Logitech MX Revolution Cordless Laser Mouse (Black)

Feels good in the hand, and the intelligent scroll wheel is a revelation.

Just remember to turn it off. This baby is a power gulper, not a sipper.

Ergonomics and Design
The first thing you’ll notice about the MX Revolution is the distinct shape, which is very reminiscent of a cresting wave. Fortunately, the design does more than look good. The mouse feels great in small and large hands, and the curved channel–which accommodates the thumb nicely–makes it easy to use the document “Quick Flip” dial on the side of the mouse. Above the Quick Flip control you’ll find a pair of thin, customizable buttons that by default operate as forward and back controls for Web pages.

The top of the mouse houses Logitech’s tour de force, the MicroGear Precision Scroll Wheel, which dynamically controls the speed and resistance of your scrolling tasks. Side scrolling and a scroll wheel-based button press are also supported. Just behind the scroll wheel sits the quick search button, which pops you into the search engine of your choice.

The “Quick-Flip” thumb wheel makes it easy to quickly switch between active windows.

All in all, it’s a surprisingly simple layout for a device that offers a great deal of functionality. Lefties beware, though. You’ll find it awkward to use the quick flip dial that’s located in the channel on the left side of the mouse. Although Logitech has designed a small ridge on the right side of the mouse that lefties may find supportive this is obviously a mouse built for righties first.

The MicroGear Scroll Wheel
Logitech says that the MicroGear Scroll Wheel “represents the single largest engineering effort ever undertaken by our engineering team,” and their hard work shows; the scroll wheel is not only well designed with a smooth, progressive feel, but it is also surprisingly intelligent. Need to quickly scroll through large Web pages and documents? Place the scroll wheel in “freewheel” mode and give the wheel a quick, frictionless spin. The action feels much like a well-oiled roller-ball and offers blazing speed. Need slow scrolling for browsing photo libraries or spreadsheets? Switch to ratchet mode for precise movement. The included SetPoint software can automatically switch modes–a feature called SmartShift–or you can switch modes manually with a light press on the scroll wheel that shifts “gears.” A note for Mac users: The Mac version of the MX Revolution Software does not appear to support SmartShift.

Quick Flip and Fingertip Search
Two other nifty functions make the MX Revolution a great tool for productivity freaks and power users. The included software installs an application switcher that is linked to the mouse’s thumb wheel, an action called “Quick-Flipping.” Clicking the thumb wheel brings up a window listing all currently active application windows. Rotating the wheel and then pressing it again when you’ve reached your selection brings up the window of your choice. The Fingertip Search, which relies on a small button just behind the scroll wheel, allows you to input any copied text into the search engine of your choice. For OS X users, the action brings up a Spotlight search window.

Connection and Power
Connecting the MX Revolution couldn’t be easier. The included wireless USB dongle was immediately recognized by Windows and Mac machines, and after switching on the power switch on the base of the mouse, we were mousing almost instantaneously. Wireless mice are often a pain when it comes to battery life and replacement. The Revolution MX solves one of these problems by integrating a rechargeable battery. The included charging stand is simple and stylish, although it requires wall power–no USB charging. You’ll be using the stand a lot, as we couldn’t squeeze much more than a day’s work out of the mouse before the low battery indicator appeared. The mouse does not appear to have a sleep mode when it’s not active (or when folks inevitably forget to turn it off), a notable omission from a device that is otherwise a home run–as long as you’re a right hander.

Pros

• Great ergonomics
• MicroGear scroll wheel and fast application switching
• Nifty charging stand

Cons

• Mac support not on par with Windows
• Poor battery life
• Don’t bother if you’re a lefty

What’s in the Box
Logitech MX Revolution Cordless Laser Mouse, recharging station, AC power cord, USB micro-receiver, Logitech SetPoint software CD, user’s guide, and three-year limited warranty.

You don’t need a mouse pad. Right away I put it to the test. You know the frustration you feel when a mouse doesn’t work, restricting you to the mouse pad. Not this one. I tried it on a gloss lacquer finish maple desktop table, it worked great. Then I said, “Aha, I will put it on the perfectly clear, see through plastic, it came in”, and it read perfectly again. You could do microsurgery with this thing, using it on clear plastic, your pants, your legs, or whatever. No movement is too fine, no matter what surface you use it on.

The scroll wheel has a special feature, it tilts right and left. That is a whole new set of choices. You can custom set the features yourself in the Set Point software. You can set up this whole mouse to your specifications, and it is an intuitive menu for doing so. For scrolling at hyper speed, I set “Cruise down” and “Cruise up” at 40%. With a gentle tilt, you are rapidly moving up and down the page, able to stop anywhere. At 100% the page is flying by you. I love hyper speed at 40%. The bottom line is their is no having to scroll the wheel like crazy to get down to the bottom of a long page. It even has an autosensing feature that automatically adjusts the speed to the size of the page. In addition to the tilt is the standard scroll wheel function, but now with 2 speeds, normal and extra fine, by simply pressing down on the wheel, to toggle between the two.

You have presentation flexibility because the mini USB receiver is good up to 12 feet away, even though it had to go through my couch to get to me.

This thing rocks. It’s got a topside mini search button that you set up with your favorite search engine. All you do is highlight a word, or phrase, hit the search button and you’re there. (HUGE time savings.) Great for learning software; you’ve got the book, you’ve got the help file, but you need more. Highlight the topic, one button, and instantly their is a page full of help called Google. (for example)

The document scroll feature is cool enough to deserve its own scroll wheel on the side, which it has. If you’re working between two or more programs, or documents, a quick push on the scroll wheel, up comes a box with all the running applications/docs right under your mouse cursor. Then, the tiniest movement brings up your program. Way faster than using the task bar.

The design is something right out of Star Trek. Finally, someone built a mouse with tons of features and the buttons don’t get in the way. The top of the mouse doesn’t have a left and right click panel, instead the complete top flexes on each side of a slit, in the front middle. So it is an arch that is flexing. It has a Frank Lloyd Wright feeling to it. It works perfectly, very sensitive. I guess you can tell, I love this mouse.

I have been using Logitech keyboards and mice on my machines for quite some time. This thing is a technological breakthrough in sensitivity, intelligent design right down to how they wrap the CD, and I have to admit, beauty. You should see it. Whether it is sitting on the charger, or on your desktop, it’s beautiful.

I’d like to say it is a toy, but it is a very serious business tool that makes your work more efficient, and exact. This is the way mice should have been made all along. The only thing wrong with it is you won’t be happy with your old mouse anymore. I should get one for every machine. Highly recommended.

PS: This thing is intelligently wrapped. You can be sure that in a UPS (Unbelievably Pulverized Shipment) :-) it won’t be flopping around in the box. To remove it once it arrives, do as the instructions tell you, and press on the mouse “On the logo” and it pops right out. The mini receiver pops out just as well.

I had the mouse installed in a few minutes. I had enough charge, so I went on with plugging in the USB receiver and popping in the CD. Installation was a few clicks and a couple of dozen megabytes away. I already had an optical mouse that worked great on a light oak desk top, so that was my standard. This mouse worked just as readily. However, my previous mouse had a nasty cord. The new mouse responds quickly and effectively over the 2.4 GHz transmitter.

The first thing I noticed after starting to use the mouse is that the mouse scrolled really fast with the scroll wheel. Let me make sure you understand what I mean. When I scrolled the wheel, each file I was in blurrrrrrred past. Wow. Cool. If you like a more precise feel you can press on the scroll wheel once to get clicks and slower scroll. Click again and a spin of the wheel blurs you through a document. This same feature works on the internet. I kept scrolling and clicking, a big smile on my face. This mouse is one cool mouse. I think I’m in love with the mouse. But wait, there’s more! The scroll wheel automatically adjusts to the size of the document so that you get click scrolling or fast scrolling. This mouse is awesome!

This mouse has many more buttons. There’s a “touch to search” button just behind the scroll wheel. Highlight a word or phrase, click the button, and you are off to your favorite search engine to search for the word or phrase. This feature alone is a great time saver and fun to boot.

There is a wheel on the left side of the mouse. That button was initially set up to switch between documents. I reprogrammed the button using the included Logitech Setpoint (TM) software so that the left wheel modified the zoom in a document. I tend to zoom in and out more than I change documents, so the reprogramming was useful to me; people that use drawing or CAD software will love this feature.

Two more buttons on the left edge of the mouse are initially programmed to move forward and backward. On the internet these buttons move you to previous internet pages.

As cool as this mouse is as received, the range of features permissible with re-programming of the mouse is outstanding and makes this mouse even better. With the exception of the left and right click buttons, a user can program each button with a variety of options. While programmable mice have previously existed, with seven controls and a range of choices for five of those controls, the range of programming for this mouse is phenomenal. Even better, a user can program the buttons for operability with all software or for certain programs.

This mouse also has visual indicators that let you know when you have to recharge the batteries. The indicators are a mild green when the mouse charge is acceptable. The indicators go out after a short period to save battery charge. I thought the indicators were subtle reminders of the charge level. When the charge level becomes too low, a red indicator lights; it is time to recharge dude!

This mouse also looks cool. The black and dark gray colors go well with my Dell computer. The mouse is shaped to fit my hand and my thumb, which makes the mouse very comfortable. The mouse slides easily and smoothly on my desk, giving me excellent control over the position of the pointer.

I do have a teeny word of criticism. The box the mouse arrived in was a pain to open. Worse, the plastic packaging for the mouse and the receiver secured the mouse and receiver too well. I got the mouse out somewhat easily by following the instructions to grip the plastic and pushing on the mouse. The mouse came out, but it was awkward and felt weird. The receiver was harder to remove. I tried to get the receiver out per the instructions and ended up bending a thumbnail and being personally annoyed after removing the receiver. Okay, maybe I am unable to follow “simple” instructions. Anyway, a little difficulty in taking the mouse and receiver out of the box was a small price to pay for getting my hands on the best mouse I have ever owned. Perhaps Logitech will take a hint with the packing and make the mouse a bit easier to get out in the future.

Just when I thought technology had become boring, Logitech comes out with the MX Revolution. This mouse has more features than I knew could be packed into a mouse, the best scroll wheel ever, and a shape that looks as though the mouse belongs in a science fiction show. Well, I have a scroll wheel to play with, so I’m out of here. I recommend you get your own. Trust me, you will love this mouse. Enjoy!

This review is based on a mouse provided to me by Amazon.

A cordless mouse may not sound as much, but if you consider that this mouse is rechargeable too, that may score a few more points with you, since you have to just leave it charging overnight as you see a need for it and there’s no more need to worry about batteries! (plus less waste too).

If cordless and rechargeable are not features that rank high with you, how about ergonomy? The MX Revolution fits your hand like a glove. It has a side wheel perfectly positioned to help you navigate through applications (substituting the need for the Alt-Tab hotkey) right by your right thumb. Also nearby you find two convenient slim buttons allowing you to navigate back and forth through your browser’s history. Not too far, you have a nice “search” button you can program (like all buttons and wheels in the mouse) to speed up your web searches through Yahoo! or Google.

Not satisfied yet? Here’s the big one! Scrolling like you’ve NEVER seen before. As fast as you’ve dreamed of being able to scroll up and down lengthy documents. Just click on the scroll wheel on top of the mouse and the typical step-by-step movement of the wheel makes room for what feels like a wheel with NO friction. Slide the wheel fast enough and you get to the bottom of your documents in a split second (I mean it!)

So, am I excited about this mouse? You bet! The $100 price tag is more than justified: this is no average mouse -it’s a computer performance booster dressed in mouse outfit!

After playing around with the Setpoint software I was able to turn off the Smartshift wheel in the AutoCAD application allowing me to confugure the button correctly and using it with different applications in different modes. I’ve only had the mouse for a couple of days and it has already been very useful. Another thing worth mentioning is the small mouse receiver can be plugged in to the back of your computer in any USB port without any type of desktop receiver. You can walk accross the room and point it in the opposite direction and it still works flawlessly and precise.

This mouse isn’t meant for everyone, but if you are a heavy computer user, particlarly with spreadsheets, Internet, graphics applications, or a multi-tasker (all describe my use habits) it is a must have, IMO. I would imagine this mouse will be the “gold standard” for many years to come. WHAT will be next?!? Possibly speaking or just thinking commands, I guess…

One other thing… as of 8-25-06 the mouse only ships with an installation CD for Windows XP, Vista, and Mac® OSX 10.2.8+. Windows 2000 users can download directly from the Logitech site.