iConcepts 5 Button Wired Laser Mouse - USB/PS2 (83050N)

List Price: $19.99 Discount Price: $19.99

Features:

• Advanced laser technology provides 30x more accuracy than an optical mouse
• Switchable laser sensor resolution from 800 to 1600 dpi
• Convienient back & & forth side buttons for web browsing
• Ergonomic design for comfortable use

Customer Reviews:

Much better than the cheap, crappy one I had before [Posted on 2008-07-07]
Had a mouse from over 8 years ago. It was becoming useless. Because of online gaming and various other reasons, I decided to try this one. Love it. Suits my gaming, online, and computer needs. I would recommend it to pretty much everyone that can use more than 4 buttons.

Was hoping for better [Posted on 2008-09-09]
For the past decade or so I've been a Logitech mouse user; I have loved their mouses. But lately I had gotten into a cycle of spending $50 to $70 for a Logitech mouse and having it break within 12-18 months. Tired of spending so much for a product that lasts such a short time, I wanted to try something different.

My main requirement was: (1) a wired mouse (I don't like having to deal with the vagaries of wireless mouses); (2) 5 buttons: the usual left/right and center button/scroll bar with "back" and "forward" buttons on the side, very convenient for many applications, especially web browsing.

This iConcepts mouse fit my requirements and for only $20 I wanted to give it a try. After using it for 4 months, I've been disappointed and finally stopped using it. The problems I encountered/disliked were:

(1) The mouse did not move smoothly and easily over the type of mouse pad I've been using for the past 15 years or so. I had to switch to a mouse pad with a much smoother surface just to get the main mouse motion to be smoother (the replacement mouse pad did help a bit).

(2) Even with the smoother mouse pad, I still found problems with the mouse sort of "sticking" to the mouse pad through just friction. For example, I do a fair amount of image editing, which often requires you needing to move the pointer just a pixel or two on the screen. That's very difficult to do with this mouse--you start applying a little pressure to try to move the mouse just a smidgen, it "sticks", then when it finally moves, it causes the pointer to move much farther than you intended; 20-30 pixels instead of 1 or 2.

(3) Basic motion of the pointer on the screen doesn't always match what I'm expecting. That is, I might want to move the pointer to close a window, I move the mouse in the direction I want the pointer to go, and I end up in an unexpected place, too high or too low, too far left or right. And like I said in some applications I use, it's very important that the pointer matches the mouse movement I'm expecting.

I was a bit surprised that this "laser" mouse didn't have a visible laser light (usually red) that I've seen in other laser mouses. I did try a few times pressing the button on the bottom of the mouse which is supposed to increase its accuracy/resolution (I think), but for me it just seemed to approximatly double its speed moving the pointer across the screen and didn't solve the other problems mentioned above.

I *wanted* to give this product a good review as an inexpensive alternative to overpriced Logitech mouses, but unfortunately I cannot and I've had to give up using this mouse in favor of the cheap-o Dell mouse that came with my computer (no back/forward buttons, but it otherwise works very well).

Click here for more details and discount information...