Buy Now...

Every year most rodent manufacturers temp you with new offerings and Microsoft are no exception, here I am looking at two that include new IntelliPoint software that magnifies a portion of what you are looking at, just another new feature.

Microsoft Laser Mouse 6000

This is marketed as a ‘gamers’ mouse. It is a USB offering suitable to work on both a PC or MAC computer. To use the Laser Mouse you will need to be using Windows XP or Windows 2000. To use the new features listed below you will need to install the new IntelliPoint software around 100MB of space needed for installation.

Precision Booster is a technology that gives you two speeds of scrolling. Gaming Toggle allows you to quickly switch between favourite weapons using a button on the rodent. Integrated buttons now allow even left handed people to feel normal as you can switch what does what. I suppose this could also be a temporary security device as buttons doing different things could fool the unsuspecting. There is now also a thinner more flexible cord. I will mention the magnifier tool below.

See also: Keyboards and Mice

more

Certainly you do not need a mouse mat as this rodent seems to function on most surfaces. The stated price is just under £40.

Microsoft Wireless Notebook Optical Mouse

Certainly a lot of notebook users will be interested in a reasonably small rodent with no tether, it is easily small enough to fit in a pocket and when not in use the wireless receiver fits in the base of the mouse.

Lack of a mouse is the main reason that a lot of otherwise normal computer users cannot get to grip with the trackpad on their notebook. A lot of people have also got used to the scroll wheel on a standard mouse and certainly miss it on a notebook. Like the Laser Mouse above this is also USB or the wireless receiver is anyway.

Again precision movement features with the ability to switch between 1000 and 6000 DPI. The tilt wheel technology not only supports vertical scrolling but also horizontal great for those large spreadsheets. You will require Windows XP or Windows 2000 and need 100MB of hard disk space for installation of the new IntelliPoint software, that is required for a lot of the features. Again this features the magnifier tool and it is likely to be more used on notebooks where screen size is probably smaller than on the desktop.

This is a smaller form factor than a standard desktop rodent but I like it even on a desktop PC and also not having a lead is nice as you are not constrained. The stated price is just under £25.

Both the mice feature the magnifier tool and when used in the right environment it can be both a time and sight saving tool. The main example would be a large spreadsheet but anything where you need to delve for detail it can be most helpful. Easy to open, easy to use rather like sticking a magnifying glass over part of a page.

http://www.microsoft.com/uk/mouseandkeyboard/default.mspx