Worth every penny!
I haven't had this mouse to long so I can't necessarily comment on how long the shelf life on this mouse is. But I've had it long enough to use it thoroughly and I must say that I'm very satisfied with it. As soon as I got it I plugged it in to my computer and was using it within mere milliseconds. The side scrolling wheel and the "double click button" are both very...
UPDATED: Great mouse, but has serious software and support problems
>> See bottom for update <<
I bought this mouse for using with my laptop in bed, and the 9" hard plastic pad works out very well on top of the bedding. The mouse is great, and I actually like that it's active only when on the pad (it dies when you move it more than about an inch away). If I want to disable the mouse completely, while typing, for...
I haven't had this mouse to long so I can't necessarily comment on how long the shelf life on this mouse is. But I've had it long enough to use it thoroughly and I must say that I'm very satisfied with it. As soon as I got it I plugged it in to my computer and was using it within mere milliseconds. The side scrolling wheel and the "double click button" are both very helpful little creature comforts. As for how well the wireless/no batteries technology works, let me sat that you will not be disappointed. It works like a charm and doesn't come up short on what it promises. You just have to keep it on the charger pad, which isn't as inconvenient as it sounds because it works like a mouse pad. Actually the mouse practically glides right across the charger with almost no friction. It's like it's floating on air. This is an amazing investment. I mean, think about it. Most wireless mice are this price or even more than this one costs. With the money you'll be saving on batteries, you'll easily get all of this money back within a year.
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I had first model of this battery-free mouse, and was happy with it, but it weared out after few years (although still works). After that I had expensive Microsoft Wireless Laser 8000, but didn't like it, so I decided to buy this one.
Now I can tell I like this mouse as much, as I liked first one. The only problem is that software is not fully customizable, so you can't assign arbitrary key sequences to mouse clicks, but otherwise it's ok.
The mouse itself is convenient to me, additional buttons location is not bad, although could be better. Mouse seems to be a bit heavier than first battery-free model, but still acceptable and noticeably below other wireless mouses (with batteries). Main two buttons seems to be not fully thorough, but better than many cheap mice (i.e. cheaper geniuses).
Just remember mani fact about this mouse before buying: this mouse IS wireless, but its pad is usb-wired. This is more convenient, than many of people think, so go ahead and give it a try, because its price is reasonable.
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I bought this mouse and use it with my Linux desktop PC.
The induction power works great, my mousing is unimpeded by cords and the pickup is excellent. I was able to get both scrollwheels mapped in Linux without much issue, but not every Linux keyboard mapping control panel will pick up the horizontal scrollwheel.
I use compiz, and ccsm is able to map the left and right horizontal scroll to whatever functions on I want (switching virtual desktops around a cube, in my case). However, the gnome Keyboard control panel does not allow those buttons to be mapped to anything.
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I bought this mouse for using with my laptop in bed, and the 9" hard plastic pad works out very well on top of the bedding. The mouse is great, and I actually like that it's active only when on the pad (it dies when you move it more than about an inch away). If I want to disable the mouse completely, while typing, for example, all I have to do is movie it off the pad, then put it back on the pad when I'm ready to use it again. But as much as I like the mouse, I have some concerns that cause me to deduct a couple of stars.
First of all, there doesn't seem to be a software driver for this mouse for Windows Vista. The specs says this mouse works with Vista, and it does, but only partly, using the native Windows driver or the Synaptics touchpad driver that came with my laptop. The problem with those drivers is that they don't allow reprogramming all five programmable buttons on this mouse, so I'm stuck with functions I don't want on two of the buttons, and one button that evidently isn't programmed to do anything at all.
Both the mini-CD that came with the mouse and the manufacturer's website (more about that later) install a driver that doesn't recognize this particular model, with the horizontal scroll wheel. It thinks it's a different model with a completely different set of buttons and no horizontal wheel. With that driver I can manage through trial and error to program the buttons the way I want, but the horizontal wheel doesn't work at all. So I've gone back to the Synaptics driver, which does (surprisingly) let the horizontal wheel work, although it doesn't allow its function to be reprogrammed as the mouse documentation claims.
Horizontal scrolling with the wheel is more important to me than reprogramming the buttons, which is why I'm using the Synaptics driver. But there's no excuse for the manufacturer's own driver not working correctly with an OS as old and well-established as Vista was even before this mouse hit the market. The instruction booklet shows screenshots of a driver for this mouse, so it must exist somewhere, but it may be on an older Windows version.
My second major concern is the lack of support from the manufacturer. The manufacturer, by the way, is NOT Cables Unlimited, and neither that name nor the USB2545 part number is anywhere on the mouse or its packaging. I have no idea where Amazon got that.
The manufacturer is called A4Tech, which you can see if you look closely at the photo Amazon uses (which is accurate, by the way, except that the wheels on mine are black like the rest of it, which I like), and their part number for this mouse is NB-75D. Their website [...] displays an impressive variety of similar products and gives the impression that it's a decent company, with a friendly site and lots of downloadable documentation and software. My problem, as I said, is that the Vista driver they provide for this mouse doesn't recognize it, whether I download it or install it from the disc. I have gotten no response at all to the request for help I sent them more than a week ago, although they said they'd respond within 72 hours. That is not encouraging.
I do have one additional concern that may turn out to be unfounded. The very minimal operating instructions that came with the mouse warn against putting credit cards on the pad, since it powers the mouse by generating a magnetic field that can erase the magnetic stripe on a card. They don't mention any possible threat that magnetic field might pose to a laptop hard drive, but I keep my laptop a foot or so away from the mouse pad anyway, just in case.
If A4Tech comes through with a solution to the driver problem, I'll update this review, but having to go through this hassle justifies the reduced rating in any case. That's a shame, because this product deserves better support than they're giving it.
>> Update 7/23/2009 <<
A4Tech tech support finally responded with an alternate driver, and although it works a little better than the first one, it still is not the right driver for this model (it is for a two-wheel mouse, but with both wheels oriented vertically) and still fails to activate all the features on this mouse. I reported the problem and have been met with silence. I've given up. As I said before, it's a shame, because this product deserves better support than they're giving it.
By the way, I suspect (obviously I don't know for sure) that the other, excessively positive reviews of this mouse are plants by employees of the manufacturer or distributor, or other interested parties. They just sound phony and suspiciously similar to each other.
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Got this mouse because I love wireless but hate batteries. This is the most responsive mouse I've ever used AND I never have to put a battery in it. I use the same technology for my toothbrush. Great product. What bewilders me is why isn't everyone else doing it?
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I bought this mouse A few weeks ago and I use it every day. It is very NICE. It is also about the same price as a wireless mouse with batteries.
It never needs to be charged its good to go. I would definitely recomend it.
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