As has been well covered on this site, I've been in search of the ultimate mouse for many a year. In fact, it's gotten so bad at times that it feels rather like someone should be documenting my journey as some sort of an epic warning to those who follow in my footstep. Regrettably Homer is dead so I'll have to do it myself sometime. I can't even remember how many mice I've gone through in the last few years, but lets just say that it's safe to say it's over 10. I've tried pretty much everything. The Massive Microsoft Rat (Intelimouse), the Intelimouse Optical, the Logitech Gaming Mouse (WTF was up with that thing anyhows?), OEM mice, the short-lived Boomslang (still have the T-shirt, it was of better quality than the mouse.), the Mouseman iFeel, and most recently the Logitech Wireless Optical. Of them all, I liked the WO the best. It was sturdy, cool looking, didn't have any silly extraneous buttons and felt great. It was also nowhere as smooth as a corded mouse, and occasionally (like every optical I've used so far) prone to loosing it's tracking during heated gaming sessions. Needless to say, this always occurred at the worse possible moment, generally resulting in death and dismemberment for myself. Rune sent me a news link a month or so ago about the new Logitech MX mouse series that was soon to be released. Logitech was promising unprecedented smoothness and gamability with this thing. I had to have one. The supplier shipped me one about a week ago and I have to admit, it looks like the Logitech engineers have scored again with this badboy. I owe them a donut, and perhaps a nice hot oil massage of some sort.

I was going to get my hands on the entire line and review them all, but frankly.... I've used a cordless mouse, I can't go back to a corded. Those of you with cordless' know what I'm talking about. So, the MX700 it is!

Installation

Installing the MX700 couldn't have been any simpler. (But then again, mice ARE usually pretty simple to install.) Stick the batteries into the mouse. Plug the charger into the wall, leave the mouse on it for an hour or so until it was charged, hit the "connect" buttons on the base and the mouse itself, and plug it in. Windows XP picked it right up. Anything from Win98 on should just see it with no problems, but the special buttons won't work (other than "back") until you load the included Mouseware software package. The software went in without any glitches, and basically was just a "next...next...next..." job. After a system reset you'll be asked to set your mouse up. I just left all the buttons at default. Total install time was about two minutes from start to finish.

 
Zee buttons und zee mouse

As you can see from the below picture, the MX700 is a fairly standard oval shape. I love the dark blue and brushed silver color scheme. (Goes well with my Logitech keyboard and my case.) It's slightly larger than most mice, and this might be a problem for people with smaller hands. (Skeezix was complaining about the size of his, but seems to be getting used to it gradually.) The buttons are easy to press, even if your fingers don't reach the end of the mouse. With the finger grooves and "rubbery" feeling sides it's very comfortable for long term use, and easy to hold on to during those frantic fragging sessions. It's also slightly heavier than a conventional corded mouse due to the batteries. Frankly I like the heavier feel, but some people don't.

The mouse features two standard buttons, a scroll wheel on the top, along with 3 extra buttons for scrolling/task switching. It's also equipped with a "back" and "forward" thumb buttons for web surfing. The scroll wheel also acts as a third button, which I've never understood. I can't press the damned things without scrolling a line or two, and so never use the third button function. The two buttons to either side of the scroll wheel are something I've never seen on a mouse before, a "cruise control". Hold in the top cruise button, scroll up without using the scroll wheel, hit the button, scroll down. I have no idea why these buttons are here, I find it much more comfortable and easier to just use the wheel. I have to sort of arch my finger to get at the cruise buttons, and so they remain unused. The rearward top button is an interesting one, as it basically does an "Alt-Tab" and allows you to pick from active programs running with a simple click. Naturally it's far enough back that you need to move your hand to get at it, thereby rendering it virtually useless, or at least annoying to get at. Just tapping Alt-Tab (when your hand is already over there anyhow) is much easier. I've always suspected that the people designing mice aren't humans at all, and I think these buttons have proved my hypothesis. Left handed people appear to be screwed with this one, as I can't find any mention on the Logitech site of a left handed version, and with all the nice grooves to make your hand fit comfortably, it's about as far from ambidex as it's possible to get. All of the buttons are remapable to different functions in the included software.

The default buttons are easily rempable in software.

"Fast" RF, Gaming and precision

The MX700 addresses some of the most annoying basic problems with optical and cordless mice. One of the largest complaints about cordless mice is their lack of smoothness. Since USB or PS/2 (if you overclock your PS/2 port) mice transmit their signal up to 200 times a second, they're noticeably smoother than conventional cordless mice, which transmit at something like 60 times per second. Needless to say, when you're in a game your mouse isn't even keeping up with your framerate (assuming you have a decent machine of course. :) This results in a slight jumpiness, and some lack of precision. Even in Windows and apps it's just not as smooth. I especially notice the difference when I'm working in Photoshop or other high precision applications. The MX700 with it's high precision optical sensor and Fast RF technology live up to their promise with smooth, precise operation. It's much easier to make smaller movements, which is a relief when you make part of your living doing web design and graphics. There's nothing more annoying or frustrating than having to redo some little edit a dozen times because your stupid mouse just won't quite grab that edge. Argh!

One of the other huge flaws in optical mice is the fact that they have an extremely annoying habit of losing their tracking from time to time. This generally only happens in games when you are moving the mouse too rapidly for the optical sensor to keep up with you. It's actually pretty funny to see from the other side. You can always tell when someone's mouse loses it's tracking, as their character in the game starts spinning in place like a top. Needless to say once your opponent finishes laughing, he generally kills you and moves on, leaving you cursing your optical mouse and the fate that just befell you. The OW was pretty good for this, it only happened occasionally during the most frantic action. In the week that I've been using the MX700 it's never occurred, and I've been trying my damnedest to get it to happen. No matter how frantically I wave the mouse around (and yes, I look like an idiot in game no doubt.) I just can't get the thing to screw up or lose it's tracking at all. Very nice.
 

Battery Use

Rechargeable batteries just don't last as long as conventionals. It sucks but thems the breaks. The OW used to have to have a battery change every three weeks to a month. They also used to go dead without any warning. I always used to carry around a spare pair of batteries in my computer case for such an emergency. No such worries with the MX700, it's rechargeable! Just make sure the base station is plugged in (only needed for charging, not normal operation.) and drop the mouse in. The squeeker has a multicolor LED on the back of it. It blinks green when charging, goes solid and then dark when charged. If you're using it and it starts blinking red, better get 'er into the charger soon. We found that under standard usage the mouse lasted roughly 12 hours before it died. Not bad. Whenever I get up from my desk for more than a few minutes I just throw it into the charger and top it up.

The mouse with it's very cool charger. Quite the looker eh?

Bad Things

- Extra button placement requires third joint in middle finger.
- Mouseware software seems to cause problems for some people, but the mouse does work fine without it.
- It's pretty expensive for a mouse.
- Left handers are doomed to an existence without one, but they should be used to being slighted by now.

Conclusions

Logitech has developed an excellent product that I couldn't really find any major reasons to complain about. Nice work guys and gals! The only real complaint I had was the extra button placement, but as I'm never going to use them, it doesn't really matter. I hereby declare the MX700 to be the UberMouse, with good looks, great ergonomics and unparalleled performance. The price is a little steep but that will come down soon I'm sure. And guess what? It's worth it.

* Editors Note (May 9/03) - I've killed two of the chargers on these mice. One by pouring OJ into it accidentally, and the other by hitting the rear of the computer with a door while transporting the machine. (mouse plugged in.) Logitech will sell you a new charger power adapter, but they DO NOT SUPPLY THE CRADLE as a spare part. I can't believe it. Grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr.