A couple years back Logitech released the MX700 mouse which proved to be one of the best on the market. It gave the performance of a corded mouse without the cord. Now we are looking at the MX1000 Laser cordless mouse. Logitech states that the Optical mouse is now obsolete and they also claim that the laser based mouse offers a 20x surface tracking improvement over the LED based optical mice.
First Impression:
I have been a Logitech mouse fan for years. I have owned several versions of Logitech mice over the years and have yet to want anything more. As the technology moves forward so does my mouse. I will say that over the last few purchases the only complaints I can state about any of the Logitech mice I have owned are the life of the batteries for the mice. The early versions of their mice used AAA batteries and had a decent life span on charges. Then can the first AA setup and the life span seem to cut in half. The mice worked great for what I did, and I simply had a few extra batteries always charged up. Then comes along the MX700, I hoped that the charging life of the batteries had improved greatly but found out that it had not improved enough for my liking. I have gamed with every cordless mouse that I have owned (5 total over the last 4 years). I never noticed any lag issues with any of the mice until the batteries started to get low on power, with a quick change things went back to normal.
When the MX900 came out I decided to hold off on the purchase and see what the reviews on it had to say. From everything I read, there was not much of a gain on my side of it to upgrade since the MX700's I had worked perfectly. Now that the MX1000 came along I again held off a little while to see what everyone said about it. I did not really think that they could improve on the MX700 enough to justify the purchase. After reading several good reviews on the MX1000 I decided to go ahead and pick up one for myself. Just before doing so my brother had also bought one. The look is similar to the MX700 and the feel is slightly different. I figured it was time to see the difference.
Packaging
Contents
The contents consist of the MX1000 mouse, the rapid-charge base station, software CDs, installation guide, USB to PS/2 adapter, and the AC power adapter. The new thing with the MX1000 is the fact that its a Laser Optical mouse. Its stated that the Laser mouse is suppose to be 20 times more sensitive to the mousing surface.
Logitech’s revolutionary laser-powered mice unite the precision of laser illumination with the proven technology of sensor-based motion tracking in a way never done before. To detect movement, all sensor-based mice, regardless of light source, use sensors to “read” the light beam as it is reflected back into the mouse from the tracking surface.
An optical mouse works by reading a reflected light beam on the surface.
Each second, Agilent’s optical sensor inside Logitech’s mouse takes more than 6000 snapshot ’fingerprints,’ converts the information to digital format and uses the changes in ‘fingerprints’ to calculate the mouse’s precise location, speed and direction of movement. Armed with that knowledge, Logitech’s driver software then communicates with the computer’s operating system, which moves the cursor image on the screen.
Interpreting differences in image fingerprints can be translated to movement of the mouse.
Laser illumination reveals structure that an LED simply cannot express. The coherent nature of laser light creates patterns of high contrast when its light is reflected from a surface. The pattern appearing on the sensor reveals details on any surface, even glossy surfaces that would look totally uniform when exposed to the LED incoherent illumination. The precision image sensors then have no difficulties in tracking on these patterns and calculating position and movement. This is how laser enables tracking on virtually any surface*.
Laser uncovers surface features not detected by LED.
*Laser still may not track on mirrored or clear surfaces, such as windowpane glass.
Features:
Works with PC / Mac Cordless USB PS/2 Application Switch Internet Forward/Back Cruise Control™ buttons Tilt Wheel Plus Zoom Right-Handed Comfort Grip Rechargeable Laser Technology
Specificatons:
IBM or compatible PC
Windows 98, 2000, ME, XP USB or PS/2 port CD-ROM drive
Macintosh PC
Mac OSx+ USB port CD-ROM drive
Logitech MX700
Logitech MX1000
Compared to the MX700 the MX1000 has a more defined look. Its slightly shorter and fatter, the lines of the MX1000 are more pronounced. The MX700 does fit the hand better than most of its predecessors, but the MX1000 definitely is improved in that area. Upon placing your hand on the MX1000 it "fits like a glove". It will take you no time at all to adjust to the feel of the mouse.
Buttons are not lacking with this mouse. The MX1000 has several extra features that are configurable via the "Set Point" software. From left to right, top to bottom, The first is the scroll wheel area. Standard wheel for scrolling vertical, the buttons above and bellow are classified as the "Cruise Control" which lets you easily scroll threw documents. The wheel can be titled left and right to achieve horizontal scrolling (to achieve the functionality of the mouse you need to install the "Set Point" software). The second picture shows the thumb buttons. The front and back work as forward and back navigation for web browsers and folders. The center button lets you switch threw applications. These are the standard functions with the mouse. After installing the "Set Point" software you can fully configure the buttons to your liking. The third picture shows the on/off switch and reset button. Its nice to see an on/off switch on the mouse to save on your batteries life.
The bottom two pics show the mouse fully discharged and fully charged. When sitting in the base on charge, the lights will be illuminated one at a time in a sequence until the mouse is fully charged. Once fully charged you can remove it from the base. One of my biggest complaints is the mouse going dead and me not having any clue it was coming. This will not be a problem with the MX1000, it will show you how much charge it has.
