Rating: 
Summary: Only good for limited use, waste of money.
Review: The Wireless Intellimouse Explorer is a very interesting mouse. It has the _basis_ of a pretty good mouse, but loses majorly in the details.
First, it is advertised as being ergonomic. That is is--it fits the hand very well. Unfortunately, holding it comfortably places the scroll button below the knuckle of the middle finger--far away from the fingertip used to scroll it. So in order to actually use the mouse, you can't hold it comfortably. Also, the heel of your hand rests on the mousing surface. It is difficult to describe. In short, the ergonomics are very annoying after a few hours of use. Lefties need not apply, this is a right-hand-only item.
The second issue is the major problem. The other, "wired" Microsoft Optical mice have two LED modes: bright and dim. When the mouse is moved, the sensor enters bright mode, and remains there until a few seconds after nothing happens. The Logitech wireless optical behaves likewise. For wireless mice, this results in relatively poor battery life--the Logitech wireless optical is reported to have a very short battery life. Microsoft thought this could be improved on, so this model has an elaborite powersaving system. It has some sort of hand presence sensor (electric, I guess--yes, it actually detects your hand), and turns off when it doesn't think anything's happening. Yes, off. If you're holding the mouse and it's not moving, it strobes at a frequency of about 1s. If you move or click, it turns all the way on. Sounds simple? It's not. For desktop use (that is, relatively low accuracy requirements), it works fine. Move the mouse, the cursor moves. However, for anything that requires more accuracy, i.e. games, major problems arise. It turns out that the mouse has some sort of minimum sensitivity--if you move less than a certain distance, nothing happens. So if you're sniping, for instance, and need to move a pixel left... you can't. This gets very annoying, very fast. I can't comment on battery life, since I've not been using it long enough.
There are other issues, also. I've had problems with this mouse in various DirectX games in Windows XP. The mouse noticably lags in Unreal Tournament, when other pointing devices don't. This might be solvable, I've not put enough effort into it.
The wireless system works well, and is usable to almost exactly six feet without breaking up.
Microsoft advertises an "accelerated scroll wheel". I think this is just part of the drivers, but it does in fact work well. Scrolling in IE is much easier.
To summarize a long and disorganized review, the Wireless Explorer can be pretty good if a) you like the ergonomics, a very polarized issue, b) you don't ever, ever play games, and c) you have no problem changing batteries periodically. Personally, I'm replacing my Microsoft with the Logitech wireless optical. Now if only Logitech made that insane Dual Optical in a wireless version.... mhmmm, power hog.
Rating: 
Summary: Great mouse. Won me over.
Review: I have been an IntelliMouse Explorer user for a little while, and was concerned about the trade-offs that I would have to endure with a wireless version. After using this mouse for three weeks, I can state without reservation "almost none".Setup was simple and nearly automatic (it was completely plug and play with Windows XP, not even needing the driver disk). I have yet to need to replace the batteries once, so I can't say that I have experienced what others have complained about as "short battery life". I have noticed the "wake-up lag" that others have experienced, but not in the normal way. I normally need to "wake-up" my monitor by jiggling the mouse. It now takes a "forward and back" jiggle, instead of just a "forward" jiggle. In short, my mouse is awake long before my monitor is. For anybody who uses a screen saver or a energy-saving mode on their monitor, this "problem" wont even be visible. What I wasn't prepared for is how nice it is to cut the cord between my mouse and the PC. It is such a relief, I don't know how I lived without it. I use the mouse, not only for simple tasks, but I also use it for graphics, and I haven't noticed a significant diminishment in precision over the hardwired Intellimouse (and I believe that it is better than any mechanical mouse I have used). Two thumbs way up.
Rating:
Summary: BEWARE!!!
Review: Think about the following before buying... If you read all the nice reviews here about this mouse, you'll find that most of them have some sort of issue with the mouse:
- The battery life is short (recharging cradle would be nice).
- The mouse makes noise.
- Return from power-saving mode is sluggish. To me the last item makes the mouse nearly unusable. Often, I'll be reading an article and try to scroll after a few seconds, but the mouse will not do anything for more than a second. Additionally, the mouse senses if you have your hand "in place" before powering up, so if you ever move the mouse with just a finger or two (sure, it's not often, but it happens), it will not work because it doesn't power up. UPDATED INFO (2001/11/25):
I've been in contact with Microsoft support. The customer service representative was very thorough in trying to remedy the delay in powering up. However, the final answer I get is, "Upon further research I have in-fact found what you are experiencing is a feature of the Wireless Explorer. This is by design to extend the battery life." One person's feature is another's bug.
Rating: 
Summary: Disappointing
Review: This mouse is not good in the precision department. It has ergonomic physical design, but it is unergonomic when you are trying hard to position the cursor for text editing. The only thing this mouse is good for is surfing the web. For text editing, programming, gaming, etc. I don't think this is a productive tool. You will stress yourself out trying to get the cursor positioned right. Get the corded version, there is an unbelievable difference in performance.
Rating: 
Summary: Great shape but technology not for everyone
Review: I've been using this mouse for a couple of days. I have also used the Logitech Cordless Mouseman Optical. The great thing about the Wireless Intellimouse Explorer is the shape -- absolutely perfect for my hand. Very comfortable and buttons are positioned well. And the feel of the buttons and wheel, after getting used to them, is great. But the problem is Microsoft's battery saving technology that shuts off the mouse when it detects no hand on the mouse. But this technology isn't perfect. Very often, if I scroll the wheel without moving the mouse, it won't respond because it doesn't detect my hand. So I have to shake the mouse a little bit so it "wakes up." Not a huge deal, but often a bit annoying. For me, I think I'll go back to a corded version.
Rating:
Summary: Great mouse that takes some getting used to
Review: I've owned 2 wireless mice from Logitech. I loved them so much that I would never go to a wired mouse again! The only problem was cleaning the ball and rollers. So I looked at getting an optical mouse. I chose Microsoft over Logitech because of its shape. It was the closest to the Cordless Mouseman Pro I've had for a long time. After installing it there was some tweaking I had to do such as customizing the speed and buttons - no big thing. BUT the cursor jerks and pauses if I move the mouse too fast AND it's hard to aim the cursor in situations where I need pinpoint precision such as graphics design and word processing. The problem might be my screen size, 1152 X 864. If I change to 800 x 600 it seems to be more precise though it will still pause and jerk, but not as much. I've changed surfaces and I can see a little improvement. The buttons feel sloppy, but they don't feel like they're gonna fall off. They do have a more positive "click" which I like. The scroll wheel has a more positive feel than my Logitech, which is great. I gave it 3 stars because of it's physical design and wireless freedom. I left out the other stars because of the jerks and pauses and its less precise than my Logitech. If I don't get used to it in a month I'm going back to the Logitech.
Rating:
Summary: Super Device
Review: This is a superb pointing device. It fits beautifully in the hand. The software is powerful and easy to install and it is packed with additional features. The optical pickup makes history of those sticking mechanical mice that need cleaning every few weeks. I'd like to back up 'JazzDiver' though - the mouse does emit a subtle high frequency (probably around 10 to 12KHz). Clearly not R.F. though. It is most definitely correlated to the pulsing LED that powers the optical pickup - probably a step-up oscillator that powers the LED. It is very subtle but I am sure most people would hear it if they put their ear near the mouse while using it (not that you do that!).
Rating:
Summary: It does make noise
Review: I just set up my mouse and I hear a high pitched noise but I dont think it is the RF. I think it has something to do with the light used to detect motion. Whenever I move the mouse the light lights up and I hear the high pitched noise. I dont actually think that the noise is a big enough problem to not buy the mouse though. I think it is by far the most comfortable mouse to use and is all around awsome and high tech feeling. I like it and am going to learn to ignore the noise. Go buy it now.
Rating:
Summary: Great Mouse, but some minor problems.
Review: I have used this mouse for about 2 weeks now on Windows XP Professional, but I have found some good and bad things about this mouse. One of the bad things I have noticed was that the battery life got very low after only 2 weeks use. Another bad thing was that sometimes the click action or response of the mouse buttons were kind of slow during certain times. The reasons why I like this mouse is because I don't have to worry about dragging a mouse cord across my desk and the grip of it was very comfortable. I also liked the new design of the 2 side browser buttons which allowed for better precision. So if you don't mind spending the money for this mouse, go ahead and get it, but if you are satisfied with other scroll mouses, go ahead and stick with them.
Rating:
Summary: RE: Sensitive Ears? IT'S NOT RF!
Review: Quick note about the whine that jazzdiver heard: It's definitely not the RF. No human can hear RF (we would not need radios if we could!). My mouse is nice and quiet, as it should be since it's optical. It has no moving parts or little rollers that could make noise, right?. I do believe that your mouse made noises, and I can't tell you why, but I'd suggest you go and exchange it :) The mouse rocks! It tracks on pretty much anything, it's fast and it's accurate... plus the advantage of being wireless!. The receiver can quietly sit by my monitor (which happens to have a USB hub built in!... goody, goody...) and now I can mouse in my low coffe table by my chair. Great mouse!
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