Microsoft Wireless IntelliMouse Explorer 2.0 Review
One Step Sideways, One Step BackSeptember 8, 2003
By Eric Grevstad
For Microsoft Wireless Optical Desktop Pro (K48-00001) Keyboard and Mouse Products from online stores:
 9 Store Offers from $53-$90 |
One Step Sideways, One Step Back
We need to deal with one thing right away, to stop the raised eyebrows and "Queer Eye for the Straight Mouse" jokes: The new Microsoft Wireless IntelliMouse Explorer in Black Leather ($65) isn't really covered in leather -- just black plastic with a faux leather finish or faintly etched texture. It looks very handsome, but doesn't feel particularly softer or sexier than its plainer siblings. And you can save $10 by buying the Wireless IntelliMouse Explorer in platinum, metallic blue, or metallic gray.
The main attraction of Microsoft's newest (dubbed "version 2.0") Wireless IntelliMouse Explorer and Wireless Optical Mouse ($45), however, isn't how they look. It's how they scroll -- horizontally as well as vertically, thanks to what Microsoft calls Tilt Wheel Technology: a scroll wheel that rocks from side to side as well as rolling forward and backward. To move left or right through a vast expanse of spreadsheet columns or sideways through an extra-wide Web page or other document, you can push the wheel to the side without having to move the mouse itself.
The company's IntelliPoint 5.0 driver offers separately adjustable vertical and horizontal scrolling speeds, defaulting to the slowest possible setting for both. That feels normal speedwise for scrolling up and down -- though we found it took some getting used to the new scroll wheel's smooth or continuous motion, without the detents or steps we're used to from other mice (e.g., two steps to scroll the Outlook calendar up an hour or one nudge to scroll a Word document down three lines).
By contrast, while the tilt wheel itself moves smoothly, horizontal scrolling is more herky-jerky or choppy unless you specify the fastest available rate. And the scroll wheel only moves along two axes -- your instinct at first touch is to see if you can also move diagonally, as if the wheel were an IBM ThinkPad pointing stick, but no go.
Still, after a bit of practice, the horizontal flow becomes intuitive and extremely convenient when navigating wide spreadsheets or artistically panoramic Web pages or zoomed-for-editing images. (With the more versatile scrolling, Microsoft even felt free to change the default "middle button" or click-the-wheel function from auto-scroll to an Alt-Tab-style switch between active applications.) But you won't use it often, if ever, for most Web browsing, word processing, e-mail, or other applications, unless you're restricted to a narrow window or low display resolution.
If only serious Excel addicts will really appreciate the tilt wheel (also found on the left edge of the keyboard of Microsoft's new $105 Wireless Optical Desktop Elite keyboard-and-mouse bundle), there are other reasons to enjoy the new Wireless IntelliMouse Explorer and Wireless Optical Mouse. One is their refined 27MHz radio-frequency technology, which not only uses 65,000 random security codes to avoid interference with other cordless devices but boasts Microsoft's most battery-efficient design yet. In fact, though we've hardly had our test unit long enough to confirm, the company claims that once you put a pair of AA alkalines (included) into each mouse, you won't need to replace them for five to six months.
Another is Microsoft rodents' traditionally first-rate ergonomic shape, along with smooth-gliding, no-cleaning-required optical performance. The for-right-hands-only Wireless IntelliMouse Explorer 2.0 features two little hollows on top to hold your index and middle finger, as well as a comfortable thumb scoop on the left side. It also supplements the two primary buttons and clickable scroll wheel with a fourth and fifth button -- small, side-mounted Forward and Back buttons that let you move through Web sites with a flick of your thumb. These buttons are a little high, but we found them more comfortable than the both-high-and-rearward placement of their peers on the Logitech Cordless Click Plus mouse we tested the other week.
Why Remove Our Favorite Feature?
On the minus side, we went out of our way in that review to jeer that Logitech's software driver doesn't have a feature we've praised in earlier Microsoft mouse reviews -- the addictive ability to assign the same button to different functions in different applications, such as Back in your browser but Undo in your word processor.
Unfortunately, neither does IntelliPoint 5.0: Used with both the Wireless IntelliMouse Explorer on our Windows XP desktop and Wireless Optical Mouse on our Windows 2000 machine, the latest driver offered only a generic list of functions (Back, Forward, Cut, Paste, Minimize, and so forth) selectable for each button, with no program-specific options.
Frankly, this is a puzzling step backward, and makes us less eager to pay a premium price for the Wireless IntelliMouse Explorer. If you can live without the fourth and fifth buttons, the cheaper Wireless Optical Mouse impressed us just as much -- its symmetrical, squashed-oval design accommodates left as well as right hands while offering a comfortable thumb scoop, and the two-tone periwinkle model we tested looked nifty, with a translucent hue for the sides and the radio receiver -- like its cousin, the latter plugs into either a USB or PS/2 port up to six feet from the mouse -- reminiscent of Apple's artsy iMac peripherals. (It's also available in metallic red, steel blue, and a homely houndstooth pattern called "Blue Moon.")
Whether or not you can't wait to try the rather specialized feature of horizontal scrolling, Microsoft's new mice are smooth, shapely, and responsive (though, like other cordless mice, arguably not quite quick enough for frantic game-playing action). We're only sorry that the less-versatile-than-before software driver keeps them from being the unchallenged champs of the mouse market.
|
Tools:
|
|
Add hardwarecentral.com to your favorites
Add hardwarecentral.com to your browser search box IE 7 |  Firefox 2.0 | Firefox 1.5.x
|
|
| ||||
| Store | HWC Certified | In stock | Shipping | Price |
 |
 Write a store review |
yes | 4.99 | $52.79 |
 |
Write a store review |
yes | 4.99 | $52.79 |
 |
 Write a store review |
yes | 11.22 | $64.99 |
