Microsoft Wireless Laser Mouse 8000 Review

Performance

This being my first wireless mouse since the MX900 and first laser mouse ever, I wasn’t certain what to expect. I imagined wireless performance should have improved over the years – in that regard I wasn’t completely disappointed. I played through all of Half Life 2 and Episode 1 with the mouse and didn’t notice any problems with signal lag or anything of that sort. However, in twitch shooters such as Unreal Tournament, I found that there will was a slight, but perceivable bit of latency between mouse movements and action on the screen. I’d feel comfortable using the mouse for all but the fastest of games.

Other than gaming, I also enjoy doing some graphics design, with most of it happening in Photoshop. I’m still a beginner and I don’t know all the keyboard commands for Photoshop, so much of the work is done with the mouse. That’s where I was less than impressed. The laser sensor may allow you to use the mouse on your pants if you wanted to, but if it’s not accurate, then it’s a moot point. Even with a mouse pad, I found the sensor a bit inaccurate. The cursor would sometimes skip and jump when I was really trying to home in on a specific area of the work area.

Range of the mouse, due to the Bluetooth connection, is very good. Currently, it’s serving as the mouse for the HTPC, and at approximately 15 feet away from the computer, it works perfectly, with no erratic behavior that would occur as the result of reaching the edge of its range.

The charging base is very convenient – I typically just place it on the charger whenever I’m away from the computer. Battery life with high capacity Ni-MH AA batteries is typically around a week, but will vary greatly, depending on how much you use it.

Obviously, being made as a desktop mouse, it wasn’t exactly suited for mobile use. The mouse is fairly large and battery life away from the charger isn’t great – not something you could just throw into your laptop bag and forget about for weeks on end.

Software

I used the mouse under Windows XP as well as Vista and Microsoft has its IntelliPoint software for configuring various mouse options. There is only one main functionality page for the Laser 8000 and it allows you to change the button configuration. You can store mouse profiles for individual applications as well, allowing a nice bit of customization to help increase productivity.

Microsoft bundles a tool called Instant Viewer along with there IntelliPoint software that is actually a very nice window manager. Think of it as something like Exposé, but without all the fancy animations. It’s quick and to the point, much better, in my opinion than say, Flip 3D. Unfortunately, I typically use the middle button for middle clicking (essential for Firefox tab management) so I switched out the Instant Viewer functionality. There’s no way to bind the tool to a keyboard combination either, which is a shame.

Conclusion

The Microsoft Laser Mouse 8000 is a very good wireless mouse that suffers from problems inherent to most wireless mice. However, there are also a couple issues that are related to technology it is created on, such as the smooth scroll wheel (no ‘ratcheting’ when scrolling) and ambidextrous design, that isn’t terribly well suited for either hand use. On the other hand, it provides good tracking performance, for all but the most precise situations, and Bluetooth gives it very good range. For purposes such as a mouse for a HTPC, where distances are relatively lengthy, this is definitely a mouse to consider – otherwise, better can be had for desktop use and most certainly for mobile situations, which I had originally purchased it for (but obviously wasn’t marketed as such either).