it has finally arrived. i waited as long as one month for the microsoft wireless mobile mouse 4000 to hit the stores and, when it finally did, i kind of waited a little bit more to see if it appeared in a store where i could walk to. it didn’t, and during that period i also checked a few other mice that in the meantime might have appeared. logitech’s m305 did but, though 5 euros cheaper, i didn’t like the fact that there was no good information about it on the web. i went to mediamarkt to check out a v220, which seemed to have the same shell, and i didn’t like it. i was afraid that the microsoft’s wouldn’t please me as well. the only problem with that is that shipping costs aren’t refunded when returning items, but it all ended started well.
this is my first both wireless laser mouse. i wanted to buy one because i am tired of having to handle with cables for the mouse when i move around with the laptop, and i wanted a laser mouse just because.
the packaging from the store is nothing special. the shipping is through chronopost, which i think is a good thing. having a sister that worked for the regular post office i kind of know how somethings are treated. the package took less than 24 to arrive since the payment was confirmed, but the payment was only requested after 2 work days, just like announced in the website.
the box isn’t nearly as hard to open as others in the reviews. this one was almost just paper and this just got out easily.
mine didn’t ship with cds or manuals, at least not after i threw them in the trash, because no one needs those when there’s internet. the relevant contents are in the following picture. one of the reasons i chose this mouse was the announced life span of 10 months, for just one battery, which is high than most available, and i’m always concerned with this sort of stuff, not because it becomes too expensive, but because energy efficient hardware is one of the things i always look for.
the nano receiver sticks just a bit out of the socket, it is also a must for this purchase, because having a cable or a large stick is more or less the same thing for me. i calculated that i could find a great spot for the receiver, and i found it indeed. =)
another thing that i should expect from this mouse was that it had to work under linux, otherwise it would be nothing more than rubbish for me. as soon as i plugged the receiver i ran dmesg, and turned the mouse on just after. everything worked as expected! the side button goes back in browsers, and the horicontal scroll is a click that, as it seemed to me, jumps to the left/right-most side of the scroll bars.
due to the long wait, i was building up too much expectation, and when i first grabbed it felt a bit cheap on the plastics. i stll think it is, objectively, but no more nor less than any other mouse i have used, to be honest. the scroll wheel doesn’t “click” when scrolling. i personally would prefer that it did, because it is easy to accidentally scroll on a page, but this could be a good thing, if it makes me move the hand away from the injuring mouse position when not needed. i tried moving the mouse from 4 meters away, and it worked perfectly, even with a wall in the way, but i think above 5m it starts failing. i don’t expect to be using it more than a few cm away from the receiver, so this is not relevant.
so i’m happy with the mouse, overall. i only wish i won’t forget too much to turn it off, and i’ll see how long the battery lasts…