Logitech V500 Cordless Optical Notebook Mouse (931171-0403)

Rating:
Summary: A totally amazing mouse!!!
Review: At first glance i was amazed at how small it was. Then i took a look at the usb receiver and was even more astonished. This unit takes two AAA batteries and up till now still has great battery life. The reception is equally good with many things blocking the signal, like a couple of rooms away little did i know the cursor was still moving around smoothly with no signal loss. Aparently this mouse has one of the better optical tracking lasers on the market so most surfaces should be ok. Comes with a great black zip carrying case for those who are always on the run. You cant go wrong with this mouse, won some award in August I think for one of the best innovations or some thing like that. All in all you can go wrong with this mouse, its small, stylish, powerful, and not too outrageously priced for what you get, i love it.

Pros:
On off button, small, stylish, usb receiver fits in the mouse itself, great battery life, carrying case, great optical tracking, great reception, good software, good price on amazon that is.

Cons: none yet, maybe that its too small for those with big hands but my hands arent that big and it is a travel mouse so no cons to date.

Bottom Line:
I think i might buy another one for my dad. 5 stars for this mouse, dont waste your money on the other logitech and microsoft notebook mouses at around 30 dollars a piece this one is perfect. What is an extra 20 bucks for something this good? Got a 8.3 on cnets reviews which is very good, cant go wrong with it get this mouse!

Rating:
Summary: I don't know of anything superior yet, it could be better
Review: I wanted a mouse because I need one while I'm Wi-Fing in meetings. I bought the V500 because I like that it's wireless, that it collapses, that it stores the USB receiver in itself, that it has 4-way scrolling, that it's small, and that it works on any surface.

Okay, but, initially I found that it hurt my wrist - less so over time.
I find that in meetings the left/right click noise is so loud it's a bit disruptive.
I'm constantly inadvertently triggering the scroll-up sensor. It usually doesn't effect my work but its repeating click noise is always going off, softly.
I think it's a decent power draw on my battery - so I don't last as long off AC in my meetings.

I didn't like the L/R-scroll response but all I had to do is adjust the setting in its SetPoint utility.

I would have liked having "back" and "forward" side buttons like the other Logitech mice have.

That said, I still use it because I still think it's the best product available - albeit embarrassingly expensive.

It gets a lot of attention and it serves what I bought it for pleasingly enough.

Rating:
Summary: Logitech V500 Review
Review: I'll admit, I was a skeptic. Why would anyone pay BIG $$ for a mouse that you can almost get for free at most discount stores. OK, so it's wireless, Big Deal. But the optical part intrigued me because, I'm tired of cleaning mouse balls!!!

So I gave it a try, thinking I'd return it if I was diasppointed. MISTAKE!! I am now converted. Absolutely simple to use, and with my laptop, it is so small it doesn't take up any space to pack. I've read those reviews that say the ergonomics are bad. I suppose if you had your hand on it 8 hours a day that might be the case. But I have no problem with it or discomfort of any kind.

And the slide wheel is gone. I thought this would be a problem. But the area where a slide wheel normally appears contains a group of 4 arrows (up,down, left and right) that function as a touchpad. Not only can you slide your finger up and down but you don't have to slide your finger to move the on-screen pointer. Just put your finger on one arrow or the other and the pointer (screen) moves vertically just as it you had moved a slide wheel. It takes a few practice strokes to get used to it, but it eventually becomes intuitive and is sensational once you get it. The only downside is the movement left and right seems erratic and I found neither the vertical or horizontal movement work in Adobe pdf and perhaps Powerpoint. Works well in Word, Excel, Explorer and most other programs though.

It also comes with a nice carry pouch, and Duracell batteries (not those cheap things that last 2 weeks. I've had mine for over a month now and no problems with battery life and it is on 8 hours a day, sometimes overnight. One clever feature is that when you pack it away you can't help but turn it OFF because the same switch controlling the power allows the mouse to retract to its packed position so you can stick it in the carry pouch. I suppose if you don't pack up a laptop at the end of the day you could mistakenly leave it on. It doesn't have an automatic turn off feature, at least I haven't found one yet in terms of configuring it to do so. The small USB transceiver packs away in the end of the mouse and has good range, at least 5 feet. Being packed in the end of the mouse is both a plus and minus - a plus because I won't lose it but a minus because sometimes when moving my laptop I forget to remove the USB transceiver before I packed the mouse up. One thing that was confusing is how to get USB part out of the mouse once you put it in. Well, it's SIMPLE. Just push on it and it pops out (DUH!).

One other minor annoyance is when my laptop is forced to reboot (usually because of a crash) I think the Logitech SW is interfering with the default speed of motion of the laptop's touch pad. Sometimes, I still use this if I don't want to unpack the mouse and it just forces you to go to Start, Control panel, Mouse Settings to reset the speed.

All in all, while on the pricey side my opinion is it still worth money. Logitech just up'd the ante on mouse performance.

Rating:
Summary: It's a fantastic mouse, w/a bunch of little annoying bits
Review: In general this is a very good mouse, with good portability features, like having a tiny usb adapter that fits in the mouse itself. nice. But it's plagued with a bunch of little problems:

1) The scroll pad-sounds like a fantastic thing, not only scrolls up and down, but side to side. But the thing is oversensitive, so if I barely brush it with my fingertip, I often find myself scrolling up when i wanted to scroll down. And often it starts scrolling upwards because I've rested my finger on the up arrow, so now basically i have to keep my finger completely away from that area if I don't want anything unexpected to happen. Conversely, i have a hard time getting it to scroll down just by touching the bottom arrow, it's very touchy going down. What a hassle.
The side to side arrows aren't much use at all, brushing sideways makes the horizontal scroll bar move about 3 pixels per stroke. What a hassle. I'd rather use the Mac's built-in shift-scroll feature to scroll sideways.

2) The sound-the little clicking noise it makes when you scroll is kinda cool, but I'd like to be able to turn it off.

3)-The speed-I guess portable mice are supposed to move quicker to allow for better manuverability in small spaces, but the problem is that whatever settings were changed when I installed this mouse caused my old (Logitech) mouse to get slower! I can't just swap my old and new mice and have them move at the same speed, I have to go to the prefs and change the mouse speed ever time I switch mice. What a hassle.

4) The installation-did I mention I was a Mac user? Unfortunately for us Mac users this mouse didn't work right out of the box (unlike 99% of the other USB, 2-button scroll wheel mice out there, which work perfectly with MacOS X with no drivers needed), but had to have drivers installed, which *weren't on the CD*!! Had to be downloaded. What a hassle.

Overall this is fine optical mouse, but with new not-so-advanced technology which makes the scrolling experience frustrating. The Mac-specific stuff is frustrating, too, but not a deal-breaker. Overall a bit disappointing. I wish I could buy this mouse with a standard scroll wheel, and I wish Logitech wouldn't make the speed settings of their mice different.

Rating:
Summary: Great overall, but has flaws
Review: Overall this mouse is a great product. Having used the Benq M310 and the Logitech Cordless Notebook mouse, which are similar notebook mice but with traditional scroll wheels, some comparisons can be made.

Pros:

- Sensor: The V500 has bar none the best sensor of all its competitors include similar offerings from Logitech. Unlike the M310 or even the Logitech Cordless Notebook mouse, the V500 works on every surface.

- No auto-power off: This might sound like a negative point but it's not. Mice that automatically shut-off the LED to save power will stutter or lag for a second when you move the mouse after a period of inactivity. This is really annoying to me and I'm glad that Logitech did not include this "feature". If I want to save power, I can use the built in on/off switch.

- Overall Design: The mouse is really comfortable to use and the expanding base makes it feel good in my hands. The slot for the receiver is a nice touch (though in fairness, other mice such as the M310 have this feature as well). The scrolling is very intuitive and feels better than a scroll wheel.

Cons:

- No middle button: This is probably the biggest problem with the V500. In mice with a normal scroll wheel, you can click the wheel as a third button. Unfortunately, this cannot be done with the V500.

- Side scrolling: As an earlier poster stated, side scrolling on the touch panel doesn't work in all applications. This is a driver problem that hopefully Logitech will correct in the future. It should be noted that aside from spreadsheets, I haven't found a whole lot of need to do side scrolling.

Rating:
Summary: Excellent up-down scrolling but poor left-right scrolling
Review: The 4-way scrolling of this mouse attracted me first. However, I was slightly disappointed after a week of using this mouse. Although the up-down scrolling worked excellent, the left-right scrolling is pathetic. My biggest complaint is that the left-right scrolling does not work in every program I used daily. For example, it does not work at all in MS Word X , Powerpoint X (it does work in Word and Powerpoint 2004), Canvas 9 and Adobe Reader 7. I sent an email to Legitech tech support regarding this not working problem. [...]

While it works in most programs, the left-right scrolling is very slow and not very responsive. In other words, the left-right scrolling is not very useful. One has to be noted that what I just said above only applies to the Mac OS X 10.3.7 with the most current Logitech's mouse driver, Logitech Control Center 1.4.1 on a PowerBook G4.

Bottom line: Do I like this mouse? Yes, I do. It is slick and built with quality. The receiver-storage design is very impressive. This mouse works excellent as an optical mouse with an up-down scrolling panel. However, the left-right scrolling needs to be improved.

Rating:
Summary: definitely not worth my $$$
Review: The touch sensitive wheel is a joke... not having the tactile feedback is a big disappointment for me. I like the size, but too flat/slim to provide ergonomics. I have to pinch the mouse in order to move it around and as a result, my fingers and wrist were hurting!! I ended up taking it back to OfficeDepot and got a Microsoft Wireless Optical Mouse for less than $30. It only uses 1 AA unlike logitech's 2 AAA(costly) and very much more comfortable. I forgot to mention... When i bought the logitech mouse, it was missing the receiver that it was supposed to come with!! Unbelievable... Went back and got another one that did have it. This is all I have to say,,, I wouldn't buy it if I were you :)

Rating:
Summary: Superior design and function
Review: This is a great travel mouse.

I'm a Mac user, and as such, I value both form and function. This is a well-designed sleek unit. I love how it expands itself to be more comfortable in my hand, and how the designers took advantage of that space to store the USB receiver in the unit in such a way that it'll never fall out when not in use (because it retracts into the base when collapsed).

Also as a note to other Mac users, there is excellent OS X compatibility. The drivers don't come on the CD, but the manual clearly states where to download them from the logitech site. The driver is a native control panel and allows for the reassignment of the left and right keys as well as the scroll speed.

The scrolling is a little different, I need to get used to not having a wheel, but I'm starting to really like it. Probably makes the unit more reliable by having one less moving part to get dirty.

Let's see, what else... The range is good, I just pushed my laptop away and could more the mouse from 3-4 feet away. It tracks well on my table here, fits my hand well. The unit turns off when collapsed, so that'll help with battery life, but as I got the unit yesterday, haven't seen how long the included batteries (duracell's btw which is another sign of quality) will last.

Just a really, really well-built, well-designed mouse.

Cons. My only gripe is the packaging. I know everyone is doing it, but it's another one of the impeneterable sealed molded plastic cases. I almost cut myself a couple times trying to get the mouse out. Now don't get me wrong, the mouse looks great in the shiny plastic, and everything is secure so it won't get damaged in shipping, but I'd really love it if those cases were easier to open.

Rating:
Summary: James Bond wants a mouse like this!
Review: This is the ultimate portable wireless mouse! Looks killer next to a shiny silver Mac Powerbook. Nice wide top surface feels great in my hand (unlike some mini laptop mice). The touch sensitive scroll "wheel" is pretty slick. However, horizontal scrolling has very little real world usefulness (more of a marketing feature). Imagine trying to scroll your finger across a panel 1/2 the width of a dime and you'll get the picture. Normal vertical scrolling works fantastically. The collapsible design adds to the cool "007 Gadget" look.

Rating:
Summary: ABSOLUTELY AMAZING!!!
Review: This mouse is unbelievably astounding!!! I'm a person who uses laptops a lot and so having a good mouse is very important to me. Well, I think I've found what I've been looking for in the v500. The precision of this mouse is uncomparable not to mention the sleek design.

A few things I really like were the fact that the USB receiver was extremely small. My USB ports are on the right side of my laptop and once of my concerns was having a receiver that stuck out too much and interfered with my usage. Well this receiver caused no such problem.

The scrolling was a bit different at first because it doesn't use a scroll wheel but it took me about a day and a half to get use to. Once you get then hang of it, you'll never go back to the tradition wheel. What I liked most is that it took the strain off of my hand and therefore is health conscious.

The retail price of $69.99 was a bit steep but if you can afford it, then it's worth it. I was fortunate enough to get it for about $50.00 on Amazon. I only wish the mouse came in other colors because I have a black laptop and I wanted something to match but I'm sure Logitech will modify the colors in the near future.

Overal, no complaints what so ever. Definitely an incredible mouse. I've tried several different mouse brands: Targus, Kensington, etc. I have to say that Logitech is the best in terms of quality and reliability. Hope this review helps!