Daryn
I have purchased several of these mice over the last 5 years and continue to do so. It is a good mouse with long battery life and an off switch, but looses points because they fail after 9 months of daily use. Size: 4 Stars The mouse is a bit longer than most, but smaller than many of the ergonomic mice. It fits my larger hands comfortably which many smaller mice dont. My wife has smaller hands and finds it comfortable to use. I have several young children and they have no problems with it either. the mouse is pleasantly symmetrical, and while nice to look at and fit in smaller pockets, my hand is not symmetrical. I have a thumb on one side and a pinky on the other. I would say like most people, but I havent met most people. this leaves your ring finger kind of hanging and your pinky to rest on whatever surface you are using the mouse on. If you were to pull your pinky into the thumb groove, it would cramp. You may think this symmetry makes it good for lefties, and while my wrong handed sister says it is the most comfortable right handed mouse she has ever used, the extra forward and back thumb buttons are on the other side, making them awkward to operate for a leftie who has to use her ring finger. Something she assures me she could get used to, but in order to shed have to get her own dang mouse and stop stealing mine. Connection and Laser: 5 Stars The mouse connects to a nano receiver that connects to any USB port. It is NOT Bluetooth (this is good, it doesnt have paring issues like Bluetooth). The connection is good and the movement smooth. Other wireless mice suffer from an issue where they go into standby after a few seconds and dont catch the initial movement when you start using the mouse again. Not this one. This mouse will track on any surface I have used it on and moves smoothly. I have used as many as 5 of them in the same room at the same time with no ill effects or cross talk. I have read that there is a way to connect a mouse to a different nano receiver, but I have not tried or messed with this and have also heard that posting a legal notice on your Facebook wall will protect your copyright and privacy rights, so who knows just dont lose the tiny receiver, there is a storage space for it in the battery compartment. Also, dont store it in the battery compartment and forget you put it there and tear your house apart looking for it. Finally, the optic is invisible so no red light or blinding death laser shoots out the bottom. Durability: 3 Stars I am not easy on my mice. Neither are my children. I have a work laptop and a personal laptop. Both have their own mouse (different colors thank you Logitech). My work one gets used 50 hours a week or so but only on a desk and rarely gets dropped. My work mouse tends to last 9 months before buttons start double clicking. My personal mouse gets used less, but still several hours a week and it is used on every surface in the house, couch, bed, dog, desk, wood grain table, pant leg, childs diapered bottom, carpet, wall, glass stove top (while stove top is off), tile wall, leg without pants, wifes back, bottom of shoe (ineffective, yes), and on rare occasion, a mouse pad. My personal mouse is dropped, thrown, used as a shield defending from a wife slap, drooled on, and occasionally kicked. When not in use it sits in a bag that gets thrown around with regularity. This one usually lasts 7-8 months before buttons stop clicking (or double clicking) or the laser stops reading as many surfaces. My media center has a mouse that is used very sparingly, a few minutes each day starting or ending a show. When a previous mouse did 7 months with me and the laser started getting picky with surfaces, we moved it to the low use media center mouse. This mouse has lasted in this position for more than a year without getting any worse. So I firmly believe that this is an over use/abuse issue. It is worth noting that I have owned and used other mice from Microsoft and HP and Dell, and none of them lasted so long. Battery Life: 5 Stars The mouse takes 2 AA batteries (and puts them facing the same direction ick) and they last a while. the cavity is large enough to accommodate slightly larger rechargeable batteries of you use them. My 2 mice are turned off when not in use but experience heavy use and the included Duracell batteries last generally longer than the mice. My wifes mouse sits on all the time and gets moderate to heavy use and her batteries last more than 6 months. There is a nice little strip of plastic built in that when you pull on it, the batteries pop up, this is a nice extra feature for changing batteries so you dont have to jam a butter knife in there to get them out, then slip and rake your finger with the jagged edge and pathetically explain to your wife how you managed to cut yourself with a butter knife and watch as she hides the scissors. Weird light on top: 3 Stars There is a weird light on top. It turns on when you turn the mouse on, reassuring you that the mouse is, in fact, on. This saves you from the gut wrenching anxiety of wondering if the batteries are dead every time you turn it on, only the batteries last forever... The light turns off after a couple of seconds to not waste battery power. Its nice, but not necessary. Also, I think I remember it flashing angry red at me after it got thrown across the room one time, so this may be the mouses primary method of communication and who am I to silence it. Noise: 5 Stars The mouse is whisper quiet. I am usually unable to tell if it is on or not by sound alone. There is a light and satisfying click sound when clicking either button or turning the switch on and off. Usually whatever I am using for a surface for the mouse makes far more noise than the mouse itself. Off Switch: 5 Stars It works. there is a small ridge in the middle offering enough friction to easily turn the switch on or off and there is a colored pad under the switch so you can see a bit of red when off and green when on. This is useful because the words for on and off are etched on and can only be seen if you catch the light just right.