Rating: 
Summary: The mouse has button problems
Review: I bought this mouse after my original dell mouse gave up. I was excited by the potentials of so many programmable buttons and it worked great in the beginning. After a while the main button stopped working. When I click on something, it clicks it with a double click (even though it's set for a single click). When I try to click and drag, it doesn't hold onto the object I'm clicking and dragging on (Making it impossible to work with in PhotoShop or highlighting text). When I'm browsing the web, if I scroll through the page quickly it will take me back to previous page (very annoying). I'm running on Win 98. It has a good vision, but the execution will disappoint.
Rating: 
Summary: Affordable, high quality of Kensington!
Review: I immediately fell in love with this mouse the first time I used it. The contours fit perfectly into your hand, whether being left or right-handed.There are 4 programmable buttons, as well as the fifth button in the scroll wheel. The scroll wheel can be programmed as well. This mouse can be used with a USB or serial/ps2 connection. The convenience, which should I choose? USB of course, but for those of you who don't have a USB equipped computer, don't fret. The optical mouse are superb these days, since they do not require a good surface to be used on. Wheel mice are horrible now, how can I go back to a mouse with a dinky wheel?! I have a desk with a crack in the center, which a wheeled mouse would studder as I roll it over the crack. Not with this optical mouse, it doesn't even flinch when I roll it over the crack! I highly recommend this mouse to anyone who is skeptical about an optical mouse.
Rating:
Summary: Affordable, high quality of Kensington!
Review: I immediately fell in love with this mouse the first time I used it. The contours fit perfectly into your hand, whether being left or right-handed. There are 4 programmable buttons, as well as the fifth button in the scroll wheel. The scroll wheel can be programmed as well. This mouse can be used with a USB or serial/ps2 connection. The convenience, which should I choose? USB of course, but for those of you who don't have a USB equipped computer, don't fret. The optical mouse are superb these days, since they do not require a good surface to be used on. Wheel mice are horrible now, how can I go back to a mouse with a dinky wheel?! I have a desk with a crack in the center, which a wheeled mouse would studder as I roll it over the crack. Not with this optical mouse, it doesn't even flinch when I roll it over the crack! I highly recommend this mouse to anyone who is skeptical about an optical mouse.
Rating:
Summary: Funky buttons
Review: I love optical mice, but this one's buttons are either sticky or just nonfunctional. The buttons sometimes tell the computer that one click means "two clicks!" or "five clicks!" Other times, when I drag to select something, the selection doesn't hold. It makes me crazy. It comes and goes, but really makes my job difficult sometimes. I'm buying another one and throwing this one out the window.
Rating: 
Summary: The Buttons Break
Review: I purchased one of these mice soon after they were released, and was somewhat happy with it for about 5 months, then the primary button stopped working. Kensington sent me a replacement, and now, three months later, the primary button on that one is broken too. I'm still waiting for a second replacement since they are out of stock. Ergonomically, this mouse is terrible. It's impossible to pick it up while holding one of the buttons due to the flat edge all around on the bottom (as opposed to curved like apple's and most other mice). If you have large hands, find a different mouse. This one is designed for women or small-handed men, and provides no support for the palm of your hand.
Rating: 
Summary: Kensington Doesn't Regain My Loyalty from Microsoft
Review: In my review of the Microsoft Intellimouse Optical, I mentioned how I was still anxious to see how well the Kensington Optical Pro mouse would satisfy me. Ironically, a local advertisement the very next day found me quickly buying this mouse at half price. I knew the Windows 2000 drivers were still in beta form, but knowing the potential of this mouse from my prior experience with the Kensington Thinking Mouse, I was really looking forward to using it. But, what of the MS Intellimouse Optical that I was so happy with? One would become my primary mouse for my home PC while the other wound up being used at work. To my surprise, it is the Kensington that takes second place. For me, the biggest reason remains the poorly functioning Windows 2000 drivers. Under Windows NT all is fine, as I expect it is under Windows 93 or Millennium. If you are looking for a highly programmable mouse for use with anything but Windows 2000, I can recommend this mouse with one exception - the slick body and shape. First, the good points. The Optical Pro has what I'd come to expect of Kensington...a nice feel in primary two buttons and the wheel action. Where I find the MS Intellimouse Optical has a rather loose wheel - you can almost spin it - the Kensington wheel is tensioned nicely and doesn't spin freely at all. Similarly, I prefer the slightly greater effort required to depress the primary two mouse buttons. As with the Intellimouse, optical tracking seems very good and precise; I have no complaints at all here. Finally, the MouseWorks driver - In a nutshell, it is the most versatile mouse software I've ever seen. Although potentially confusing for some, the flexibility comes through the dynamic reprogramming of the mouse keys as you move from one application to another. If you only have a few applications with tailored mouse key functionality, it isn't that hard to keep them straight. The negatives: The aforementioned lack of Windows 2000 drivers; I think it is pretty ridiculous that Kensington is so late in the game with providing any working Win2K drivers, given that the O/S is now about 1 year old. Otherwise, I don't like two aspects of the design. Although one's hand rests very comfortably upon the mouse, the surface is a rather slick plastic. This wouldn't be a big problem save for the fact that the mouse is tapered to a narrower "tail", and a light grip on the mouse will often find your hand sliding off as you pull backwards. True, a slightly snugger grip eliminates the problem but it also increases the tension in your hand over an extended period of use. In this regard, the MS Intellimouse has a much nicer contour that is overall more comfortable to use. While Kensington could contour the Optical Pro differently, another solution would be to simply substitue a more grippy and perhaps rubberized texture to the mouse. The other issue is with the side buttons which, while not difficult to control, could be improved by moving them forward a bit more and slightly relaxing the tension to depress them. Buttons squeezed in from the sides should be more lightly tensioned while those on top should be more firmly tensioned, in my opinion. Overall, this is a good product that could be a great one with a little more tweaking of the ergonomics and the provision of fully working Windows 2000 drivers. Given that a mouse is one of the most frequently used PC peripherals, I strongly encourage trying one out for "fit" before purchase, checking local stores for display models.
Rating: 
Summary: Not bad for the price
Review: It is not the most comfortable mouse I have ever used but the software that comes with it is very easy to use. I like being able to easily program the buttons. Also, the fact that dust and other stuff doesn't get inside the mouse causing the ball to go crazy is awesome.
Rating:
Summary: Some Problems
Review: Overall this mouse is a good buy with some problems. The Problems are mainly in Windows 2000 drivers, which were mentioned by the other reviewers before me. Yet I have to say that it works great with Macs, including OSX. The feel of the mouse is very good, but if you have ever used Logitech's ergonomic mice, you will find that the shape of the mouse matters more than you thought. It will take some time for you to get used to the thumb button especially, which is not as easily workable. Nevertheless an OK deal for the money.
Rating:
Summary: Best bet for a Mac user.
Review: Some months back, I took the plunge for a Mac Titanium G4 PowerBook. This resulted in all sorts of "legacy" issues for my then-existing peripherals, thanks to USB and FireWire replacing the older SCSI, LocalTalk and ADB protocols. And of course the replacement of ADB by USB required my getting a new mouse. I'm pleased to report that this Kensington Optical Pro mouse is not only the last word in flexibility and programmability; it is a bargain as well. And, for the Mac, there are absolutely no mouse driver issues, as some Windows 2000 users have reported below. For all the months that I have already used this mouse, I find little need so far to resort to its by-application programmability: The default settings seem to be all that I need, since I've long since committed to memory all of the relevant keyboard shortcuts that a programmed mouse might well provide. Particularly fine are the mechanical feel and the default action of the scroll wheel. (For web browsing, this default action is really appreciated. The inherent scroll speed of the G4 PowerBook is often simply too fast to control.) The optical tracking system is flawless. I use this mouse on a very smooth desktop made of a material that is largely "featureless" and marvel at the ability of the optical system to accurately register movement relative to this featureless surface. Many years ago, I had a very early version of an optical mouse, made by Mouse Systems - a company no longer in existence so far as I know - for which a special "grid" mouse pad was required. That was not a problem, but now, for this Kensington mouse, a special pad is no longer needed. I have only one quibble, and it is a very minor one. The cable need not be nearly as long as it is as provided by Kensington, at least not for a laptop. Perhaps there should be two versions which differ only by cable length: One for desktop computers and one for laptops. Highly recommended for the Mac user. Windows users should refer to the other reviews here to make sure that they can be satisfied with the device.
Rating:
Summary: A Powerful Mouse with Shortcomings in Windows 2000
Review: The day after writing a review of my Microsoft Optical Intellimouse, against which I questioned if the Kensington Optical Pro would steal back my Kensington loyalty, I found the Kensington mouse locally at half-price. Because of the low price, I went ahead and bought it in spite of uncertainties regarding the Windows 2000 drivers. In short, if you use Windows 2000, I do not recommend this mouse. Kensington is still developing their drivers and only have a beta release available for Win2K, identified as version 5.60b8 (as of 1/18/01). On my system I found the mouse might initially work just fine but would lose functionality of the keys after a short period of time. Although my system multi-boots between Win2K and Windows Millennium, I didn't try the mouse out under the latter, since Win2K is more frequently used. So, for now I have relegated the mouse to use on my Windows NT4 PC at work, where it does perform just fine and with the full dynamic reprogramming of the mouse buttons as I switch between applications. I did have problems initially with scrolling in Internet Explorer 5.5 but that was resolved by selecting "Office 97 Style" scrolling in the MouseWorks control panel. Given that the mouse works properly with WinNT4, I'm pretty confident that it would work well also in Windows Millennium, since those drivers are likely quite similar to the Windows 9x drivers that, like WinNT4, have been around long enough to have matured. That is, Windows 2000 was quite a large change and thus I guess one could expect drivers for it to be more unique than those for the other operating systems. Regardless, it is quite annoying that Kensington doesn't have out fully working drivers for Windows 2000 as the O/S is now about 1 year old. Ergonomically, my opinions are mixed in comparison to the Microsoft Optical Intellimouse. On both mice, I'd rather see the side buttons moved forward just a bit more, and that is more true of the Kensington mouse which requires more effort to depress the buttons. The top mouse buttons on both mice have a comfortable activation effort, but I'd give a nod to the Kensington as being closer to my personal preferences. And, as expected, I do much more prefer the tension on the wheel of the Kensington. This is more noticeable as I switch between the mice at home and at work. The MS mouse wheel can literally be spun with a flick of the finger while the Kensington cannot; I prefer the added feel of the latter. As for the mouse body, the Kensington loses out to the MS mouse in two aspects: A slicker surface finish that wouldn't be so bad if not also for the body tapering toward the bottom. With the slick finish, the result is the mouse requires a firmer grasps as you pull it back towards you. While the taper may fit the lower part of one's palm better, adding some outward contour to the mouse sides would've improved things. With exception of the Kensington Thinking Mouse which I really liked the comfort of, I've long thought Microsoft holds the reign on overall comfort in the shapes they use in their Intellimouse series. Of course, this is probably a very personal choice, where others may favor the very sculpted Logitech designs. I'm giving this mouse 4 stars since I suspect a greater majority of PC users will be running Win9X/Me/NT4 systems than Windows 2000. Although there are some ergonomic shortcomings, the overall MouseWorks functionality remains a very strong selling point in my mind. For Windows 2000 users, I recommend the MS Optical Intellimouse until Kensington delivers fully working drivers; at that point, you'll have to let your own ergonomic preferences dictate the final choice.
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