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Today we take a look at a competitive mouse that has been around for a while, but still hasn't recieved as much attention as it deserves. I'm talking about the MX700, big brother to the fabled MX500 in the world of e-Sports. While the new MX510 is making waves, this mouse does not have a real counterpart in the cordless arena (yet). Please note the MX900 is a Bluetooth device and is not widely as favored as the MX700. It was not considered in this review.
To start off, we're going to take a look at the technical aspects of this mouse. The MX Optical Engine, slated as the new precedent for opticals, is present in this mouse and you'll probably notice it when you move it around. Processing the images, it captures and analyzes 4.7 megapixels of data per second. This is good because the more it can capture and process, the more available information to help determine accurate results over different surfaces or sudden movements. The sensor is what actually pulls in the information. Much like the eye of the mouse, it depends on the small surface details to detect movement. This makes the mouse (and presumably the other MX mice) good for wooden surfaces, traditionally not as favored for use as a pad or other surface. Dark wood can still present problems sometimes, but this is a factor regarding the laser not the mouse. It can happen with all mice. The same applies for glass or reflective surfaces as well. Compared to the IntelliMouse Explorer 3.0, which has 6,000 Hz for sampling, this mouse may seem lacking at around 5,250Hz. It is also 800 dpi and for being a cordless, really makes up for the difference. This is not real-world noticable, but worth noting in this section. Also, it is over 2.5 times faster than other cordless mice, which is obviously very good.
It has a range of around six to seven feet and personally, I have tested this from wall to wall in a room and it worked that far, however it wasn't nearly as easy to use six feet from the monitor. I warn you, don't stand six feet away and expect to move it pixel-by-pixel (unless you're Superman!). I don't see any real-world reason for trying that, either (although I may comment on this again later). Sporting a different type of Radio Frequency from your remote control, this baby uses the new Fast RF technology which allows it to go through vertical and horizontal objects, even on a plane higher or lower than that of the receiver! This is truely useful, since you may not have room to keep the base reciever on the same level as the mouse on a desk (more on that reciever later). This technology supposedly gives the same reporting rate as other corded mice (i.e. the MX500 counterpart). Here's the nitty gritty. It's transmission rate is 6kbps up to six feet and it's encrypted with a 12-bit digital ID - Logitech's own patented little trick. It makes use of two channels to lessen interference and provide use of this mouse in a general vicinity of another. Channel one is 27.045Mhz and two is 27.145Mhz - pretty low frequencies. It is suggested to keep the mouse around eleven inches from objects such as a monitor, etc. I have mine sitting near two monitors around four to eight inches away. It has no real-world effect, however this may not be typical. The mouse is also boasted for precision, while it is very precise and often down to the pixel in my experiences, it can take some adjusting to actually do that. Depending on your sensitivity, drivers and so many other factors you can pretty much say it's precise for real people. Here's my take on this. A long time ago, I had a chemistry teacher in high school and she taught me the difference between precise and accurate. Precise is in the vicinity; accurate is dead-on. With that in mind, well then you have your own answer there, don't you?
Opening the package, everything is nice and neat, however do not open it obviously so that the mouse falls out of the plastic casing (which should be kind of hard to do anyway). Inside, you'll notice two rechargable batteries. For the average user, this should be fine (they are around 1700-1900mAh powered batteries). If you crave more, just in case, then you can safely go up to (in my experiences) 2200mAh batteries and use the ones that came in the box for a backup set in case you get stuck in that clan match (which is unlikely to happen, you'll see below). The fact that they're rechargable might make you wonder and for good reason, too. See that round-shaped piece, looks like a phone reciever. That's the mouse base charger/receiver. When you are not using this mouse (for example, overnight) you place it in this charger. Fifteen minutes is enough to charge for a whole day. For an exmple of how quickly it charges, I was running low on power and the nifty red LED near the Logitech logo flashed while I was at half-time in a Counter-strike scrim. I charged the mouse between rounds for around 5 or 6 rounds, which was about 1-2 minutes of total time. It was charged enough it lasted the rest of the scrim (around ten more minutes). When you first use the batteries, you might have to wear them out of use and recharge a time or two (according to Logitech) before you get normal usage from them. It took me only a day or so before I noticed it was more responsive and lasted a lot longer. With 2200mAh, you can play intensive FPS games for 2-3 days constant (trust me, I know) and it will stay powered up. After a while, though, you'll be so used to having it in the cradle that you won't really have that happen to you. (You may also get so used to lifting the mouse all around with no cord, that you might actually walk away with it...trust me!) One thing, though, is that if the power is low or it doesn't have what it needs sometimes it might flicker, however this is easily remedied by watching your mouse cursor (this has happened to me about eight times in six months).
The cord on the base cradle is very interesting itself. It has a jack and USB cord that connects to the computer. The strange thing about the USB cord is that the actual jack that goes into the computer has a hole in the end of it, for the AC/DC adapter. This adapter feeds current into the base to charge the mouse via the USB cord as a middle-man. This is very intuitive. One thing I have noticed, upon comparisons with a friend's MX500 is that the MX500 seemed to eat as much as 100mAh of power from the USB cord while the MX700 only took around 45-50mAh from the computer. This is a small, perhaps not real-world, advantage for lower-end computers. It also has a USB to PS/2 adapter included, for those wishing to use the PS/2 port (or even an adapter for the serial port...but let's not go there). Some people complain that, because the MX500 has a weight in it (and are too silly to take it out) that these mice are too heavy. While the MX700 has batteries, you can't really take them out. The mouse has good weight, in my opinion, which is heavier than the old Microsoft Intellipoint mechanical (ball) mouse, but still not too heavy once you get used to it. Any time you change mice, you must adjust and this is no exception (so do some pushups if you have trouble).
Some less talked about things are the nice positioning of the mouse buttons. The left and right buttons are flat and built into the design, instead of clicking them you can now press them (big difference). They're not too easy, not too hard either. The mouse wheel is notched and not hard to turn, but it won't happen on accident. The clickable-wheel is also very nice and not prone to accidental clicks. Above and below the wheel are two up and down buttons, called Cruise Control. Holding one of these works like the Page Up and Page Down keys. You can make them move faster in the MouseWare drivers control panel (do not use the drivers with the mouse, it has buggy scroll wheel functionality; download 9.79 from www.logitech.com). There's also another button, below the cruise buttons and just above the green and red LED over the Logitech plate. It's called the Quick Switch button. By default, it operates the same as pressing ALT+TAB however, it uses a custom menu to switch between applications which is actually nice, but unnecessary. A useful thing is the MouseWare drivers which allow you to remap all of these buttons. Personally, I use the Quick Switch key bound to Close Application and it works fine. Good for closing all those illegal websites before your boss sees you! (The forward and back Internet Explorer buttons are a given, they go forward and back so there's really nothing to say, but you can remap those, too if you wish.)
All in all, this mouse is very impressive and I've spoken with many a skilled gamers in high-ranking leagues from everything from Counter-strike to Call of Duty and designers who just love to use this mouse. If the feel, the great buttons, nice stylish colors and rubber-esque grip don't get you, then the sheer roaming ability with it will. Save yourself the money from buying the Bluetooth MX900 (retailed around $100) and buy the MX700 instead (retailed around $70). When I bought this mouse last year, it was around $55, very competitive for the MX500 and I haven't had a regret yet. Either way, who can resist going to the fridge in the middle of a game -- mouse in hand -- only to return and save yourself from doom using the mouse on the wall to get that frag? Surely not me.
Note: There is rumor that Logitech MX mice do not fully utilize 800 dpi on Windows XP and this can be fixed in the registry. Research with your favorite search engine to learn more and take caution when performing any operations (email or PM RedTiger for more information on this).
Logitech does offer the mx700 in a package with a cordless keyboard. I found I can't live without the rechargable mouse otherwise I would be in the poor house from all the batteries I would have to purchase.
I myself have been thinking about going wireless with the mouse and keyboard. Wonder if anyone out there is making a good combo package? Very nice review on the mouse RT.
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