It has been a long time since I got excited about a mouse...[Ed. Digression: The first time I was travelling to camp with my mother. I was 8 years old and we had just checked into the Mackinac Island Grand Hotel. My mom was taking a shower while I watched TV. Suddenly, there was a shreek...and she ran out of the bathroom clutching a towel so as not to scar me for life, screaming wildly, pursued by a little grey mouse that disappeared under the door to the room. It is hard for a battery driven mouse, however nobly designed to compete w/that memory for excitement.] This Logitech Anywhere Mouse MX does the trick.
Where was I? Oh yes. Exciting mice. Logitech's new Anywhere Mouse MX ($59.99 on Amazon) is worthy of one of those reviews that sounds like it started as a press release. It is that good, that exciting, and that amazing.
Starting up this wireless mouse couldn't be much easier: Insert battery. Check. Plug in the miniature USB receiver. Check. Wait a second...back that up a bit... Miniature receiver? What is that? Well...you know those dongles that most wireless mice require? You know, the ones that either get lost or crack off when you forget to remove them and shove your laptop into the case? Well, the Logitech uses a dongle, but it is unbelievably small. In fact, it only sticks out from the side of your case by about an eighth of an inch. Oh yes...it works with Logitech's keyboards as well.
Small is nice, but what makes this mouse groundbreaking (so to speak) is what Logitech calls DarkField technology. You see, this mouse can see through glass! Ever try using a laser mouse when you were in a hotel room...only to find that it wouldn't work on a glass surface. This mouse uses an invisible laser beam that slices through the glass like Darth Vader's lightsaber through Obiwan. (And, unlike Vader's weapon, this one doesn't hurt your tabletop.)
Logitech supplied the mouse I used in the test. The mouse was a pleasure to use with my laptop: I have a relatively small hand, so the device fit just perfectly. (A larger MX mouse if available for those who want this technology on their desktop in a larger form factor.) Our kid testers preferred this one's smaller shape.
The now-standard mouse features are all here: Scroll wheel. Check. Thumb buttons. Check. But, what makes this unique is that it works just about anywhere...whether you're working on a desk, the couch, or on the bed - or even a glass table.
It comes as no surprise that as the age of Touch Screens dawns, the mouse is reaching its zenith. It is hard to imagine a better mouse.
