Microsoft M60-00006 IntelliMouse Explorer for Bluetooth

Rating:
Summary: Not for gamers!
Review: Beautiful mouse! Mouse would be just fine for anyone not intending to play fps games. Mouse movements are jumpy when moving the mouse around at a very slow speed. I will be forced to buy the wired version just for gaming.
Edit: Returned product after only a week of use. Pointer lag got too frustrating! Gamers BEWARE!

Rating:
Summary: XP SP2 only, no on/off switch
Review: First problem. Neither Amazon's nor Microsoft's web page mention OS compatibility. Unfortunately, the box says "XP with Service Pack 2" only. I can think of no technical reason a mouse would require SP2.

[ Correction. Amazon's site does say XP SP2 only, but you have to click on Technical Details which I did not do. So that was my mistake. -rlau ]

My Powerbook (10.3.3) recognizes it as a "Microsoft Mouse" but passkey exchange to pair the devices hangs indefinitely. The solution is to open Bluetooth preferences while the exchange is spinning, select the mouse and Browse. The Bluetooth utility will complain that the device does not support browsing, but voila, the passkey exchange "completes", actually silently fails. You will have basic mouse functionality - movement, left/right buttons and vertical scroll, but nothing else. It appears Intellipoint 5.2 is required for full support, but only 5.1 is available for OS X. My existing Intellimouse Explorer (wired) is not recognized by 5.1, so I had to reinstall 5.0. Also, back under Bluetooth preferences, you will see that the devices are not paired.

Second problem. No on/off switch. It wakes up (LED lights) with any movement, even if the PB is not on. This could mean hours of wasted battery life while the mouse is sitting in my case while travelling. Maybe power-saving can be configured via software, but I cannot verify this since I only have OS X and W2K boxes.

Otherwise, it feels great in my hand. Maybe Microsoft will release Intellipoint 5.2 for OS X someday...

Rating:
Summary: work with Window 2000 on ThinkPad
Review: I got this yesterday. My IBM thinkpad T40 is running window 2000 and it does not work with 2000. T40 has a built-in bluetooth. I downloaded a new "Bluetooth Place" software from IBM to T40 and it works now. Excellent performance. No lag time. I left T40 on before going to bed. When I got up in the morning, T40's mouse point moves right away after I touched this mouse. It behaves exactly as a wired mouse. Only one problem so far, it is too big. I could barely hold it. It is ridiculous.

Rating:
Summary: Love my bluetooth mouse !
Review: I hate wired mouses and really like working with a glide point. Got my bluetooth mouse for Christmas and love it.

Rating:
Summary: The Cadillac of Mice
Review: Purchased this mouse over two weeks ago, and have had no problems with it at all. After reading reviews on Amazon about how this mouse is quirky and consumes batteries quickly, I was worried I would be returning it soon but don't think I will be doing that after all.

I am confused about the models... most of the reviews on Amazon are for the M60-00001, which I guess is an older version of this mouse? At any rate, this one installed in under a minute on my Dell Latitude D800 with Windows XP and SP2, works great, and after two weeks of more then eight hours of use each day is still going strong on its first set of batteries. If they died now I would be content.

I had Dell TrueMobile Bluetooth hardware already in the computer so I did not want to use the included USB-Bluetooth transceiver (whats the point of using a USB transceiver with Bluetooth, anyway). So I decided to try it without the USB transceiver and without installing the included software, and it works great without either. Apparently, if the software was installed the "tilt wheel" function would work (the scroll wheel can be pushed horizontally) but I don't think that is worth the trouble that according to other reviews seems to go along with the software.

My advice: If you have Windows XP w/ SP2 and Bluetooth hardware already on your computer, do not install the software and do not use the included transceiver. Do this and you will have no trouble and be very happy with this Cadillac of mice.

Rating:
Summary: Nice mouse...awful bluetooth!
Review: The mouse itself is quite nice...includes a multi-directional scroll wheel.

The problem is with the bluetooth software. Microsoft bluetooth mice will only work with Microsoft bluetooth software, and MS bluetooth software isn't very good. It doesn't include a serial port, so forget about hotsyncing your bluetooth PDA through the BT dongle that's included. The MS bluetooth software does not allow you to make use of ICS on Windows XP, which is even more bizarre. In fact, forget about using almost any bluetooth product that's not Microsoft. Typical of Microsoft.

Save your money..avoid this mouse. Use another brand of bluetooth mouse...or juse buy an rf mouse and save money. Bluetooth technology is vastly overrated, horribly complex, and frequently incompatible with devices from other companies.

Rating:
Summary: This bluetooth mouse is excellent
Review: When I first purchased this mouse there were no reviews written on it so I blindly purchased it for use with my Dell 8600 notebook. My notebook was running XP w/SP1 with Dell installed bluetooth. I had no trouble installing and setting up the mouse, without using the provided software and transceiver. I have been so happy with this product that when my current wireless IntelliMouse that I use with my desktop stopped working I installed this mouse on my desktop. To install this on my desktop I had to install SP2, because the provided software will not install unless you are using SP2. After installing SP2, and the provided IntelliPoint 5.2 software the mouse was working like a charm. For the people that are complaining about battery life, I am using the same set of batteries in this mouse (And I do not take them out) that I installed in the mouse back in September when I first bought it to use with my notebook. The cordless IntelliMouse that I replaced used to eat batteries about once a month, but that is no longer true with these current versions. After I installed this on my desktop, I wondered if I could communicate with the Microsoft transceiver that comes with this unit and my Motorola V600 cell phone. I was delighted to find that I could download anything from this phone to my desktop and/or use the phone for a modem, all through the provided Microsoft transceiver that comes with this mouse. I have found no problems with pointer lag as long as you go into the setup and adjust the speed to what you are comfortable with. In conclusion this mouse will work without Microsoft software installed and the transceiver will work with bluetooth devices that are not Microsoft. I don't usually write reviews, but when I logged on to purchase my second one of these (to replace the one I stole from my notebook) I read all of the negative reviews and felt that I should add my experience. Great product, but you need a bluetooth computer and/or you need to install SP2. I would recommend this to anyone and I have already purchased my second.