Much more functional than a novelty October 10, 2008
If you're looking for a review for this mouse... I can pretty much predict you are seeing how much of a novelty this mouse is. Lucky you; it really isn't that much of a novelty at all.
Saitek has a real winner here considering they were able to combine "Bare basic mouse" with "Novelty appeal" as most fail to do. We've all seen LED mouse that blind you, blink annoyingly, and look downright butt ugly. But this mouse is different in that is isn't over the top in anything it tries to do, and it ends up being a pretty cool mouse to use.
For starters, this mouse has some big advantages going for it. It's large, it only has three buttons, and it's a simple oval shape. No fancy "ergonomics", no "strategically placed" side buttons, and no other useless non-sense that requires software. It just feels like a giant shiny smooth pebble / egg in your palm. It's plug and play, it's see through and feels good. The buttons are very large and very "clickie" to the touch. You KNOW when you click the button. Unlike other mouses which offer too little resistance that causes you to double click or "press" on a button because you feel you might have not hit it. The cherry on top is that it's also a basic optical mouse, not an annoying ball mouse which means it's very light.
The novelty factor of the mouse is that it has two lights, one on the mouse scroll wheel (which is blue) and the other which is a white led that illuminates the window that houses the picture. It's pretty self explanatory that you can put any picture you want in there, but you can also just leave it blank if you want an simple looking illuminated mouse. Hence another thing; this mouse is great in low light situations.
The one huge thing that I was worried about before I bought this mouse was how the led for the picture was going to face. Basically most mice out there with led lighting have the led facing TOWARD you, making it blinding or annoying like a spot light. Saitek has some sense to point the led illuminating the window DOWN onto the picture. What you get is reflected light off the picture, and depending on how much white is in the image, there's basically no glare.
If I didn't give this mouse a perfect review, it's because the one major drawback of the mouse I found is that it's permanently lit. So even if you turn your computer off, as long as the mouse is connected to the USB port, it will remain lit. Not good for those who have their computers in their room and sleep in total darkness. A lot of people may find this extremely annoying, and I can't blame them.
A couple of co-workers have done some fun stuff with this mouse when I recommended it to them after seeing mine. Like breath mints in the photo window, M&M's, Tic Tacs, and even loose change. The space in-between the shell casing and the picture surface is quite large, so you can actually squeeze some things in there.
For the price and the "cool" factor of this mouse, it's hard not to own one just for the heck of it. It's definitely something different, and really a conversation starter for the gadget freaks out there. For those technically inclined, you can even switch out the led and change it to another color. All in all, it's hard to bad mouth such a fun little mouse. I got a couple off Amazon to save for future use just in case they discontinue this model. All you can do is at least give a look over if you see it on retail shelves.
Great inexpensive performer, love the picture viewer July 9, 2008
Well, I was having trouble getting a mouse to work with my computer. I ordered this one since it is inexpensive and a match in brand to my keyboard. Well, I printed a photo of my husband and daughter, cut it to fit, and it is so great (the mouse works extremely well, and the photo shows up really well), I plan to give some as gifts coming up.
I highly recommend this to anyone wanting an inexpensive mouse that not only performs well, but is pleasing to the eye.
