click to enlarge
Normally I avoid getting involved with people's home computers, I find the subsequent support hassles are not worth it. But when one of my friends recently asked me to spend $4,000 of his money, I couldn't refuse. One of the toys picked up was Microsoft's new Wireless Explorer. A cordless, optical mouse with a scan rate significantly higher than the existing range of optical mice. 6000 scans per second as opposed to 2500 for the common garden variety Intellimice (or should that be Intellimouses?). Anyone who's violently thrown their optical mouse around the pad in the middle of a pitched Quake3 battle rapidly discovers what happens when an optical mouse loses the plot. Your reticle jumps all over the place and your shooting is about as accurate as an Imperial Stormtrooper's. You=Fragged.
Below we see from front to rear: the wireless receiver, the wireless mouse itself and my own (custom coloured) Intellimouse Explorer. OCAU reviewed the original Explorer here a while ago.
The Design:
The Wireless Explorer has an even more ergonomic (that's latin
for "funny shape") design than the Intellimous Explorer.
In use your hand sits higher and at a much more vertical angle
than with any other mouse I've used. It takes some getting used
to, but I'm told it's supposed to be a more natural hand position.
The thumb rest on the left hand side is a nice touch, but I found
the two side buttons are a bit difficult to use without a stretch.
I have short fingers though and this may not be an issue for everyone.
The mouse reciever is USB only and is powered by the USB port.
It's nearly as big as the mouse itself, which is a pity if you've
already got a cluttered desk. Two AA batteries are required in
the mouse, the battery compartment is accessed via the base of
the mouse. If you use rechargables, there's no way to charge them
in the mouse, they must be removed for charging. Battery life
is quoted as "months" and it's going to depend greatly
on the type of batteries, how much use, the type of surface you
use it on, etc etc.
In Use:
Does the increased sample rate make any difference? Well I'm pleased
to say it does. In my testing against a standard Optical Intellimouse,
the accuracy of the Wireless Explorer while being rapidly moved
could not be matched. And that was in spite of the go faster colours
on the corded mouse. If you move the Wireless Explorer fast enough
you can still get it to lose tracking, but you run the risk of
throwing the thing across the room. There are no safety straps
on this mouse remember.
The extra weight of the batteries in the mouse might put some people off, but I personally liked the extra mass, it made the mouse feel more solid and precise. That may just be a figment of my imagination though. The power saving mode also doubles as an Anti-Camper device - sit still too long and the mouse powers down, there's a slight delay before your get an onscreen response once you start moving it again. Just enough of a delay to frag that damn tent pitcher if he's using one of these mice.
The range of the mouse was quite good, but I found that the mouse movements started to become jerky once you exceeded two meters, especially if you move the mouse quickly. In general the further you moved from the reciever the worse it got (obviously). It was progressive, so in normal use keep your reciever close to your mouse pad.
The Verdict:
All up, I liked the Wireless Explorer. Mainly due to the increased
scan rate of the optics. I look forward to this transitioning
down to the corded versions in Microsoft's range. I think that
most of us, particularly gamers,
are better served saving a few pennies and waiting for the new
version of the Intellimouse Explorer (with safety strap).