78 OCTOBER 2019|COMPUTERSHOPPER|ISSUE 380
ANYONEWHOSPENTthe turn of the
millennium in either an office or their school’s
computer room will recognise the Microsoft
Intellimouse.Itwas part of aseries of cheap
yet well-made peripherals from the Windows
firm, and that particular combination of
qualities ensured that this black and grey
mouse would be the bulk-bought PC rodent
of choice forinstitutions of all kinds, not to
mention all the home users. The very first
Intellimouse even had the distinction of
introducing the scroll wheel to an unfamiliar
public, all the wayback in 1996, and we can
all see how important that little piece of
hardware turned out to be.
Despitethe brand’s success, the 2006
Intellimouse Explorer 3.0 appeared to be
Microsoft’s last, and even that was just a
relaunch of a2003 model, with the angle that
it was now agaming mouse instead of an
office one.Now,however,it’s back with a
familiar face: the Classic Intellimouse,a
modern remake of the Explorer 3.0 version,
which drops the gaming focus in exchange
forasimple dose of nostalgia.
CALL ITACOMEBACK
Exterior changes are minimal. There’s aslightly
darker colour scheme,the Microsoftlogo has
been updated, and the Intellimouse Explorer
3.0’s distinctive red tail light is now aclean
white. Otherwise,it’s as close to aone-to-one
copyascould be imagined, right down to the
little bump on the first side button.
As you’d hope,however,there have
been some updates to bring the Classic
Intellimouse in line with contemporary
performance.Chiefly,the old 400dpi sensor
is now aBlueTrack sensor that can be
manually set up to 3,200dpi, although we
found the default 1,600dpi setting sharp
enough fora3,200x1,800 displaywithout
feeling overly twitchy.
Forthe unfamiliar,Microsoft’s BlueTrack
feature supposedly enables smooth cursor
movements on surfaces that would confound
conventional laser and optical sensors. Sure
enough, the Classic Intellimouse works well
enough not just on awooden desk, but on
paper,canvas and even carpet. It’s apretty
good showcase of the tech, and the only time
it struggled was when we tried using a
notebook as amousemat replacement.
The texture wasn’t aproblem, but the text
on the cover was: sudden and total changes
in colour seem to confuse the sensor.
MICROSOFT
ClassicIntellimouse
★★★★★
£27•From http://www.amazon.co.uk
VERDICT
It’sbasedonadecades-olddesign,but
the ClassicIntellimouseisreadyto meet
moderndemands
This revived
Intellimouse can also
be configured with
customised inputs, via the
MicrosoftMouse and Keyboard
Center application. This isn’t
available formacOS or,weirdly,
Windows 10 S, but if you’re on a
mainline version of Windows you can
have each of the five buttons and the scroll
wheel perform different tasks, as well as
change the sensor resolution. It’s asmart,
modern updatefor amouse that could have
been lefttocoast on its looks and feel.
Speaking of which, it’s important to
separatethe nostalgic, slightly mythical
memory of Intellimouse units being built like
tanks from the cold, hard reality,which is that
the Classic Intellimouse is nicely built but
absolutely not to apremium standard. The
thumb buttons wobble,the cable is simple
rubber rather than braided, and the plastic on
the underside is prone to scratching.
HAND CARVED
All that said,it’s farfrom fragile.Despitebeing
almost entirely plastic, there’s acertain
solidness to the frame,with no bending or
flexing at all. Even the clicking mechanisms
walk the perfect line between firm and
springy.It’s also light enough to quickly
flick around, while being just substantial
enough that you can make fine movements
without accidentally overshooting.
Perhaps more importantly,it’s very
comfortable.The Classic Intellimouse shows
that merely getting the basic shape right can
be enough foraneasy-to-use mouse.Its
contours and curves will work foravariety of
grips, and strips of rubber on either side both
add to comfort and prevent the thumb or
ring finger from slipping off on to the desk.
That’s aparticularly vital point foramouse
without athumb rest such as this.
The smaller side button’s bump also
makes it easier to find by touch, and the
scroll wheel action has apleasant graininess.
We wish it were slightly higher profile,
however: if you have long fingers, you might
find, as we did, that you have to bend your
finger downwards to get agrip on it without
feeling the friction of the surrounding plastic.
The same goes forfinding sufficient purchase
to perform amiddle-click.
OLDWAYS
There are other problems, too, or at the very
least, omissions. Being able to change the
dpi setting is great, but that’s why so many
mice –including the dinkyAsus TUF Gaming
M5 –include abutton to toggle through
presets on the fly.The Classic Intellimouse
lacks this, and so if you want to have one
sensitivity setting fordesktop use and a
different one forgaming, you’ll need to load
up the Keyboard and Mouse Center app
every time you switch between the two.
There’s also no free-wheel setting forthe
scroll wheel, which would have been another
good wayofmodernising the Intellimouse
design without spoiling the appeal to purists.
These aren’t necessarily deal breakers,
however,especially if you prefertostick with a
single dpi setting. At £27 it’s also very well
priced, coming in even cheaper than the Asus
ROG Gladius. The latter’s dpi switch makes it
slightly better as acheap gaming mouse,but if
you’re looking to upgrade an office setup,the
Classic Intellimouse is just as good achoice in
2019 as its ancestors were in 1999.
MICE
The Classic Intellimouse shows thatmerely getting the
basic shape rightcan be enough foraneasy-to-use mouse.
Its contoursand curves will work foravariety of grips
