Laptop mouse works well most of the time

With a new laptop purchase comes the inevitable purchase of a wireless mouse. I wanted to go for a bluetooth mouse so I wouldn't need a wireless dongle, but for less than 20 bucks I couldn't pass this deal.

Microsoft's wireless mouse comes with the essentials: a wireless dongle, one battery, and the mouse itself. Unfortunately it does not come with a case which is a nice commodity to have when your on the go. However, the wireless dongle does fit snug underneath the body of the mouse which is convenient and prevents separation of the two.

Overall the mouse seems very compact and surprisingly comfortable. The battery tucks away neatly in the back of the mouse and is unnoticeable. As I said before, the dongle fits in the mouse as well and it locks into place so it can't fall out. As far as the aesthetics go it fits well in either your left or right hand. Although it is preferably right handed because the side button is much more convenient when using your right hand on this mouse. But you can use either hand nonetheless. The rubber grips are very comfortable even for large hands like mine. The buttons work well but can be somewhat unresponsive. There are times when the left and right click buttons will need to be pressed a little harder than they should be. Almost as if they are getting stuck down which is rather annoying but usually this isn't a problem unless your either using it for a long time or if you haven't used it in a long while. It does make rapid clicking, and even sometimes double clicking, somewhat difficult the way the buttons are, which is an annoyance but a minor one nonetheless.

Other than the left and right click buttons it comes with a standard scroll wheel. Unfortunately the scroll wheel is slippery and takes some time getting used to. At first you'll be sliding to the top and bottom of every page because of its feel and sensitivity but overtime this is not an issue. The scroll wheel is also a tilt wheel, meaning it tilts to the left and right. Some may find this useful when scrolling from left to right in excel documents or web pages but with my widescreen I have hardly used it at all and find it pointless. Although it certainly does not get in the way.

Also included in the packaging is Microsoft's software that comes standard with most of their mice. I actually found this to be quite useful and interesting. It gives you the ability to change the side button (located on the left side of the mouse), middle click, and left and right clicks to numerous things. By default the middle click is set on "instant viewer", which allows you to view every window you have open and click on the one you want on top. And the side button is set to magnify by default which allows you to look at anything on your screen zoomed in while still using the mouse to highlight text or click on things. These are actually very interesting and useful features, but I changed my middle click to be the middle click and my side button to be my back button. There is a huge list of things which they can be changed to so it is certainly customizable. All in all I was pleased with the mouses' features and comfortable exterior.

The included software also allows you to check on your battery life in your mouse. It takes 1 AA battery and lasts a very long time. I've had mine since November and have yet to change the battery once. 3-4 months is a long time without a battery change for something that I use a moderate amount a few times week.

The dpi of the mouse is at a comfortable 1000 so you'll have no problem going from one side of the screen to the other. The feet of the mouse also prevent it from skipping on any surface and works well with this mouse. The mouse is durable as well as I've dropped it a few times on hard floors with just a few scratches appearing.

However, there are some drawbacks to this mouse that keep it as an average mouse. I, for one, think the wireless dongle sits out to far and it makes it worth the extra cash to use a bluetooth mouse over a wifi one. Also, the button issues as I mentioned before make the mouse feel cheaper and unresponsive, almost more fragile. Another issue I had was its use in games. Obviously I didn't buy this mouse for gaming purposes but the button issues made it harder to click in situations I needed it in and since the scroll wheel doesn't provide any feedback when you move it it makes it difficult to use during a game. Although my biggest issue was when the mouse seemed to disconnect for no reason at all. I would get wireless problems just a few inches away from the dongle. I don't know if this is interference from other devices but it is certainly an issue for me, one that comes and goes, however. It becomes frustrating to tap the "sync" buttons to get the mouse connected when it is sitting a mere few inches away from the laptop, though. All in all, the mouse works well but the shortcomings with the connectivity and issues with the buttons causing them to feel unresponsive and "stuck" occasionally (not always by any means) prevent it from being better than average, although the software is definetly a bright spot on this mouse.