Logitech MX Revolution Cordless Laser Mouse

I have been using a Logitech MX1000 cordless mouse for just over 2 yrs now. I love it and am not sure I’d ever want to go back to a generic wired mouse. The MX1000 has served me very well, with long working time between charges (typically 2 weeks or so) and smooth action. Now I have the chance to tell you about the MX1000’s successor: the new MX Revolution rechargeable cordless laser mouse.

Looking at the box, you might think this new version is just a slight revamp of the hardware. At least that’s what my first impression was…

Package Contents

Logitech MX Revolution Cordless Laser Mouse
Recharging station
AC power cord
USB micro-receiver
Logitech SetPoint software CD
User’s guide
3-year limited warranty

The immediate differences that I noticed upon opening the box and seeing the contents, were the slight restyling of the mouse shell, a more compact recharge dock, and a USB dongle. The dongle is a nice change from the previous model. Now you don’t need to route yet another USB cable to the dock and to a free port on your computer. The dongle is a 2.4 GHz micro receive with up to a 30 foot range.

The mouse has a slightly more compact and sculpted design. This new version weighs in at 5.3 ounces while the MX1000 is 6.0 ounces.

Like most optical mice, you don’t need to use a mouse pad under the mouse. The MX Revolution has low-resistance polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE) feet which allows it to glide smoothly over most surfaces. The feet are a little larger than the feet on the MX1000, and I do notice a slightly better glide with this new mouse.

On the bottom of the mouse, you’ll also notice a small On/Off switch. You basically flip it on and forget about it.

Here we see the MX Revolution on the left and the MX1000 on the right. Although you can’t see the battery gauge on the MX Revolution, it is located in the same spot as on the MX1000 (you can see it on the MX1000 in the image above) and looks the same when lit up.

The top surface of the mouse has the normal left and right buttons, which have excellent action and tactile feedback. Between these buttons you will find the scroll wheel. This isn’t an ordinary scroll wheel though. It’s called the MicroGear precision scroll wheel. Yeah, that sounds a little self important doesn’t it ;o) But it really is VERY cool. First of all, the wheel is made of a machined alloy and has a rubber tread on the edge. This wheel has two modes: free-spin and click-to-click. In free-spin mode, the wheel will roll almost on its own. This allows you to very quickly speed scroll through a long document, spreadsheet, web page, etc. It feels really smooth to spin. I LOVE this mode!

In the click-to-click mode, the wheel feels more ‘normal’ in that it will ratchet or click as you scroll. You can have the software auto sense which mode to use, or you can manually switch between modes by clicking the wheel. I should also mention that the scroll wheel can be pressed left or right to scroll horizontally in either direction.

I only have one problemw with the scroll wheel. I noticed that I am unable to click the top scroll wheel on a web link in my browser to open that link in a new tab. This is a feature that works with most scroll wheel mice in Firefox, Camino and other browsers. Unfortunately, clicking the scroll wheel on this mouse changes the scroll mode from free-spin to click-to-click. I use this feature all the time, so I’m disappointed that I can’t do so with the MX Revolution.

Directly behind the scroll wheel is a small rectangular one-touch search button. You can configure this button to launch your favorite searching mechanism. Then, when you select a word or phrase and press this button, it will use that app to search for the terms you specified. By default this was set to search using Spotlight on my iMac. I changed it to launch google in my browser.

On the left side you will find another scroll wheel and the thumb forward and back buttons above it. Using the Logitech Control Center application, you can customize how you would like for these buttons to function. By default these buttons are set (on the Mac) to go forwards and backwards through web pages. I don’t really use these buttons because it feels a little awkward to reach up and press them with my thumb.

Click on thumbnails to see full-size images

The scroll wheel on the left side isn’t the same as the one on the top of the mouse. This one is spring loaded and can just be rolled forward and backward. It is similar to a jog dial on a PDA. It will allow you to scroll through open applications or documents. When you click on the wheel, the open application switch bar (on the Mac) will popup and you can then use the wheel to choose an application to bring forward. This only seems to work if the applications have not been minimized to the dock though. This may work differently in Windows.

I found the MX Revolution to be very comfortable to use. Since it is a little bit lighter weight than the MX1000, it even feels smoother and easier to move around. The textured rubber lining inside the thumb rest allows you to get a nice grip on the mouse and the physical size of the mouse is not too big or too small. It’s just right :o)

The MX Revolution is powered by rechargeable lithium-ion batteries. I’ve not had the chance to find out how long the mouse will work on one charge, but it appears to be equivalent to the MX1000.

This is a very nice cordless mouse that is easy to configure and works really well. I noticed no lag with my cursor or lag after my computer had been idle for an extended period. Some might think that $99.99 is a lot of money to spend on a mouse, but this one has enough features to earn that price tag.