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Kensington Wireless Optical StudioMouse

Kensington Wireless Optical StudioMouse

List Price: $89.95
Your Price: $52.99
Product Info Reviews

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Rating: 2 stars
Summary: Not for pros
Review: Kensington markets this Mouse as the must have for graphics pros, I found it's tracking to be very impresise and jerky. I tried to use it for 3 weeks and finally gave up. Also graphics pros use Mac OS X and the coolest features don't work in OS X. Stick to the wire.

Rating: 3 stars
Summary: Different, but so what
Review: Liked the design and uniqueness of this mouse when I saw it online.
Once I got it, it wasn't as comfortable as I'd hoped and not very good tracking features. It eventually died after about 6 months.
I generally like Kensington products, but I'd say is okay if you want something new and different, but for the price it isn't worth it.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: They trapped a better Mouse!
Review: The Kensington 64321 Wireless Studio Mouse is the easiest thing I've installed on my Mac. Of course nothing is hard on a Mac. So this says it all. It does all it's designed for. I am enjoying every time I use it. Just smooth.

Rating: 3 stars
Summary: Wireless but NOT portable! (not for laptops)
Review: This is not a portable mouse. This item does not come with a tiny portable USB receiver as other wireless mice do. What you see in the picture (minus the cable which attaches the base station to your computer) is all that you get. In order to use the mouse, you must take the mouse-size recharger & its attached cord with you wherever you go, because the charger IS the base station/ wireless RF receiver. Other wireless mice (including one from kensington itself), include a small USB dongle which sports the mouse's RF receiver. When you get to the coffee shop, or to your interview, or go from your office to your home with this "wireless" mouse, you still need to plug in a mouse-like device and find room on the table for it the way you did using a corded mouse. It looks foolish during an interview and takes up a lot of room at a coffee shop. Something about still being tied to a wired computer sort of defeats some significant benefits of going wireless.

Noteworthy is the innovative scroll pad (which replaces the scroll wheel). The scroll pad is a good idea. I'd like it to be more responsive - to allow a user to lightly touch it the way that the second generation iPods function. Instead, it asks that I press firmly on it to make it function. This makes scrolling laborious and takes more focus and determination than I'm used to with a scroll wheel. I found that USB Overdrive recognized this mouse's functions. I also tried the software and drivers that Kensington ships called MouseWorks - it's fine for what it does. A couple of nice features: press at the top, and you'll scroll quickly to the top of the screen, same with pressing at the bottom of the scroll pad. Also if you scroll and stay pressed on the pad, it will continue scrolling down. With the MouseWorks software, you can set the middle button below the scrollpad to change the performance of the mouse itself to "scroll" the page. And if you use a mac, there are special, and useful tools for Photoshop and Illustrator. Some of these features are limited to using the Kensington drivers and software.

Batteries - ships with two AAA-type rechargeable batteries. A good idea - easily replaceable. And the charging station is a "smart" one in that it knows when the charge is full and can discharge the batteries to recondition them. The manual mentions that one can insert AA batteries but I found the compartment much too small - probably an oversight in the manual. I used higher quality rechargable batteries than the mouse shipped with, but the charger wouldn't recognize them when I placed the mouse in it's cradle, so they wouldn't recharge. When I bought the mouse, I mistakenly thought it would be easy to carry around fully charged batteries in case you run out and you're not near the recharger. Unfortunately, you can't leave the charger at home.

In summary, if you use a laptop, then wait until Kensington includes a portable USB receiver, as it's other model features. I recommend considering instead the Belkin Mini-Wireless Optical Mouse (F8E825-USB) or Kensington's Kensington Pocketmouse Pro Wireless (72117).

Rating: 2 stars
Summary: Great customer srvice, poor product
Review: This mouse feels cheap. unfortunately, CompUSA did not have a unit out for display. Probably done on purpose, because people would probably pass on this mouse if they were to have the chance to play with it. The right and left buttons seem loose to the point that they rattle somewhat. The tracking fails more quickly than my iMac LCD factory mouse. With the iMac mouse, the mouse does not need to be flat on the surface for the tracking to still work - with the Kensington, if the mouse is even slightly off the surface on one edge, there's a good chance the tracking will stop. The power does not stay charged as long as it should. I have a wireless mouse at work that can go months on standard AA batteries. Finally and most irritating, the tracking for the touch "scroll wheel" is not sensitive enough, which means that you really need to bear into the touch panel to scroll, especially if scrolling up.

Rating: 1 stars
Summary: Review of Kensington StudioMouse Wireless Optical
Review: This mouse feels cheap. unfortunately, CompUSA did not have a unit out for display. Probably done on purpose, because people would probably pass on this mouse if they were to have the chance to play with it. The right and left buttons seem loose to the point that they rattle somewhat. The tracking fails more quickly than my iMac LCD factory mouse. With the iMac mouse, the mouse does not need to be flat on the surface for the tracking to still work - with the Kensington, if the mouse is even slightly off the surface on one edge, there's a good chance the tracking will stop. The power does not stay charged as long as it should. I have a wireless mouse at work that can go months on standard AA batteries. Finally and most irritating, the tracking for the touch "scroll wheel" is not sensitive enough, which means that you really need to bear into the touch panel to scroll, especially if scrolling up.

Rating: 3 stars
Summary: Works Good, but doesn't feel good
Review: This product looks good and works well, but what is hidden in the image is the block backend of the mouse. Because it of this the mouse is too small for large hands and is uncomfortable for small ones.

The scroll pad is ok, but if you like the feel of a wheel, this mouse isn't for your. One nice feature with the scroll pad is the ability to leave your finger in the up or down area, and just let your page scroll.

Over all, the price is to high for only a three button mouse.


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