Microsoft Intellimouse Explorer with Tilt-Wheel

by Microsoft

Product Details

• Product Dimensions: 8.9 x 2.1 x 9.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 5.6 ounces
• Shipping: Currently, item can be shipped only within the U.S.
• ASIN: B00013VHAS
• Item model number: B75-00092
• Average Customer Review: 2.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (110 customer reviews)
• Discontinued by manufacturer: Yes
• Date first available at Amazon.com: June 17, 2003

Product Description

Microsoft IntelliMouse Explorer with Tilt Wheel Technology changes the way you scroll – now you can scroll horizontally as well as vertically – making it faster and easier to move through documents and web pages. And with advanced Microsoft Optical Technology, you won't find a better mouse for your home or office.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

27 of 28 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Great for the desktop, so-so for gaming, April 28, 2004

By 

"evnglion" (Winston-Salem, NC USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Microsoft Intellimouse Explorer with Tilt-Wheel (Personal Computers)

The first thing I noticed when making the switch from the Intellimouse Explorer 3.0 to the 4.0 (yes, this mouse is the 4.0, not the 3.0 like Amazon suggests) was the scroll wheel. It is incredibly smooth, and feels great to move up and down. It is the best feeling wheel I've ever used, and it's extremely nice on long documents, as there are acceleration options for the wheel itself. However, in a lot of games, gamers will set the scroll wheel to change weapons. The fact that this wheel is so smooth to scroll, makes it very difficult to just change to the next weapon. You always end up skipping 4 or 5 weapons, so you just have to scroll back. Takes a lot of getting used to, if your previous mouse had tactile clicks to let you know when you've scrolled one unit.

In all honesty, the only thing that even made me switch was the new tilt-wheel feature. I later learned that this new feature isn't really so great... it feels real clunky, and is hard to press in either direction. And the scrolling that happens onscreen is real jerky, and slow (even when set to the highest speed). It's also not performing a universal application side-scroll, as it only works in a few programs that could potentially utilize it.

I am primarily a gamer, so the mouse I use has to be very precise, responsive, and comfortable. To me it seems like my hand gets cramped much faster than it did with the 3.0 under extensive use and long gaming sessions. However, it is extremely accurate, and very precise in first-person shooters and Photoshop, the two areas where extreme precision are important in my computer usage. It has a nice weight, and feels very solid. The thumb buttons are were huge design mistake though. They were moved from a neutral thumb-rest position, to the top of this ridge that is above where your thumb rests. The result is a very awkward reach, and it's much more difficult to execute in high-pressure situations like online gaming. Also, the middle button (the scroll-wheel) is very hard to press down properly. If the wheel rolls at all, then it cancels the button-press, and you have to redo it. Also, it seems to lag a bit after you press it down, leaving you waiting for results. Very annoying if you are used to pressing the middle button in an FPS, where your timing is more crucial than on the desktop.

Overall, the Intellimouse 4.0 is a very nice mouse for casual/everyday users. However, if you are a gamer, or graphic artist, or anyone that will be doing any extensive mousing around, will probably want to test the mouse out before you buy it. The hand cramps are my number one complaint after 3 or 4 weeks of usage.

24 of 26 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Oh, what a difference another six months make: what was once a Five-Star rating is now a One-Star rating, September 2, 2005

By 

Virtualmonk (Texas) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Microsoft Intellimouse Explorer with Tilt-Wheel (Personal Computers)

Back on 9/5/05, I wrote a glowing Five-Star review of this mouse after six months of use. Mea culpa. After barely a year's worth of M-F 8-5 usage, it is now headed to the landfill. The switch under the left mouse button started failing a few weeks ago and finally quit altogether this past week. It took awhile to figure out how to disassemble the mouse without breaking anything, but I was able to confirm that, yes, it was indeed the left switch that was the culprit.

As seen with other reviews here and elsewhere, this is an all-too-common complaint. That being the case, I felt obliged to delete my original Five-Star review and replace it with this One-Star review.

Bottom line: this is a one-year-and-done mouse. If you like its ergonomics, the IntelliPoint software's interfacing with Microsoft Office, and you don't mind replacing it annually, buy it. Otherwise, look elsewhere.

12 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars bad mouse, good instant customer service, August 18, 2006

By 

William Sikora - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Microsoft Intellimouse Explorer with Tilt-Wheel (Personal Computers)

also had a problem with left clicker thanks to the reviewer here i called microsoft and they shipped a replacement Comfort Optical Mouse 3000 with no charge or having to return the mouse.

thats customer service!

Microsoft's hardware support number (800-360-7561)

dial 0 when the menu starts