Microsoft Optical Mouse by S+arck - Orange

by Microsoft

Product Details

• Shipping Weight: 14.4 ounces
• Shipping: Currently, item can be shipped only within the U.S.
• ASIN: B0002CPBVY
• Item model number: BI2-00011
• Average Customer Review: 3.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
• Discontinued by manufacturer: Yes
• Date first available at Amazon.com: June 1, 2004

Product Description

From the Manufacturer

Microsoft's optical mouse by Starck is the first museum-quality mouse. Give your hand a reason to celebrate with this stylish optical mouse, created by world-famous designer Philippe Starck. Starck designed this mouse with a unique, curving hemisphere, which makes it feel natural and puts left and right clicking in the palm of your hand.

The scroll wheel lets you navigate documents and Web pages effortlessly without using the onscreen scroll bar, saving time and effort. The mouse's ambidextrous design makes working more comfortable, whether you mouse with your left or right hand.

The mouse revolutionized desktop computing, ushering in a new era of navigational freedom. But how many times has erratic cursor action forced you to pry out and painstakingly clean the mouse ball? Microsoft Optical Technology eliminates that hassle with the next evolution in desktop productivity. Optical technology offers unprecedented speed, accuracy, flexibility, and durability for your mouse--without ever having to worry about moving parts.

Optical technology refers to the use of an optical sensor to track mouse movement, rather than the traditional use of mechanical parts--rollers, pins, and mouse ball. The tiny optical sensor inside the mouse rapidly records and compares images of the desktop, and translates those differences into on-screen cursor movement. As a result, optical mouse products work on most surfaces and offer you better durability, increased speed and accuracy, and consistent performance.

The recessed lens is enclosed and never touches your desk, so you hardly ever have to clean it. A mouse with an optical sensor lasts longer than a conventional mouse, because it has no moving parts to wear down over time.

The optical sensor uses digital technology to track pointing device movement, so you'll experience greater accuracy at any speed. With no mouse ball or moving parts to keep clean, the optical sensor stays precise, and the mouse and corresponding cursor move smoothly. The optical sensor works on nearly any surface, so you no longer need a mouse pad. You can use it on your desk, the kitchen counter, or even your pant leg.

(The optical sensor performs best on surfaces with detail to track. It will not function on surfaces without visible detail, such as glass, or surfaces on which it has a reflection, such as mirrors or glossy surfaces. The optical sensor may also have difficulty tracking on highly repetitive patterns (such as printed magazine or newspaper photographs, which are often composed of many dots per inch.)

Product Description

The Microsoft Optical Mouse By Starck is the world's first museum-quality mouse. It's the first collaboration between Microsoft and Philippe Starck, the renowned industrial designer. This is anyting but the typical optical mouse, offering stylish performance, greater comfort and increased speed and accuracy.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

15 of 19 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Better-looking but same old junk inside, October 28, 2004

By 

Kram Niawt (Durham, NC, USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Microsoft Optical Mouse by S+arck - Orange (Personal Computers)

I'm using this on a G4 iMac. There is no driver included, none needed. Mac OS X and Windows computers recognize the right button and middle button/scroll wheel natively. That means that it doesn't have any whiz-bang special features like other more expensive third-part mice have, but it's a lot less fuss for the user too. Just plug it in and off you go.

I like the form of this mouse, not just the simple but elegant move of lighting up the center color strip and scroll wheel, but also the large clickable area on either side. The mouse still has "grabby" areas on either side of these buttons on either side of the mouse where you can hold it when you pick it up and relocate it without clicking the buttons. If you've used an Apple Pro mouse, it's a lot like that in terms of its clicking area, just with 3 buttons (including scroll wheel) instead of one button.

The Apple mouse is made from better, more durable and heavier materials though. It feels much more substantial in your hand than this mouse too. This mouse feels like any other cheap mouse you usually get with your computer in terms of its weight and materials. More importantly, the innards, aside from using a laser instead of a ball, are just as cheap. The buttons tend to stick when you try clicking. That can lead to a lot of frustration when using it. I often either end up highlighting text, popping up a menu or accidentally double-clicking when I try to get the buttons unstuck. Also, the springs tend to squeak now and then which doesn't interfere with functionality, but is annoying. Louder machines will probably hide this fault though. There's no ability to alter the clicking resistance. That is, the buttons are rather loose and click very easily under my hand. Finally, the laser is slow to recognize when you've pulled off a surface, which means that you'll sometimes throw the cursor across the screen when you're trying to lift the mouse up and placing it down again.

All in all, I wish the design of this thing extended into what's under the chassis. It's a surface job, which I suppose I should have expected for $30, but you can get a far better experience using a $40 mouse, even if it's ugly. Kensington in particular comes to mind, and their stuff, while more conventional, is often fairly nice to look at too.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Not bad, March 16, 2005

By 

Dale Johnson "dalewj" (woburn, ma United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Microsoft Optical Mouse by S+arck - Orange (Personal Computers)

much nicer then ever using a mousepad again, but I di on occasion have an out of control mouse. it remains out of control until i pick it off the table and stop its movement. I can handle this on the desktop, but under game use it can be a pain.

3 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Good lookin'....but horrid quality......!!!, August 23, 2005

By 

Craz* - See all my reviews

This review is from: Microsoft Optical Mouse by S+arck - Orange (Personal Computers)

This mouse looks real cool, and would compliment about any pc workplace...and I was impressed at first...but that was short lived. This mouse only has the "look". 1.) The surface paint started rubbing off after a while, and the grey surface area beneath could be seen. 2.) The cursor is erratic. This is probably the mouse's worst defect... when gaming, the cursor goes all over the screen and is extremely annoying!!!!!
3.) And yes, the mouse's clicking surface is very, very sensitive. I thought Microsoft is capable of making good mice.

But what more could I have expected for 10 bucks???