couple of nice features: press at the top, and you'll scroll quickly to the top of the screen, same with pressing at the bottom of the scroll pad. Also if you scroll and stay pressed on the pad, it will continue scrolling down. With the MouseWorks software, you can set the middle button below the scrollpad to change the performance of the mouse itself to "scroll" the page. And if you use a mac, there are special, and useful tools for Photoshop and Illustrator. Some of these features are limited to using the Kensington drivers and software.

Batteries - ships with two AAA-type rechargeable batteries. A good idea - easily replaceable. And the charging station is a "smart" one in that it knows when the charge is full and can discharge the batteries to recondition them. The manual mentions that one can insert AA batteries but I found the compartment much too small - probably an oversight in the manual. I used higher quality rechargable batteries than the mouse shipped with, but the charger wouldn't recognize them when I placed the mouse in it's cradle, so they wouldn't recharge. When I bought the mouse, I mistakenly thought it would be easy to carry around fully charged batteries in case you run out and you're not near the recharger. Unfortunately, you can't leave the charger at home.

In summary, if you use a laptop, then wait until Kensington includes a portable USB receiver, as it's other model features. I recommend considering instead the Belkin Mini-Wireless Optical Mouse (F8E825-USB) or Kensington's Kensington Pocketmouse Pro Wireless (72117).

Liked the design and uniqueness of this mouse when I saw it online.
Once I got it, it wasn't as comfortable as I'd hoped and not very good tracking features. It eventually died after about 6 months.
I generally like Kensington products, but I'd say is okay if you want something new and different, but for the price it isn't worth it.

I was warned by someone that a friend had bought one of these and returned it because of the delay. I went ahead and bought it thinking I could adjust the tracking speed to something I liked...it didn't work. The pointer is behind all movements, and at the fastest settings, once it does get moving, it jumps and hops. I'm taking it back. Don't waste your time.

This mouse feels cheap. unfortunately, CompUSA did not have a unit out for display. Probably done on purpose, because people would probably pass on this mouse if they were to have the chance to play with it. The right and left buttons seem loose to the point that they rattle somewhat. The tracking fails more quickly than my iMac LCD factory mouse. With the iMac mouse, the mouse does not need to be flat on the surface for the tracking to still work - with the Kensington, if the mouse is even slightly off the surface on one edge, there's a good chance the tracking will stop. The power does not stay charged as long as it should. I have a wireless mouse at work that can go months on standard AA batteries. Finally and most irritating, the tracking for the touch "scroll wheel" is not sensitive enough, which means that you really need to bear into the touch panel to scroll, especially if scrolling up.

The Kensington 64321 Wireless Studio Mouse is the easiest thing I've installed on my Mac. Of course nothing is hard on a Mac. So this says it all. It does all it's designed for. I am enjoying every time I use it. Just smooth.

I love this mouse! This is the best wireless mouse that I have ever used - bar none. I have the Studiomouse connected to my Apple eMac and it works like a champ... (gotta love right-click function on the mac!) Unlike other wireless mice, you don't have to change the batteries every month... just stick it on the wireless receiver/charging dock every once in awhile and you're good to go!

This product worked "plug and play" on my Win98 and Win2K machines too, but it seems much more at home next to my Macintosh; cooler tools for cooler machines!