Related Articles

In Action

The mouse has a pretty attractive design, considering how basic it is. Instead of a light at the bottom like the Microsoft one, it has a light all around when there's any movement. See the image below for what I mean.

There are a few things to note:

• Orientation of the mouse pad does not make a difference thus the mouse pad is not the device in control - the mouse acts the same as any other while it is on the provided mousepad.
• Wireless power is delivered within 2 inches of the mouse pad. However, being an optical mouse, you're pretty much constrained to using the mouse pad provided since the sensor does not pick up the signal until it's touching the pad.
• The light goes bright when you move, but if you let it stand by, it will turn dim. If the mouse leaves the mouse pad, the light will turn off, but it will not require recalibration.
• If you ignore A4Tech's warnings and operate this on a metal table, the mouse will hang and require recalibration. Oops.

Performance

I'll start off with the negatives:

Firstly, this mouse does not have any browsing buttons. Considering this is standard on all but the lowest of the entry-level mice, there was no excuse to leave it out. Until proven otherwise, those buttons do not drain the power beyond the capabilities of the pad itself.

Secondly, the size of the mouse pad is far too small. Especially in games where there is a lot of side to side looking (think every FPS), the narrow pad just isn't up to par. Vertical distance is better, but it could still do with an extra inch or two. Again, the orientation of the mousepad is irrelevant which helps with this issue.

Thirdly, the scroll wheel, while wide and comfortable for the middle finger, is located far too deep. For most people with normal fingers, this means you will have to bunch your middle finger into a knuckle to use it properly. After using it for a few days, this gets annoying very fast.

There are also positives from this experience:

Firstly, whoever manufactured the mouse pad are gods. Not only the provided mouse, but for every other mouse used in this test, the friction from moving around the pad is far less than any (cheap) mouse pad I have used. It's like the mouse is on skates, it's that smooth. While this may take some time for users to adjust, the smoothness is highly appreciated.

Secondly, the accuracy of this rivals that of any other wireless mouse around. Compared to the MX 700, the difference in accuracy is negligible, but the lower weight allowed slightly faster starting and stopping, which translates to marginally better performance. This is especially important in games where quick movements are the norm, like Unreal Tournament.

Thirdly, although I complained about the scroll wheel earlier, it is one of the better ones I've used - smooth, wide, but with enough feedback unlike Microsoft's newest ones that are 100% smooth and feel like they're broken.

Lastly, the fact that this wireless mouse never needs recharging is a big plus in my opinion. While some may argue that rechargeable batteries make it all good, the problem is when I forget to charge and I run out of battery at a critical moment. It's nice to not have to think about batteries for once.