Experience the convenience of optical technology at a great value. Replace your old-fashioned "roller ball" with a mouse that works on virtually any surface. It’s easy to use, comfortable, and features a scroll wheel.
Key Features - Either-hand Use
- Mac-compatible
- Microsoft Optical Technology
- PS/2 connector
- Customizable buttons
- Wheel scrolling
- USB connector
Additional FeaturesMicrosoft Optical TechnologyThe fastest, most accurate mouse on the market delivering optical technology. Superior tracking speed translates into precise cursor movement and accuracy.
Left- or Right-HandedWork in comfort, whether you mouse with your left or right hand. Ambidextrous design makes it comfortable either way.
Scroll WheelSimply roll the wheel to move around in documents and Web pagesno more clicking the on-screen scroll bar.
PC- and Mac-CompatibleThe rectangular Universal Serial Bus (USB) plug connects to a Windows- or Macintosh-based computer. The included IntelliType Pro keyboard software comes in a Windows or Mac OS version (Mac OS 10.1 to 10.1.3).
1 Basic doesn't means it won't work properly
The cursor jumps, period, it makes the product useless, some people think that the "basic" word means you should forgive Microsoft for a bad product, I think different and I won't buy MS hardware again.
2 Great Value for the Money - Why Are Others Complaining???
I don't understand why other reviewers were trashing this mouse. For the price, you can't beat its functionality. Sure, it's not as "high tech" looking as other, more expensive optical mice but it's still ergonomically comfortable (and I have petite hands). I haven't experienced any of the problems other reviewers mentioned. The nice added advantage of this mouse is that it comes with a PS/2 adapter so you can plug it in a PS/2 port (which comes in handy if your USB port has something else plugged into it). For just over 10 bucks, try this one out as your starter optical mouse. When you get more sophisticated in your usage, you may then want to consider the higher end, higher priced mice but for a novice like myself, this is a good starting option.
3 Shame for Microsoft
This mouse 'jumps' all the time, just as other reviewers noticed. It is a shame for Microsoft that this piece of junk bears its name on it.
4 basic, opitical, and cheap....and functional
I've had this same mouse for almost 3 years now...it still works fine. I've never had any jumpy problems, unless I was on a highly reflective surface, which can screw up most optical mice.
It has the standard 3 buttons--the middle scroll wheel is clickable, acting as a third button (useful in FPS games).
It's not a high end mouse, but I simply can't bring myself to part with 30 bucks for an intellimouse (or 60 for those new laser mice). Given that I paid maybe 12 bucks for this three years ago, and it's never had any problems for me, I can't badmouth it. It's not a high end, or even mid level 5 button mouse, but it doesn't need to be for most people. For what it is, it's a great product; it works, it's easy to figure out, and it gets the job done. I play games, I do some photoshop work, and lots of basic internet browsing...and it's always worked fine for me.
5 Also found it buggy
Don't waste your time with this mouse!
I purchased this mouse and found (like most people) that the cursor randomly jumped around the screen. It did this on both my PC and my Mac. So I exchanged it for another one, same thing. Seems like this model is just consistently buggy. Save yourself some time and don't buy this mouse.
6 Buggy mouse
This mouse works for ten minutes or so at a time, then the pointer randomly jumps around for a few seconds. Then it works again. This is pretty annoying and makes me wish I'd gone for the $25 mouse if only so that it would work continuously and be free of bugs.
Since I work with three monitors, having the mouse pointer go nuts makes it really hard to reorient. You kind of get used to it, but it definitely breaks my train of thought and makes it tougher for me to do my job programming enterprise software.
I've tried it on and off mousepads, updated the intellipoint drivers, turned off all other usb devices, etc.
7 What a piece of junk
The pointer jumps all over the place making this mouse absolutely useless. I have another MS optical mouse (not the Basic optical) and it works just fine. This one is a piece of junk. Would give it zero stars if that were an option.
8 Good, with exceptions
I just received this mouse around 5 minutes ago. I plugged it in, and it started to jump all over the place. I then came here and read that it worked best on cloth mousepads. It is a great optical mouse, only if you have a cloth mousepad.
9 Works well under some conditions
Looking at the reviews for this mouse, I was surprised to see that so many people have had trouble with it, as I hadn't had any similar problems. However, I always use my mouse with a cloth mouse pad, and so as an experiment I tried using it on the bare wood of the desk (which used to always confuse my Logitech optical mouse). I found that on many surfaces, the mouse doesn't track well at all. Therefore, if you don't like to use a mouse pad, this product probably isn't for you.
I've found the subtle hourglass shape of the mouse to be comfortable, more so than other mice I've used. The scroll wheel moves differently than on my other mouse, without the audible "click" that I'm used to, but it didn't take long to get used to. I can't speak for its durability yet, but it seems to be fairly well-made.
For the price -- under $10 -- it's a good mouse (provided you use a mouse pad.). I'm thinking of getting a couple more as backups.
10 Not worth the trouble....
I purchased this mouse as a replacement for a ball type mouse that had just plain worn out. The worn out one performed better than the new basic optical mouse! It's true: The pointer randomly jumps all over the screen. I tried it on my desktop and on a mousepad...no difference. I lowered the speed even to the lowest level...no difference.
Having a pointer jump around is annoying enough while playing games, but it is downright dismal when working on important business spreadsheets.
There is no support for the basic optical mouse at Microsoft. I'm not one of those compulsive Microsoft bashers, but they are taking the money and running with this product.
Forget this piece of junk. Also forget the milktoast "It's still a good buy for the price" reviews. If it doesn't work reliably, it's a bad buy at any price.
11 Why M$ destroy its own impression with this kinda product
You just sit there still. The pointer will run all over your screen automatically, super fast! I bought a nice optical mouse pad for it and it still did the same thing. My sugestion is not to buy it even it is free due to promotion, because it waste your time! Something on the side, buggy M$ software sometimes drive you crazy. M$ hardware is no better. I used to try its wireless PC card and had very frustrated experience too.
12 More of a rat than a mouse
This rat is moving all over the darn place. Where did it go? Stay away from this one and buy the Microsoft WheelMouse Optical instead.
13 YUK! Now, WHERE is my pointer again??
I bought this mouse because it was cheap. It would have been cheaper to just get the more expensive one I'm going to have to get anyway. What good is a mouse that keeps losing its pointer?? Here I am back to hot keying, until I get back to town.... Whatever mouse I end up getting, it won't be Microsoft brand. However good their other products MIGHT be, this mouse has ruined their reputation with me. It was foolish of them to release it untested.
14 Nothing fancy, but optical and CHEAP!
I bought this simply because I needed a USB mouse (no PS/2 port on my laptop). I couldn't find any USB ball mice, but I'm glad to have optical anyway. It's so cheap I don't feel like I'm wasting money on that feature. This mouse is about as simple as it gets; 2 buttons and a wheel, but sometimes simplicity is a nice thing; I didn't want anything fancy.
As far as the unexpected cursor jumping problem, I've had the mouse almost two weeks and I just started noticing that today. It only happens when I start moving the mouse and very infrequently. Also, I think it may only happen with some surfaces that the scanner can get confused on. It's only happened on a mouse pad for me.
So it has a slight problem and no extra features, but it's comfortable and a great deal for the price.
15 Garbage -- 0 stars
I have been employed as a software engineer for the past 20 years. I don't care if this thing IS advertised as a "basic mouse". A mouse ('basic', optical, USB, whatever) should have solid hardware and a device driver that isn't losing track of its position on the screen. Avoid this piece of junk.
16 lost pointer to many times
its an okay mouse... most of the time the pointer get lost on the screen Have to move it around on your hand to try to find it and it gets so annoying. I try to find a new driver nobody solved the problem.
17 Bad mouse
I have a MS Optical Intellimouse at home, which is great, so was happy when boss ordered a dozen of these basic optical ones for work.
Wow, they're really bad. Mouse pointer jumps all over the place whether using USB or the PS2/USB dongle (that is even worse).
Brought in my Intellimouse from home, works a treat. So loads of these mice, tried on different PCs, all rubbish. I have gone back to the IBM 2 button ball mouse I was using :(
all of us at work are disapointed.
18 I really wanted to like this
I really like the shape, the light weight, the keys and scroll wheel. BUT, like other reviewers have noted, the pointer will occasionally jump all over the screen. Especially when you move the mouse after leaving it alone for a few minutes. This occurs under Windows and Linux with both PS/2 and USB, so it's clearly a hardware problem. I've since replaced it with a Logitech mini optical wheelmouse. It's slightly less comfortable to hold, but at least it can properly control the pointer.
19 Doesn't work. POS.
As other reviewers here note, the cursor frequently and unpredictably jumps to the corners of the screen in the absence of input from the user. I have tested two different mice on two different stone cold, "stock" Windows XP systems, using either PS/2, USB1 or USB2 connections, and all configurations similarly malfunction. I did get a different result, however, when I plugged it into a Windows 2000 box: it crashed the system. Truly, amazingly, god-awful. Hello, Microsoft, anybody home? (I guess the people developing and testing this product were all too busy building their Lake Washington mansions, or their Sun Valley vacation homes, or their Maui vacation homes, or their Montana ranches, or tuning their Porsche GT3s to worry over something as simple as a mouse.)
20 Just as the title says, BASIC optical mouse is basic..
[...] I would probably give this mouse '3' stars, if the price wasn't so low at most retailers...but the price is often a steal. I'd say it gives you a good bang for your buck.
This is not a high end mouse, what can you expect? It's a BASIC optical mouse, meang that it's a plain, regular optical mouse, no visually unique look and no fancy extra buttons to program, but it's got the buttons you need. I would say if you get a good price, it's not a bad mouse to have. Even with it's 'jumpy' problem, which I had only experienced in the first week of use, it's still pretty decent. The problem people are talking about is sometimes the lazer goes nuts and the curser moves somewhere on screen where you didn't put it.
I use a Dell mouse pad that came with my PC with the mouse; although mouse pads are optional with optical 'mice,' with the mouse pad I experience less of these problems with the mouse taking on a mind of its own. Also make sure to adjust your scroll wheel settings, in fact you need to change your settings in the control panel. It's seems leaving, say, scroll wheel mouse settings, makes the mouse behave strangely. The mouse doesn't come with software, this is why I point this out. Adjust the mouse speed and you should be fine.
Also a nice feature is you can hook it up to a free USB port or traditional mouse port (comes with a connector).
Conclusion: A bad mouse for gamers, graphic designers (although I tinker with photoshop and this serves okay for me, as I'm a college kid saving some $), but a good mouse for the everyday, basic PC user. I am on my computer alot, so I spend alot of time with this mouse and I have nothing amazing or terrible to say about it. Hope this helps somewhat.
*reviews about this mouse being fickle are true. When I first got it I experienced it being 'jumpy,' but nothing as severe as some of the reviews state. it may depend on your OS, I'm running XP. The intellimouse explorer (I think that's it's name) is probably a better choice for an extra few $. But for the right price this mouse is tolerable.
21 A serious nervous twitch
Although ok at first....this mouse is making me nuts. It continually jumps off my placement to all corners of the screen (mostly bottom) and is about due to be replaced..!
22 Fine mouse, little $$$
Place near me had these mice on sale for almost no money - I bought 2 - one for home and one for school.
They work GREAT - word processing, web surfing - ebay, amazon, whatever.
EXCELLENT BASIC MOUSE
23 Value for money
This mouse is exactly what it claims to be, a B-A-S-I-C optical mouse. So its not correct to expect Intelliexplorer class performance.Works good enough for DTP/browsing etc. but is complete crap for gaming...but again, it never claims to be a gaming mouse.Never had any problems with it and Ive been using it for 5 months now.
Also, the phenomena of pointer suddenly reaching the corners of the screen happened with me but was rectified easliy by decreasing the pointer acceleration a little bit.
24 Don't buy this mouse!
Don't buy this mouse. Frankly, as far as I'm concerned, it's junk. As the other reviewers here stated, this mouse has a mind of its own and jumps around to the corners of the screen, even when used on a mousepad with either the ps/2 or usb connectors. It's a shame because I like the smaller size, lighter weight and feel in general.
I bought 2 of these on sale for $5 each and returned them both. Have since bought another brand's optical and it has worked flawlessly so far.
25 This product is unusable in its present form.
This mouse refuses to keep the cursor in place, but randomly jumps the cursor to the upper-right or lower-left corner. This is on a pure Microsoft computer running Windows XP.
I have tried multiple mouse pads and every conceivable control panel setting combination. No driver update seems to be available from microsoft.com.
My other mice (Microsoft, Logitech) do not have this problem. So, this product is going in the trash as soon as I buy a replacement from a different manufacturer.
26 Where is the mouse
sure its an okay mouse... when it works, every once and a while it gets lost on the screan and is imposible to find, you have to move it around on your hand to try to find it and it gets so anoying. I recomend almost anything instead of this mouse
27 a life of it's own...
well... it does have a geat value for the money... it's confortable, light, the buttons and the wheel are soft and are not noisy at all... but it has a problem... makes the mouse cursor jump around from time to time... and you loose track of what you're doing... i've heard another case like this... i'm going to exchange it to see if the new one does the same...
other than that... i think microsoft manufactures the best mice available and bugs aside it's another great product
