Logitech MediaPlay Cordless Mouse (931176-0403)

Rating:
Summary: Excellent mouse, doubles as a computer remote control
Review: I am very impressed with this mouse. If you use your PC to play most of your music, this is the mouse you've been waiting for. The buttons are easily programmable and the mouse functions very well. A couple tips of advice, the setpoint software that comes with the software is not the latest version. Before installing the software, go to logitech's web site and download the latest version of Setpoint. I also agree with the previous reviewer: only install the setpoint and the MediaLife software...the rest of the software is unnecessary. Another piece of advice, do not set the mouse pointer at a high speed, when I did this it caused my mouse to jump occasionally. When I adjusted the mouse pointer speed, this problem stopped. Thus, I would recommend keeping the mouse speed at the middle level or below (this is what the default settings are set at). My computer is located close to my bed and I like to fall asleep to the music on my PC. I therefore just take the mouse and put it on my nightstand to use as a remote. While lying in bed, I can than turn the volume up or down, forward to a new song, or turn the music off. Talk about a versatile mouse! I bought mine at Best Buy for 49.99 with a $10 rebate. For forty bucks you simply can't go wrong. Logitech continues to lead the field when it comes to creating a quality and innovative mouse.

Rating:
Summary: Mouse works fine, but poor ergonomics,
Review: I bought this mouse at Best Buy, and I do not like it. I returned it for a refund. The design of the mouse is uncomfortable. Let me explain:
The first problem is that in order to click efficiently, your fingertips need to be right at the very top of the long buttons. You CAN still click with your fingers down lower on the buttons, but you have to push down much harder on the button to make it click. VERY annoying. The way the mouse is rounded on the top, it makes you want to naturally move the palm of your hand towards the back of the mouse, making it difficult to place your fingers where they need to be in order to click. The second problem is that the middle section of the mouse is skinny, and this does not conform to the hand as well as my previous mouse giving it much less control.
If it weren't for these problems, I would have given it five stars because the media functions of the mouse work flawlessly and they are very convenient. I have a hunch that more mice with the same media functions will be created in the future, so I will wait until a better one comes out.

Rating:
Summary: DO NOT BUY IT
Review: I got mouse. Decided to test it for a week.
I love media buttons, also forward and backward buttons make reading web pages comfortable. Mouse is light, looks great.
BUT ! - Device is ergonomicly so wrong - I couldn'd believe.
You have a hard time presing left and right button. You can not pick up mouse - because is slim in the midle. Mouse is not balanced - so when you pick it up - back go down. Just Terrible.
I am waiting for hybrid of previous version of mouse and current one. For now I recommend NOT BUY IT.

Rating:
Summary: Doesn't live up to the concept
Review: Mouse is too small. Buttons are too small. And on a media play mouse, it doesn't even have a mute button!

But it looks good and is lightweight. Able to turn off mouse to save batteries.

I had problems with the mouse software. I currently have a Logitech cordless optical mouse and cordless keyboard. When I first hooked up the media play mouse (but did not install the software), all functions worked except the media functions (which is exactly what you would expect). But as soon as the media software was installed, the forward and back functions stopped working. Uninstalled and tried again - same result. Since I surf the web alot, the lack of being able to use the back/forward functions makes this mouse next to useless for me.

How hard is it to get the software correct? Geez. Very disappointed...

Rating:
Summary: Not compatible with Windows Media Center 2005
Review: The mouse looks great, feels comfortable, has good response (even in FPS and other games) and works with most media players I have tried - Windows Media Player, Media Player Classic, Foobar etc. Also I like the little USB receiver which is about the size of a USB flash drive instead of those old clunky receivers you get with wireless mice and keyboards. But in the end it didnt work with Windows Media Center 2005 which is what I bought it for. The scroll wheel is supposed to be able to scroll left and right also but it does not work in MCE 2005 making it useless since you cannot make a selection. Overall it does everything else pretty well but Im disappointed it dosent work with MCE 2005, still deciding if I should keep it.

Rating:
Summary: Wild and crazy!
Review: This is a very nice looking product. The ergonomics are as advertised - it fits the hand well both as a mouse and a remote control. When you take it out of the box everthing goes great. Software installs without a hitch, etc. Be careful though if you have an upgraded version of MusicMatch because it will attempt to install the "free" version. I was really looking forward to using it in my music room with my music PC. However, I can't get it to work as a media player mouse. I get some very erratic behavior from this mouse which I think is caused by RF interference. I'm dissapointed with the performance, and keep checking the Logitech forums for similar issues. I'm running XP SP1. It works ok using the traditional mouse functions as long as you are close to the wireless stick. The trouble starts when I press the media button. My Musicmatch v.9.0 crashes, and so does Windows media player. Wild and crazy things start to happen - the computer acts like there is a stuck key, the volume control automatically goes to zero level, occasionally an open file dialog box will appear and keep appearing - literally hundreds of them within a second or so.

Another thing that bothers me is the Logitech troubleshooting instructions. Their approach is that it must be the computer, or the application, can't possibly be the mouse or the mouse software. No real help here at all.

Good luck.

I didn't return it because the concept is very cool, and I'm hoping some forum post will solve my problem.

I'd suggest you try it in the store first.

Rating:
Summary: Boy, this is something!
Review: This is just great!

Everything worked as was promised. I do not know why other people are having complaints. I have Windows 2000 SP4.

Before installing the software, left-click, right-click, scroll-wheel, and internet back and next buttons worked.

I installed the software manually (just cancel the installer that comes when you insert the CD, or press and hold shift key when inserting the CD):

1. Installed Setpoint 2.22 (latest) (Logitech.com)
2. MediaLife software from the Logitech CD (\Programs\3-MediaLife\Setup.exe)

Did not install any other thing that was on the CD. It has a load of stuff that looked scary.

Everything worked fine. Media buttons all worked fine. Internet Back/Forward buttons still work (one review complaints that it did not after intalling the software).

One review complaint that "Mute" button is missing from the mouse. Well, "Pause" button does exist and works. Besides, volume buttons exist and work fine, you can just lower the volume!

Pros:

- Great shape and size.
- Functionality is unbeatable. Mediaplay functions are great.
- Controls several media players, I tested Winamp 5, MediaLife.
- USB receiver to be plugged behind the computer is small.
- Comes with all stuff you may need to use the mouse:
---- USB-to-PS/2 convertor plug
---- USB extension cable to be used if not enough signal.
- Installation instructions are trivial. So was the installation!
- Mouse looks great. Has lighted media keys which look great.

Cons:

- Boy, there is really none!
- One minor thing, all logitech drivers are somehow 50MB stuff. Webcam driver was also like that. So is the mouse driver. But nevertheless, the software did NOT slow the computer down.
- MediaLife software "looks" good and works fine. Bad thing is that you cannot specify your own music directories, it will only "search" your hard-disk for music. They don't understand that hard-disks are delicate!! Anyway, I'll just use my Winamp.

Other good features which not advertized clearly:

- It's optical. Word "optical" was not clearly mentioned.
- There is an on/off button to save batteries.
- Forward/Back buttons can be interchanged via software so that you can choose the setting that is easier on your thumb. I use only back and not forward!

I am impressed.

One complaint (not about this mouse). They do not sell cordless keyboard without a mouse, and do not sell mediaplay mouse with a cordless keyboard!

Rating:
Summary: Superb
Review: This is one of the best mice I have ever used. Much faster than MX500, very convenient for Laptop owners, comes with a USB key, connect that key to your USB port and you'll in business. If the mouse is away from Laptop, tauchpad takes over without any interaction/config. change. Weight is reasonable and I am still on original batteries.

Rating:
Summary: Thinking about buying more of this mouse!
Review: Wow, this mouse is great. For the longest time, I was afraid of getting a cordless mouse, for fear of poor reception/interference/tracking and limited battery life, but I think this mouse has mostly eliminated those fears. I'm a huge Logitech fan, and this mouse only increases that. My advice is to go to a B&M store (I went to Office Depot) to actually feel the mouse before buying, if you are very picky.
Pros (in my mind):
1) Scroll wheel has obvious detentes (clicks, for those who like to scroll page-by-page), which the MX1000 did not have
2) Tilt wheel, so that one can scroll left/right as well as up/down using the same scroll wheel.
3) Extra thumb buttons: by default, "forward"/"back" functions for web-browsing. I'm a Mozilla user, and I remapped mine to "close tab" (Ctrl+F4) and "open link in a new tab" (middle-click); note for "forward"/"back" mapping in Mozilla, use "alt+left arrow"/"alt+right arrow".
4) Cordless design for those who like that. Supposedly 6 month battery life...we'll see. But in any case, it uses AA batteries, which are plentiful and long-lasting in my household (both alkaline and NiMH).
5) Ambidextrous, comfortable, curvacious design. When test-holding different mice at Office Depot, I liked the feel of the Mediaplay better than the MX510 and MX1000. To each their own, test-hold the mice for yourself.
6) Media functions will work after a minimalist driver install (I used Setpoint 2.14 from www.logitech.com), CD is still unopened.
7) If you use the provided "extension dock," moving this mouse from one computer to another is super-easy, by just removing the USB receiver (looks like a USB flash drive) and plug it in elsewhere!


Cons (in my mind):
1) Cannot reassign the 5 media buttons (vol up/down, playpause, previous/next) with the software, as far as I know. I thought I was getting an 11-button (11 custom functions) mouse, but really it's more like a 6-button mouse with extra media features (which are nice, but I prefer FULL control. Also, I'm used to having a longer list of programmable features for mouse buttons, but all of my needs are on the list.
2) Setpoint driver trumps my old Logitech mouseware. I currently have my old Logitech C48 (FirstMouse Wheel) plugged into PS/2, but it no longer double-clicks when I middle-click (what I assigned).

All-in-all highly recommended!