MX Revolution World’s Most Advanced Mouse – Review

Disclaimer: This is a Microsoft asset-tagged item that Microsoft Corporation provided ActiveWin and Teching It Easy for review under no obligation and that it is expected to be returned at the end of the review period.

Features:

Logitech SmartShift Technology

MX Revolution uses advanced technology to detect your current application and automatically apply the scroll mode that best fits the task at hand.

Hyper-Fast Scrolling

Fly through long documents at hyperspeed with the nearly frictionless alloy scroll wheel. Shift to precise click-to-click scrolling to navigate list, slides, and image collections.

Document Quick-Flip

Move effortlessly between documents. It’s never been easier to cut and paste between applications, compare documents, compare documents, or check e-mail.

Touch to Search

Highlight a word or phrase and press the Search button to instantly display results from your favourite search engine.

Rechargeable Cordless Laser

Rechargeable Li-ion battery, full-speed USB wireless technology, and a state-of-the-art laser engine deliver convenience and absolute precision.

System Requirements:

IBM or compatible PC

Windows Vista (requires Internet connection) or XP

USB Port

CD-ROM Drive

When I first laid eyes on this mouse, I knew I would want to spend the rest of my ergonomically correct life with it. A combination of design and aesthetics provides a first class computing experience that’s second to none. The futuristic appearance might intimidate some persons at first glance, but once you get to know this pointing device, you will be glad to hold the future in the palm of your hand (right hand preferably). I have been using generic PS/2 mice for years now, I recently transitioned to using an optical laser mouse on my main desktop system, which I consider to, be a great improvement since there is no longer a need to open the mouse and clean out the gunk that builds up over time. With the MX Revolution it’s the best of both worlds especially with it’s unique and advanced features like its deep integration with the Windows Vista operating system and contoured right-hand shape that make gripping and moving the mouse very comfortable.

The first advantage I found after using the mouse is, that its light, moving it around, pointing and clicking require little to no effort, this combination result’s in smooth wrist movement and close to no arm fatigue.

I wanted to take full advantage of the MX Revolution capabilities; so the best way to do this is to download and install the Logitech’s Set Point 4.0 software with improved Vista support, SetPoint 3.01 shipped with it, but has some Vista configuration issues. This software provides additional enhancements so you can get the most out of it. The installation was straightforward, but the wizard pages were a few too many, so I ended up spending a lot of time clicking and, clicking some more – a real pleasure with this mouse! See the following screenshots for a visual idea of what I went through:

Straightforward, but the wizard for the installation features too many pages. It’s a small trade off but nothing to get worried about, just that consolidating some pages would have been nice. Setpoint features options for assigning specific mouse commands depending on the application in use or throughout the Windows interface.

SETUP:

The mouse comes with a recharging station (dock) which you plug into your power outlet; and is used to recharge the mouse. Next is the Micro Receiver, a USB Thumb drive shaped device; which allows the mouse to be used wirelessly. The green LED lights on the upper edge of the mouse indicate if it’s fully charged and ready to be used. If it’s not, just place it back into the recharging station until it is ready. At the bottom is an on and off switch which you may use to preserve battery levels when not in use.

My favourite feature is hyper scroll which allows you to effortlessly move between applications without actually moving the mouse. SetPoint is grouped into four categories: Mouse Button Settings, Mouse Movement, Mouse Game Settings, Wheel Settings and Mouse Batteries in addition to a Tools group. The traditional old scroll wheel gets reworked for Revolution duty with two modes. The first mode is the standard ratcheting mode we are all used to. The second scroll mode is a simple change that makes a huge difference in daily use by allowing the wheel to freely spin. The normal left and right horizontal scroll is performed by moving the scroll wheel left or right.

In free-wheel mode the scroll wheel can spin for up to seven seconds according to Logitech. In my testing I saw longer spin times than that; scrolling for up to ten seconds at a time was not uncommon at all. That allows me to move through long pages scanning for specific content. I found it great to use on websites such as eBay and a great way to move through long Word documents. The fast scrolling is very easy to stop as well, simply place your finger on it and it stops on a dime.

Logitech made the MX Revolution Wireless Mouse intelligent; it can change the scroll mode on-the-fly depending on what it thinks is the correct mode for the task at hand. It does a pretty good job of it too. If you are scrolling slowly and little at a time it leaves itself in click mode, however, start scrolling faster and the wheel will automatically change to free-wheel mode.

I experienced some problems with the free-wheel mode when testing it free-wheel just would not work on all web pages. You will notice this when scrolling long pages with text entry fields. The free-wheel worked fine on the long pages in documents, but when I would mouse over the text entry field scrolling would not work, to be able to scroll through the long embedded text entry fields I would have to change to click mode by pressing the scroll wheel.

A few pages simply wouldn’t scroll in free-wheel mode at all. For instance while writing a review I was trying to scroll a web page in free-wheel mode and it simply wouldn’t scroll, a quick tap of the scroll wheel to change the mouse manually to click mode and I was back in business. Not nearly the hassle it sounds to be, but strange nonetheless. The normal middle click function of the scroll wheel is replaced with the ability to manually change between scroll modes.

Inside the SetPoint software:

Mouse Button:

Here you can specifically configure parts of the mouse to function the way you want it to in a particular program, whether its Microsoft Outlook or Adobe Acrobat. The great thing about the MX Rev is its pre programmed out of the box with standard motion settings that suit most users. The SetPoint software should have made it possible to assign Windows Search as the default for One-Touch-Search.

Mouse Movement:

Here you configure mouse settings for speed and acceleration of the pointer, as well as how fast you scroll and zoom. You can also specify whether you want to use a pointer trail and the Smart Move positioning feature when you open a new window or dialog. The pointer trail helps to locate the pointer on screens that are unclear or difficult to view.

Game Settings:

SetPoint enable its Game Detection settings and applies its own speed and Acceleration implementation or allows you can use Vista’s default options. Depending on the task you are carrying out, you can for example easily use the mouse for work, doing a presentation or gaming. SetPoint can automatically enable or disable mouse acceleration, and increase or decrease mouse speed when you are playing games. For instance, you can have acceleration switched on when you use most applications on your computer, so that when surfing the Internet or word processing you move quickly around the screen, but switched off when playing games to increase your accuracy and gaming effectiveness.

MX Revolutions Document Flip window

I think the best feature of the MX Revolutions is Document Quick Flip, which basically makes switching between applications as easy as 1, 2, and 3. When you click the Micro-Gear Precision wheel located at the left side of the mouse, the Document Flip window appears with a listing of all your open applications, you simply scroll and click the wheel to select an application without the need to move the mouse or use the left mouse button to click. It’s confusing at first, but once you get the hang of it, it’s a great experience. And if you’re using Windows Vista, this can optionally tie-into Flip3D as well.

Back and Forward buttons are a treat, located on the left-side of the mouse they make jumping through long documents a time saver. I had the buttons programmed to function for page forward and page backwards in SetPoint 4, but the button sometimes would refuse to function. After hitting the buttons a few times, the command would take place but the occasional difficulty in getting the navigation buttons to work was strange.

 

Left to right: Back, Document Flip, Forward, Left Click buttons

 

Left to right: Right click, Left Scroll, Manual Scroll, Right Scroll button

 

One Touch Search

Battery Life

The MX Revolution uses an integrated Li-Ion battery that is recharged on an AC powered base station you plug into a power outlet. It responded well on a variety of surfaces, including a matte based texture surface, typical mouse pad and hard wood desk. Battery life is good, on a full charge the Set Point software indicated battery life at about 17 days. I personally use a mouse way more than what might be considered normal, roughly 10-16 hours a day on average, with a minimum of four hours a day. I got about 4 days of use out of the battery before I was greeted with the red recharge me LED. When the mouse did run down, placing it on the recharging dock for an hour did the trick, and the battery was fully recharged according to the battery level indicator on the left side of the mouse.

Final Comments

  The Logitech MX Revolution is a great general purpose mouse, features such as Document Flip and the Back and Forward buttons makes working at your computer and more welcoming experience when using productivity applications and the web. Although I didn’t do much gaming with it, the MX Revolution will be welcomed also by casual gamers who will find the MX Revolution performs well; but hardcore gamers will want more sensitivity than the MX Revolution’s 480DPI will allow for.

 

 

 

 

Pro’s	Con’s
Sleek Design	Does not work well with left hand users
Light	Gaming Sensivity not perfect
Makes Application Switching easy	Takes a little time to adjust to the features
Works well with Windows Vista (SetPoint 4 drivers supports Vista x64)	Printed manual would have been nice with content for taking advantage of the features
Free-wheel scroll	Free-wheel scroll doesn’t work on all pages
Good battery Life

In the Box:

· Recharging station

· AC power cord

· USB micro dongle

· Logitech SetPoint CD (3.01)

· User’s guide

· 3-year limited warranty

Price

$99

Certified for Windows Vista

Windows Vista Logo Program: http://www.windowsvista.com/lookforthelogo

Logitech: http://www.logitech.com/index.cfm/products/upp/details/US/EN,crid=2676,contentid=12134&ad=revolution_mxupp