Logitech MX Revolution Cordless Laser Mouse (Black)

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Product Details

• Product Dimensions: 1.2 x 3.5 x 3.5 inches ; 4.4 pounds
• Shipping Weight: 2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Shipping: This item is also available for shipping to select countries outside the U.S.
• ASIN: B000HCT12O
• Item model number: 931689-0403
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (560 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #157 in Electronics (See Bestsellers in Electronics)

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  #4 in	Electronics > Computers & Accessories > Mice & Keyboards > Mice > Laser Mice
  #5 in	Electronics > Computers & Accessories > Mice & Keyboards > Mice > Wireless Mice

• Date first available at Amazon.com: August 23, 2006

Product Description

Amazon.com Review
Mice have come a long way since the early days of the Macintosh, with its innovative roller-balled brick. Fast forward 22 years and meet the Logitech MX Revolution. With innovative scrolling technology, rechargeable batteries, and improvements that make it easier to do common tasks, the MX Revolution is definitely a big step in the right direction. Whether or not this mouse is a revolution is up for debate, as it doesn't completely change the way we interact with our computers like the Macintosh mouse did, but it's clearly an important step in the evolution of one mankind's most indispensable tools.

Feels good in the hand, and the intelligent scroll wheel is a revelation.

Just remember to turn it off. This baby is a power gulper, not a sipper.

The mouse feels great in small and large hands

Ergonomics and Design
The first thing you'll notice about the MX Revolution is the distinct shape, which is very reminiscent of a cresting wave. Fortunately, the design does more than look good. The mouse feels great in small and large hands, and the curved channel--which accommodates the thumb nicely--makes it easy to use the document "Quick Flip" dial on the side of the mouse. Above the Quick Flip control you'll find a pair of thin, customizable buttons that by default operate as forward and back controls for Web pages.

The top of the mouse houses Logitech's tour de force, the MicroGear Precision Scroll Wheel, which dynamically controls the speed and resistance of your scrolling tasks. Side scrolling and a scroll wheel-based button press are also supported. Just behind the scroll wheel sits the quick search button, which pops you into the search engine of your choice.

The "Quick-Flip" thumb wheel makes it easy to quickly switch between active windows.

All in all, it's a surprisingly simple layout for a device that offers a great deal of functionality. Lefties beware, though. You'll find it awkward to use the quick flip dial that's located in the channel on the left side of the mouse. Although Logitech has designed a small ridge on the right side of the mouse that lefties may find supportive this is obviously a mouse built for righties first.

The MicroGear Scroll Wheel
Logitech says that the MicroGear Scroll Wheel "represents the single largest engineering effort ever undertaken by our engineering team," and their hard work shows; the scroll wheel is not only well designed with a smooth, progressive feel, but it is also surprisingly intelligent. Need to quickly scroll through large Web pages and documents? Place the scroll wheel in "freewheel" mode and give the wheel a quick, frictionless spin. The action feels much like a well-oiled roller-ball and offers blazing speed. Need slow scrolling for browsing photo libraries or spreadsheets? Switch to ratchet mode for precise movement. The included SetPoint software can automatically switch modes--a feature called SmartShift--or you can switch modes manually with a light press on the scroll wheel that shifts "gears." A note for Mac users: The Mac version of the MX Revolution Software does not appear to support SmartShift.

The action feels much like a well-oiled roller-ball and offers blazing speed

Quick Flip and Fingertip Search
Two other nifty functions make the MX Revolution a great tool for productivity freaks and power users. The included software installs an application switcher that is linked to the mouse's thumb wheel, an action called "Quick-Flipping." Clicking the thumb wheel brings up a window listing all currently active application windows. Rotating the wheel and then pressing it again when you've reached your selection brings up the window of your choice. The Fingertip Search, which relies on a small button just behind the scroll wheel, allows you to input any copied text into the search engine of your choice. For OS X users, the action brings up a Spotlight search window.

Connection and Power
Connecting the MX Revolution couldn't be easier. The included wireless USB dongle was immediately recognized by Windows and Mac machines, and after switching on the power switch on the base of the mouse, we were mousing almost instantaneously. Wireless mice are often a pain when it comes to battery life and replacement. The Revolution MX solves one of these problems by integrating a rechargeable battery. The included charging stand is simple and stylish, although it requires wall power--no USB charging. You'll be using the stand a lot, as we couldn't squeeze much more than a day's work out of the mouse before the low battery indicator appeared. The mouse does not appear to have a sleep mode when it's not active (or when folks inevitably forget to turn it off), a notable omission from a device that is otherwise a home run--as long as you're a right hander.

Pros

• Great ergonomics
• MicroGear scroll wheel and fast application switching
• Nifty charging stand

Cons

• Mac support not on par with Windows
• Poor battery life
• Don't bother if you're a lefty

What's in the Box
Logitech MX Revolution Cordless Laser Mouse, recharging station, AC power cord, USB micro-receiver, Logitech SetPoint software CD, user's guide, and three-year limited warranty.

Product Description
The Logitech MX Revolution scrolls through long documents at lightning quick speeds with the nearly frictionless alloy scroll wheel. Shift to precise click-to-click scrolling to navigate lists, slides and image collections. A high-resolution sensor inside this mouse makes it the most sensitive, highest performance mouse on the market. The precision laser tracking works on almost any surface. The Logitech MX Revolution uses advanced technology to detect your current application and automatically apply the scrolling mode that best fits the task at hand. Two conveniently located side buttons let you easily move forward and back through pages on the Internet. The mouse also moves seamlessly between documents. It's never been easier to cut and paste between applications, compare documents or check email. Highlight a word or phrase and click the Search button to display results from a search engine immediately. Have full-speed USB wireless technology with a simple plug and play interface. System requirements - Windows 95, 98, 2000, Me, NT 4.0, XP, Mac OS 8.6 or later, available USB port, CD-ROM drive (for MouseWare software installation) Package Includes - Logitech MX Revolution Cordless Laser Mouse / Recharging station / AC power cord / USB micro-receiver Logitech SetPoint software CD / User's guide / Manufacturer's 3-year limited warranty

See all Product Description

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

192 of 208 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Full of Great Ideas. When Stuff is Cool, I get excited. , August 24, 2006

By	Bob Feeser "MillCrafters.com" (Springfield, PA USA) - See all my reviews (TOP 500 REVIEWER)

Installation is a breeze. Plug in the charger. Turn on the mini switch on the back of the mouse. Pop the USB receiver into a USB port. (It is so tiny; it is the size of 2 USB plugs altogether.) then use the auto install on the CD. Then shut down, remove your old mouse, and reboot. Done. By the way, the lithium battery had a sufficient charge right out of the box. You're up and running in a couple of minutes.

You don't need a mouse pad. Right away I put it to the test. You know the frustration you feel when a mouse doesn't work, restricting you to the mouse pad. Not this one. I tried it on a gloss lacquer finish maple desktop table, it worked great. Then I said, "Aha, I will put it on the perfectly clear, see through plastic, it came in", and it read perfectly again. You could do microsurgery with this thing, using it on clear plastic, your pants, your legs, or whatever. No movement is too fine, no matter what surface you use it on.

The scroll wheel has a special feature, it tilts right and left. That is a whole new set of choices. You can custom set the features yourself in the Set Point software. You can set up this whole mouse to your specifications, and it is an intuitive menu for doing so. For scrolling at hyper speed, I set "Cruise down" and "Cruise up" at 40%. With a gentle tilt, you are rapidly moving up and down the page, able to stop anywhere. At 100% the page is flying by you. I love hyper speed at 40%. The bottom line is their is no having to scroll the wheel like crazy to get down to the bottom of a long page. It even has an autosensing feature that automatically adjusts the speed to the size of the page. In addition to the tilt is the standard scroll wheel function, but now with 2 speeds, normal and extra fine, by simply pressing down on the wheel, to toggle between the two.

You have presentation flexibility because the mini USB receiver is good up to 12 feet away, even though it had to go through my couch to get to me.

This thing rocks. It's got a topside mini search button that you set up with your favorite search engine. All you do is highlight a word, or phrase, hit the search button and you're there. (HUGE time savings.) Great for learning software; you've got the book, you've got the help file, but you need more. Highlight the topic, one button, and instantly their is a page full of help called Google. (for example)

The document scroll feature is cool enough to deserve its own scroll wheel on the side, which it has. If you're working between two or more programs, or documents, a quick push on the scroll wheel, up comes a box with all the running applications/docs right under your mouse cursor. Then, the tiniest movement brings up your program. Way faster than using the task bar.

The design is something right out of Star Trek. Finally, someone built a mouse with tons of features and the buttons don't get in the way. The top of the mouse doesn't have a left and right click panel, instead the complete top flexes on each side of a slit, in the front middle. So it is an arch that is flexing. It has a Frank Lloyd Wright feeling to it. It works perfectly, very sensitive. I guess you can tell, I love this mouse.

I have been using Logitech keyboards and mice on my machines for quite some time. This thing is a technological breakthrough in sensitivity, intelligent design right down to how they wrap the CD, and I have to admit, beauty. You should see it. Whether it is sitting on the charger, or on your desktop, it's beautiful.
I'd like to say it is a toy, but it is a very serious business tool that makes your work more efficient, and exact. This is the way mice should have been made all along. The only thing wrong with it is you won't be happy with your old mouse anymore. I should get one for every machine. Highly recommended.

PS: This thing is intelligently wrapped. You can be sure that in a UPS (Unbelievably Pulverized Shipment) :-) it won't be flopping around in the box. To remove it once it arrives, do as the instructions tell you, and press on the mouse "On the logo" and it pops right out. The mini receiver pops out just as well.

84 of 94 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Nice Mouse for Mac Users Too, August 31, 2006

By	A. Ross (Washington, DC) - See all my reviews (TOP 100 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

Opening the Box
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One of the hardest products to actually get out of its packaging I've come across. The package designers have obviously studied Apple's sleek look, but even getting the install disk unstuck from the underside of the interior box took more effort than it should!

Installing the Software (MAC users pay attention!)
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The install disk is Windows only, so I had to hunt through the documentation for how one obtains the Mac version of Logitech's "SetPoint" software. It's on the upper left of page 3 in 4 point type, so if you don't have eagle-eye vision, you may need to get someone to read the URL to you. Unfortunately, that URL isn't going to help you, 'cause it doesn't work. Instead, you have to go to Logitech's web site, click the "downloads" menu and navigate through a series of screens to get to the right place to download the OSX version. Installation takes a minute or so and does require restart.

Setting up the Mouse
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The wireless receiver plugs into any USB port and is nice and small. It's also black, which means that it's easily lost... While I was installing the software I inadvertently knocked it to the floor with a cord (I know, ironic) and it took me half an hour to find it because it was nicely concealed in some shadows. The mouse does come with its own charger, which is a two-edged sword. One the one hand, it's nice not to have to keep a supply of batteries on hand and always run out at the most inconvenient time. On the other hand, it's another thing to have plugged in somewhere, and if you're desk is as cluttered as mine, that's a hassle (and yes, I've knocked it the floor once already too). In terms of battery life, it seems pretty good. I've used the mouse for the last three days and left it on overnight without any decrease in the number of bars on the indicator.

Using the Mouse
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Once the mouse was all charged up, I just started playing with it as is right out of the box. I immediately noticed some strange performance from the main scrollwheel, which allows you scroll vertically through documents. I had to go into the preferences right away to tweak the settings to speed it up. Actually, this was good, because it showed me just how customizable most of the buttons and settings are. For example, it didn't occur to me that I could set up different behaviors for different programs. This takes a good deal of experimentation and trial and error, but is well worth it for the heavy user. I'm a graphic designer and use Creative Suite (InDesign, Photoshop, Illustrator), as well as Dreamweaver, Fireworks, Word, Excel, Safari, Acrobat, etc. and I think that once the learning curve is over, the mouse will help me do stuff faster.

Some Features
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A lot of people seem hyped on the main scrollwheerl/flyweel. It's nice and smooth and all, but it's not going to change your life. You can also tilt it side to side to scroll horizontally in a wide document, but I find that I often accidentally scroll up and down when I do this as well. Just above it is a small button which, when pressed with a word or phrase highlighted, will initiate a seach based on that term. You can set it to use the Spotlight, Finder, Google, Yahoo, Sherlock, or any search engine you specify. That's pretty cool and is a feature I will definitely use a lot. There are also two buttons just above the thumb groove which I've used mainly to flip back and forward between web pages, but haven't set to do much else yet. The one feature I'm not a fan of is the scroll wheel in the thumb groove. It allows one to toggle between open applications. While this should be great, since I often have at least five applications running at once, I find that it's far to easy to accidentally activate and may end up disabling it (which is something you can do for all the features).

Ergonomics
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This thing feels great. It fits the hand nicely and has a perfectly sized thumb groove and is weighted just right (I find most mouses to be too light). Eveyone in my office who checked it out really liked it too except for one woman with smallish hands who found it a bit cumbersome and the left-handed people who felt, well.... left out. So while it's perfect for an average size person like me, I can imagine that people with especially large or small hands won't be able to use all the features as easily.

Overall?
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Having spent the last several days playing with this new mouse on my G5 workstation at the office and my G4 laptop at home I'd give it an overall thumbs up. It's annoying to have to hunt for the Mac install software, but once over that, it's almost all good. It's definitely a mouse for the heavy user, someone like my mom, who's not the most proficient computer user to start with would find herself constantly accidentally hitting features and getting confused. It's pricey, but if you can get your company to pay for it, why not?

45 of 49 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars I Love My New Mouse!, August 24, 2006

By	Lonnie E. Holder "The Review's the Thing" (Columbus, Indiana, United States) - See all my reviews (TOP 100 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

I have been around computer technology for nearly 30 years. I find it increasingly difficult to get excited regarding new technology. When I got this mouse I was thinking, "Ho hum. Another new mouse. Big deal." I was so wrong. This mouse is FUN.

I had the mouse installed in a few minutes. I had enough charge, so I went on with plugging in the USB receiver and popping in the CD. Installation was a few clicks and a couple of dozen megabytes away. I already had an optical mouse that worked great on a light oak desk top, so that was my standard. This mouse worked just as readily. However, my previous mouse had a nasty cord. The new mouse responds quickly and effectively over the 2.4 GHz transmitter.

The first thing I noticed after starting to use the mouse is that the mouse scrolled really fast with the scroll wheel. Let me make sure you understand what I mean. When I scrolled the wheel, each file I was in blurrrrrrred past. Wow. Cool. If you like a more precise feel you can press on the scroll wheel once to get clicks and slower scroll. Click again and a spin of the wheel blurs you through a document. This same feature works on the internet. I kept scrolling and clicking, a big smile on my face. This mouse is one cool mouse. I think I'm in love with the mouse. But wait, there's more! The scroll wheel automatically adjusts to the size of the document so that you get click scrolling or fast scrolling. This mouse is awesome!

This mouse has many more buttons. There's a "touch to search" button just behind the scroll wheel. Highlight a word or phrase, click the button, and you are off to your favorite search engine to search for the word or phrase. This feature alone is a great time saver and fun to boot.

There is a wheel on the left side of the mouse. That button was initially set up to switch between documents. I reprogrammed the button using the included Logitech Setpoint (TM) software so that the left wheel modified the zoom in a document. I tend to zoom in and out more than I change documents, so the reprogramming was useful to me; people that use drawing or CAD software will love this feature.

Two more buttons on the left edge of the mouse are initially programmed to move forward and backward. On the internet these buttons move you to previous internet pages.

As cool as this mouse is as received, the range of features permissible with re-programming of the mouse is outstanding and makes this mouse even better. With the exception of the left and right click buttons, a user can program each button with a variety of options. While programmable mice have previously existed, with seven controls and a range of choices for five of those controls, the range of programming for this mouse is phenomenal. Even better, a user can program the buttons for operability with all software or for certain programs.

This mouse also has visual indicators that let you know when you have to recharge the batteries. The indicators are a mild green when the mouse charge is acceptable. The indicators go out after a short period to save battery charge. I thought the indicators were subtle reminders of the charge level. When the charge level becomes too low, a red indicator lights; it is time to recharge dude!

This mouse also looks cool. The black and dark gray colors go well with my Dell computer. The mouse is shaped to fit my hand and my thumb, which makes the mouse very comfortable. The mouse slides easily and smoothly on my desk, giving me excellent control over the position of the pointer.

I do have a teeny word of criticism. The box the mouse arrived in was a pain to open. Worse, the plastic packaging for the mouse and the receiver secured the mouse and receiver too well. I got the mouse out somewhat easily by following the instructions to grip the plastic and pushing on the mouse. The mouse came out, but it was awkward and felt weird. The receiver was harder to remove. I tried to get the receiver out per the instructions and ended up bending a thumbnail and being personally annoyed after removing the receiver. Okay, maybe I am unable to follow "simple" instructions. Anyway, a little difficulty in taking the mouse and receiver out of the box was a small price to pay for getting my hands on the best mouse I have ever owned. Perhaps Logitech will take a hint with the packing and make the mouse a bit easier to get out in the future.

Just when I thought technology had become boring, Logitech comes out with the MX Revolution. This mouse has more features than I knew could be packed into a mouse, the best scroll wheel ever, and a shape that looks as though the mouse belongs in a science fiction show. Well, I have a scroll wheel to play with, so I'm out of here. I recommend you get your own. Trust me, you will love this mouse. Enjoy!

This review is based on a mouse provided to me by Amazon.