Customer Reviews

Logitech V400 Laser Cordless Notebook Mouse- Grey

5 star:		(9)
4 star:		(8)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(5)
1 star:		(11)

 

 

When I bought the Logitech V400 wireless laser mouse from Fry's, I took it home and started using it in hopes of increased accuracy while I edit my photos. However, I had similar problems with tracking as many other reviewers had with the V400.

As I used the V400, the cursor would move eratically around the screen, and sometimes would not even register vertical movement. Needless to say, this made accuracy deplorable. Before repacking it, I decided to try it at my office to see if it was simply the surface I used it on at home (Logitech admits that some mice can get confused on woodgrain surfaces). The mouse seemed to work OK on my office desk surface, but not perfectly. At that point I was wondering if it was perhaps interference from other wireless devices I have at home.

However, I then looked on the underside of the mouse and noticed there was significant smudging on the lens. Using a Q-tip, I removed the smudges from the lens, and I have had great success with the mouse since. After using the Q-tip, there have been no more quirky movements - everything is smooth now, and my accuracy is spot on.

I originally purchased this mouse over the Microsoft Wireless Laser Mouse 6000 because the Logitech V400 has some advancements that I personally find more attractive - five buttons compared to Microsoft's four, a thinner and slightly more compact shell, a sleeker design (IMO), and a smaller RF receiver.

Since the Q-tip incident, I have been very happy with using the mouse. The wireless range of the mouse surpases any of my personal needs - at maximum range I can no longer see the cursor on my laptop screen. I would imagine the wireless range is more useful for mobile presentations. The battery life is superb - I've been running for over a week on one AA battery, and it is still showing a status of good life remaining.

Though I've personally had great success in using the V400 and enjoy using it, I'm only giving it 4 stars for two reasons: 1)I was originally affected by a poor tracking issue that should have been resolved on the assembly floor, 2)I've read other instances of bad tracking not limited to the Amazon reviews. Both of these factors originally led me to believe I was going to have to return the mouse, but I was thankfully able to resolve it.

Whether or not other user's issues can be resolved as easily as my solution, I can't say for sure. It is apparent, though, that Logitech has some obvious problems (possibly ranging from faulty hardware to unclean lenses) and should probably be considering a revision.

If you are considering this mouse, you should prepare yourself for the small possibility of a return, exchange, or RMA. That said, I have seen plenty of other reviews that were very impressed by the quality this mouse can offer when it works, and I can personally attest to it's excellent use as well.

Overall, I am very satisfied with it. If I knew it had a better success rate, I would strongly recommend it to all laptop users looking for a wireless laser mouse.

I've had the V400 for about a week now and I'm generally pretty happy with it. The ergonomic design fits my hand well, and the rubber grips make it easy to hold. The addition of the back/forward buttons is nice, though their placement means that you need to use your index finger to use them. Another minor complaint is that they're not two separate buttons; rather the two "buttons" are part of a single rocker that tilts back and forth, making it slightly more cumbersome to use. That said, I'm happy they're there at all, as most notebook/travel mice I've looked at do not have these additional buttons. Aesthetics are subjective, naturally, but I prefer its clean, simple lines to Microsoft's blobby, ill-defined but otherwise comfortable notebook mice.

Regarding tracking, I've noticed that the V400 is stymied by darker surfaces and textures - dark wood and granite are two surfaces where it seems to get easily confused. However, on lighter surfaces (the majority of the surfaces I use), tracking is flawless. I docked a star from the review because of this caveat-- not really the "all-terrain" performance as promised on the package.

I had previously written a review giving the mouse 2 stars, stating a horrible tracking problem. I was going to return the product, but lost the packaging so I called Logitech support instead. After 20 minutets of troubleshooing the mouse, they offered to send me another one. I agreed, but expected just another mouse with the same problems. Today (June 12 06), 2 weeks later, I received my new V-400, and the tracking seems flawless. Needless to say, I'm elated that my $40 are not a complete waste. The tracking seems great, and the sleep feature isn't as cumbersome to wake from. So I would give the mouse 4 stars as I still don't really like the rocking type buttons for forward and backwards, but I give it 3 stars due to the somewhat high probability of getting a lemon. But I also have to give props to Logitech for their support which has always been great. I hope this helps, and I'll update this review if I see problems later on.

In anycase, my previous review is below.

-A. Cross



" I agree that Logitech is a great company. I've always had great customer support from them in the few cases where I've had problems with their products malfuntioning over time. The V-400 mouse, however, is in my case, the worst optical/laser mouse I've ever used. To make this short, I also have a V-500 which I think is a great mouse, but it lacks a 3rd button (also a 4th and 5th). So I decided to buy the V-400 for that purpose. The tracking on this mouse, however, is nothing like that of the V-500. It didn't track well on most surfaces (my desk, folder, or a mouse pad I had) as there was a LOT of staggering and clumsyness to the movement of the pointer. On the other hand, it did seem to do quite well on a simple sheet of blank paper, but that becomes a nuisance as the paper is not really flat and stationary. Whereas, in all the cases above the V-500 performs exceptionally well. The extra buttons on the side of the V-400 are also not as comfortable as I had expected, but that is a minor issue.

To summarize, whether your computer knowledge is above or below novice, don't buy the V-400 as it is right now. It is not worth the money, and I'm going to return my purchase as I think any other optical mouse will perform better. The V-500 is a great mouse once you get used to the touch sensitive scrolling, but it also lacks any extra buttons and it is quite expensive."

Been reading some other poor reviews of this mouse, all I can say is I don't have the problems they are seeing! Not sure if some are good and some are bad, or recent ones are better? (had mine since start of May '06).

Specifically, mine tracks well and accurately (except on black surfaces, see below) with no jitter and plenty of sensitivity. Also, I've not experienced ANY "auto-off" (sleep) lag after the mouse has been left unused for a time. I've never found this at all with this mouse - and I've been looking for it! My desktop mouse is an MX610, and I do see the sleep lag with that, but not with the V400.

I love this mouse... It's not perfect (more later) but the best travel mouse I've tried -- which includes the Logi V200 and MS 6000 and others.

OK, so Pros:
- Small enough to be transportable, yet not too tiny to use
- Nice feel & cool look
- GREAT range - others can poop out only a couple of feet away
- Extra buttons (key thing for me) plus side-scrolling
- Long battery life and only takes a single AA
- Small USB receiver that stores in the mouse & turns it off, so no switches to use or accidental turning on when it bounces around in your bag.
- No auto-off/sleep lag (see above)

Now the not-so-perfect, Cons:
- Tracking... works fine on most surfaces, but not at all on black! Those with uniform dark or black mouse pads or tables beware! Aparently no go on transparent or mirror surfaces either - though I'm not sure those are common(!)
- Placement of the extra buttons - I can't reach these with my thumb (as I'd like) but need to use my forefinger. Poor design, but better than not having them at all (as with most/all other travel mice).

That's it. Overall, I thoroughly recommend it.

Hi all,

I have both, the V400 and the Microsoft 6000, the V400 has many problems, seems like the laser engine has many betas still to go, the tracking is awfull, constantly stopping and restarting, the precision also is too bad, is very difficult to give in the target with this mouse, more if you try with CAD applications, any person, even the basic PC user will notice the bad quality of the laser mechanism.

Is true, is a nice looking mouse, i have many logitech products that are really good, from the presentation bluetooth mouse to the laser one, this V400 seems to break the line of quality logitech has always had.

Kinda disappointing,

I'm uploading pictures of my mouse (Logitech V400 orange), so if you want to have a mouse to look and show, the V400 could be a museum object, but if you want a extreme machine, the Microsoft 6000 is the one to go.

Greetings

Sergio Claver from Lima, PERU :)

I have the same problem others reviewers write down here before me. A pitty I didn't listen them before.
The accuracy is terrible awfull, many times, I move the mouse, and the pointer star to move erraticaly or doesn't move at all. No precision, and do just the contrary that the add says "all terrain". I have many friends that have the Microsoft mouse for notebook, and they no have problems where I have.
The relatively good news, is that with time, if you play a little with the setUp, you reach an acceptable beahvior, but ... nothing compared to a normal old logitech mouse.
Eduardo.

I just purchased this mouse and have used it for 3 days now. It works well as a mouse, but it is very uncomfortable in my hand. Having to use your index finger for the forward & back buttons is awkward. It also doesn't fit your hand well. I would not recommend this unit. I am returning the V400. I originally had a Microsoft notebook mouse which works well and was comfortable to use; but I was specifically looking for a notebook mouse with forward & back buttons, the v400 seemed a good idea until actually using it... I'd love a smaller version of the MX1000.
Note: the logitech software that comes in the package is an older vesrsion that does not allow the forward & back buttons to work with the Mozilla Firefox browser, you have to download a 47Mb update from the Logitech support site.

I purchased this mouse to replace my trusty Logitech V200 and have been nothing but disappointed. This mouse has serious tracking problems. It will track ok on a piece of paper, but if I use a mousepad, desktop, or surface of my laptop it consistently loses track of the cursor. As much as I would like to carry around a blank piece of paper to use with this mouse, this is NOT the reason why someone buys a laptop mouse that claims to have an "All Terrain Laser"

My advise, stay clear of this mouse. It is the worst optical mouse I have ever used in my life.

Logitech, so far, always appeared to me as being a first tier supplier of quality mice. I am shocked how Logitech could dare to release such a product. They are actually back to the good old days where users would need a mouse pad in order to get proper performance. The V400 does not work well on dark surfaces, it does not work well on light surfaces and it does not work well on tablecloth. I have actually bought the V400 because I did not like the scroll panel of the V500. To my surprise the V500 with conventional red LED works well on all mentioned surfaces where V400 is a nightmare. It is a darned cheek when Logitech claims to have introduced the V400 "... all terrain laser tracking technology".

Like most other users here, the tracking problems I've encountered have been aweful. Light or dark, mousepad or not, two different PCs, latest SetPoint driver software, it doesn't seem to matter. Also, by comparison, I have the MX500 (corded optical), MX700 (cordless optical) and MX1000 (latest cordless laser) on various machines and all work perfectly on the same mousepads and surfaces upon which the V400 fails. The MX1000 works perfectly on the same laptop with the same SetPoint driver software on which the V400 fails. Bottom line, it's definitely the the V400!

The V400 mouse will work fine for a while. Then, if you stop to type something (like the paragraph above), then go back to the mouse and move it, the cursor just stays put. You have to move the mouse around quite a bit to get it to recognize that it's being moved. Clicking the mouse seems to wake it up immediately but, of course, that may not be appropriate, depending on the application you're in.

As far as I'm concerned, I have loved everything Logitech that I've ever owned ... until now. In my opinion, the V400 is a piece of junk.