Cut off the tail and try the Microsoft Wireless Laser Mouse 5000

Recently I decided it was time to do a little bit of an upgrade to my computer. I wanted to switch from my old corded optical mouse, and go cordless by purchasing a new wireless mouse. After doing a little bit of shopping around, I decided on purchasing the Microsoft Laser 5000. This mouse from Microsoft seemed to have quite a few features I liked, and I picked it up at a local electronics retailer for $39.99.

Besides the mouse, the package also includes a CD with the Microsoft Intellipoint software, as well as a small receiver that plugs right into a USB port on your computer. It also comes with two AA batteries, that you need to insert in the bottom of the mouse.

The Microsoft Laser 5000 can be installed on computers running Macintosh or Microsoft Windows with the following operating systems.
Apple MacOS X 10.2 • Apple MacOS X 10.3 • Microsoft Windows 2000 • Microsoft Windows XP Home Edition • Microsoft Windows XP Professional • Microsoft Windows XP Tablet PC Edition • Microsoft Windows XP Media Center Edition

45 MB of hard disk space are also required, installation requires 100 MB

You will also need a CD drive to install the software as well as an available USB port on your computer to plug the receiver into.

Installing the software was really easy, all you have to do is follow the instructions after putting the CD into your computer. After the software is installed, you then have the option to set up this five button mouse pretty much any way that you'd like. Any of the buttons on this mouse can be easily programmed for the following functions.

Click, right click, next window, back, forward, auto scroll, middle click, disabled, alt, close, copy, cut, ctrl, delete, double click, enter, exit program, gaming toggle, magnify, maximize, minimize, new, open, paste, redo, shift, show/hide desktop, undo, zoom in, zoom out, keystroke, precision booster, or start.

As you can see, the options with this mouse will allow you to set it up to do pretty much anything. I have mine set up with the normal left click and right click on the top buttons, and programmed to page forward or backwards with the side buttons, which comes in real handy for me as I surf the internet.

One thing I noticed immediately when I first started using the Microsoft Wireless Laser Mouse 5000 was that it didn't light up like my old optical mouse did. My old optical mouse used to have a red glow to it, and my new laser mouse doesn't light up at all. As a matter of fact, the laser tracking beam of this mouse is entirely invisible! The mouse itself has a very nice ergonomic design can be used by either left or right handed people. I myself, have found it to be very comfortable, and the buttons click with ease. The size of the mouse itself is pretty much the same as any other mouse that I have used in the past. It's not overly large or too small. I have noticed though that it does seem to weigh a little bit more. This is probably due to the fact that it holds two AA batteries. The receiver for this mouse isn't very big at all and doesn't take up much room on top of your desk. It is oval shaped and approximately 4" long x 3" wide, and about 1 1/2" high. The mouse should operate within a range of 6 feet from the receiver, and the box says you should expect an average battery life of six months or more.

I also noticed that the scrolling wheel of this mouse has a little different feel to it than others that I've used. Instead of the wheel clicking when you turn it forward or backwards, it has a smooth feel to it as you roll the wheel. When I first started using this laser mouse, the wheel seemed as if it was kind of tight to turn, but I think that's just because it's made a little bit different than other mice that I have used. Now that I've been using it for a few weeks, I'm completely used to it, and it seems as normal as ever. I have also noticed that with a 1000 dpi cursor control, the Laser Mouse 5000 has a very precise feel to it as you move the pointer around the screen. It seems much more precise than my old Microsoft optical mouse.

One of the features I thought was cool about this mouse was using the magnifier. This allows you to magnify portions of your screen, so that you can check out the tiniest of print or details of any web page with just a click of the mouse. It works pretty much like a magnifying glass that you can move around the screen to check out what ever you want in detail. I'm sure this might be a very handy feature for some people (like me) that have a hard time seeing very small print.

Overall, I must say that I'm very happy with my purchase of my new Microsoft Wireless Laser Mouse 5000 as it seems to be quite an upgrade from my old optical mouse.

Thanks for reading my review
hddan