MaximumPC 2004 10

Reviews

F

or some strange reason, mouse

manufacturers occasionally

confuse their product with

Adidas sneakers, and insist on

embellishing the PC peripheral with

fancy, industrial, “designer” features.

The Microsoft S+ark and Logitech

MX1000 Laser are two such exam-

ples. While one mouse emphasizes

form over function and falls flat, the

other melds funky flare with stun-

ning performance.

—WILL SMITH

Microsoft S+ark

Normally, devices that are silver,

shiny, and lit in a fancy manner

make the Maximum PC Lab deni-

zens hoot and holler like chimpan-

zees. Sadly, though, no number

of bells or whistles could save

Microsoft’s new unwieldy anachro-

nism of a mouse from our wrath.

Problem number one: The

S+ark’s egg-shaped form-

factor casually dispenses

with any and all

notions of ergonomic

efficiency. It looks

great on paper, but

it’s a pain in the

hand, especially

during long mousing

sessions. This is particu-

larly surprising coming from the

maker of the Intellimouse Explorer

4.0—one of the most comfortable

mice we’ve ever tested.

Problem number two: The

S+ark has fewer features than the

Intellimouse Explorer. It includes

just three buttons (if you count

the clickable scroll wheel), and the

scroll wheel is a standard design,

not the nifty new tiltable type

featured in the latest version of

the Intellimouse Explorer.

Problem number three: The

clickable area of the primary

mouse buttons is much too large.

On the S+ark, the buttons are

made of a solid piece of plastic, just

like many of the newer MX mice

from Logitech. But while Logitech

makes just the front third of the

mouse button clickable, the S+ark’s

buttons are clickable for almost two-

thirds of its length, making inadver-

tent—and inconvenient—clicks a

frequent problem.

The S+ark’s futuristic lighted tail-

strip hardly makes up for its poor

ergonomics and unfortunate design.

The mouse has one positive attribute:

It’s ambidextrous. But if we were

southpaws, we’d learn to mouse right-

handed before we’d use this product.

Logitech MX1000 Laser

We’ve been using optical sensor

mice for the better part of a decade.

Minor improvements to the optical

sensor technology have improved

resolution and update speeds, but

we’ve seen no real revolutions—

until now. Logitech’s latest offering,

the MX1000 Laser, represents

the first significant technological

advance since Microsoft released the

first optical mouse way back when.

Logitech’s secret is laser lights.

Instead of using a simple LED to

illuminate the surface beneath the

optical sensor, the MX1000 uses an

infrared laser. Logitech claims that

because the photons in a laser

beam are aligned, it produces a

sharper image than an LED. This

lets you mouse on less-detailed sur-

faces—like glass—that have previ-

ously been un-mouseable. It also

makes the mouse’s movements

more precise, which our Lab tests

corroborated.

The MX1000 is wireless, with

built-in lithium-ion batteries that

are good for three or four weeks of

regular use. We especially like the

battery meter, which tells you when

your rodent needs

charging. During

testing, we found the

mousing motion so smooth it almost

felt as though the cursor was floating.

And while the super smoothness takes

a little while to adjust to, once we did,

we found it difficult to go back to a

standard optical mouse. The MX1000

is amply equipped with eight buttons

and a tiltable scroll wheel, although

only four of the buttons are comfort-

ably usable for gaming.

With the MX1000’s low latency

and high degree of precision, Logitech

has produced yet another mouse

that’s suited for gamers. It’s expensive

for a device that will be regularly

exposed to the perils of a PC geek’s

desktop, so cost-conscious consumers

may want to hold out for the less

expensive wired version that’s

expected to ship in a couple months.

Fancy,

newfangled,

industrial design

only impresses

us when it

complements

the function of

the device—not

impedes it.

90 MA XIMUMPC OCTOBER 2004

A laser sensor and

comfortable design

make the MX1000

a winner in our

book. Plus: It has a

battery meter!

Long-lasting Li-Ion battery, and top-notch optical-

sensor precision.

LASERS

TASERS

The battery isn’t user-replaceable.

$80, http://www.logitech.com

MA XIMUMPCVERDICT 9

Logitech MX1000 Laser

It works for righties or lefties!

APPLE IPOD

NOKIA 3650

Uncomfortable design and over-sensitive buttons

suck. Where’s the tilting scroll wheel?

$40, http://www.microsoft.com

MA XIMUMPCVERDICT 3

Microsoft S+ark