Microsoft IntelliMouse Optical

Company: Microsoft
Product: IntelliMouse Optical
Street Price: ~$40
Date Reviewed: January 4, 2001
Reviewed By: Jason Rabel

How Does It Compare (Cont.):

As you can see from the picture, the new IntelliMouse Optical is just a hair longer than my older IntelliMouse (non-optical), and this wheel has grooves in it whereas the old one was smooth. However the older mouse's wheel was more firm when you rolled it up or down, this new one rolls almost too easy for my liking, it's very sensitive, however it's not flimsy and won't accident scroll on it's own (unlike some cheap mice I've encountered). The overall shape is totally different, the new IntelliMouse Optical is meant to be ambidextrous and hence is symmetrical, the older IntelliMouse is kind of curved to the left at the bottom, for optimal comfort for a right handed user. They weigh about the same, however they move totally different across the mouse pad (Actually I use a ratpad which is by far the best mouse pad money can buy!). My older mouse had more friction with the surface and gave a better feel when moving about, whereas the newer Optical mouse feels like it is hovering on the pad, there is almost no friction which is good, but at the same time bad. I have shaky hands, and the extra friction from the old mouse helped steady my motions, but the new mouse has such little resistance that this is noticeable when I'm trying to work or play games and need just to move in small amounts. Speaking of games, this mouse is excellent in them! The resolution is much better than my older mouse, and it doesn't have the erratic behaviors like my old mouse did when it started to get dirty. The one thing I did notice was that I needed to move the mouse up higher from the surface when I  reposition it on the mouse pad or the mouse would track the motion of me moving it. Also sometimes I'm not paying attention and I start to run off the mouse pad since there is no physical feedback like I got from my old mouse. These things just take some getting used to the new mouse and will disappear with time. There are two extra buttons on this mouse, one on the left side and one on the right side. These also will take some getting used to as sometimes I accidentally click them just from the way I am used to holding my mouse.

All the buttons can be user defined, and like I said before this mouse is ambidextrous unlike my older IntelliMouse which is shaped for right handed people and the IntelliMouse Explorer which has the buttons on the left side (meaning it's a mouse to be used with right handed people only).

Conclusion:

Overall I think this is an excellent mouse. It is very responsive, shaped well and comfortable to use, has an optical eye so you don't have to clean it like a traditional mouse, and it was reasonably priced. Oh, and one more cool thing, it's got a 3rd brake light, no actually it's just a little glowing light you can see on the back.

Rating: 9/10

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