Microsoft Bluetooth Notebook Mouse 5000
by Microsoft
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Digital Cameras Photo Reviews of Microsoft Bluetooth Notebook Mouse 5000
Customer Review: Not the best mouse, but the best Bluetooth mouse
Summary: 5 Stars
I bought this mouse in February 2009. It lasted about 18 months. During that time I used it daily, traveled halfway around the world to a desert with it, and carried it on numerous trips in the United States. It finally died because I dropped it one too many times...and I dropped it a lot. Wanting to try a different mouse I replaced it with aLogitech V470 Bluetooth Cordless Laser Mouse for Notebooks. You can read my review of that mouse on its product page, but in short, this mouse is far superior.
This mouse is sturdy (lasting through travel and abuse by me) and while the battery door and batteries would come off when I dropped it, the mouse always went back together well. It's about as comfortable as a little mouse can be, which is not very, but it's certainly usable. The mouse connected fast enough when I started the computer and battery life was reasonable. I didn't keep a log of when I replaced the batteries in it but I went months between battery changes...3 or more I'd say.
Where this mouse really shines (and easily surpasses the Logitech V470) is in sensitivity and ability to operate on a variety of surfaces. I never had any trouble with tracking on any surface, including furniture, the carpet, my pants leg, and our granite countertop. I often use my laptop in the kitchen when cooking and it was nice to use the mouse on the countertop. With the Logictech mouse I had to put my lapdesk on the counter and use that as the mouse surface. The Logitech was horrible on fabric surfaces (furniture, my pants) as well.
I wish this mouse was bigger...I'd love a full-size Bluetooth mouse. The back button is nice but two buttons would be nicer (for forward and back). The Logitech V470 has no buttons but you can move the scroll wheel to the left and right and I mapped that action to backwards and forwards in my browser.
This isn't the best mouse around (I'm partial to my 3-year old discontinued Logitech G5 Laser Mouse) but it's the best Bluetooth mouse in my opinion. That's why I'm back here today...to buy one of these for my wife to use with her new laptop. And when my Logitech V470 dies (I need to drop it more) I'll get another one of these too.
As a side note, I uploaded a couple of pictures of the two mice side by side.
Customer Review: Very satisfying. Great mouse for moderate price!
Summary: 5 Stars
I received this mouse about one week ago and so far it's completely satisfying. It goes very smooth and precise on the screen. If it's been inactive for a while it wakes up very fast. The mouse works on all surfaces I've tried so far; the scratched and worn off table surface, mouse pad, my pants or sweatshirt etc. were all no problem where either one or the other of my old mice wouldn't work.
The design could surely be better, and I would have liked to give it only a 4.5 star rating if it was possible. It generally feels good tho, my hand is just not quite used to it and I could believe it gets uncomfortable in extensive use.
The bluetooth connection is simply awesome! It was no hassle to get it connected to my Thinkpad and now it connects automatically as soon as the Windows log on screen comes up. It hasn't disconnected a single time yet, and I simply love the fact that I can use it without a usb receiver.
I can't say anything about the battery life as I've had it for only a week, but personally I don't worry about it as I always use rechargeable batteries in mice anyway.
As mentioned before i would have giving it a rating of 4.5 out of 5 stars if I could have, due to it's design. I decided to give it 5 and not 4 stars because it met my expectations and in some ways even exceeded my expectations, but also in regards to the price since most bluetooth laser mice are much more expensive and I doubt they could be much better.
Update 12/15/2008: I've had this mouse for over a month now and I'm still totally satisfied. The batteries that were included lasted about a month, without ever switching it of and under very heavy usage (almost every day up to 8h a day). And once the battery indicator turns red, you still have several hours before it stops working, so enough time to find replacement.
Now about the power switch: I've seen many people complain that it is way too small... yes it is small, but I think I have quite fat fingers and practically no fingernails, however I have no problem using the switch at all.
It does drop connection once in a while as other people mentioned too. It's quite annoying when it happens as it apparently doesn't "realize" it's disconnected and therefore doesn't reconnect. You'll have to switch the mouse off and on to get it working again. But this disconnection only happens perhaps once or twice a week under the above mentioned very heavy usage. So really it's not much of a problem.
Customer Review: A fairly reliable and really convenient mouse
Summary: 4 Stars
I purchased this mouse to use with my notebook for college, and so far it's served me pretty well.
Likes:
~ Not having an extra piece (such as a USB input) to carry around (and potentially lose!)
~ How it automatically connects to your computer
~ The scroll button (I love scroll buttons)
~ The back button: <3!!! Now when I'm using other computers, I'm sad that other mice don't have back buttons!
~ The portability: size (small-ish but not tiny), the fact that it's just one piece to carry around and keep track of, and that it comes with a little carrying case! How cute. :)
~ The off switch: oh, how I love it! I don't really use it unless I'm carrying it someplace, since the mouse turns off on its own after a little bit of sitting unused on the desk, but this is extremely nice. I haven't had to replace my batteries yet.
~ How adorable it is, and how it *sort of* matches my computer. (This may not apply to all of you, but even if it doesn't match your computer, it is still a very pretty mouse.)
Dislikes:
~ Sometimes you have to move it around a little bit as your computer's starting up or after the mouse goes into sleep mode to wake it up. (But you'll probably get this with most wireless mice)
~ It took a couple of tries when I first got it to make my computer recognize the mouse every time (since the first few times I used it, it's been perfectly fine)- probably Vista's fault
~ Sometimes the scroll button doesn't like to work correctly, though this is, again, probably Vista's fault. This is also very rare.
~ It takes a little longer to connect if you've turned off the mouse with the switch, but it's not a big deal at all.
If you want a mouse that's:
- Portable
- Cute
- Cool
- Convenient
- Easy to use
- Makes things easier
Then this mouse is for you.
If you cannot stand:
- Having to "wake up" your mouse when it sleeps, get a corded mouse.
Overall, if you're looking at this mouse, you may want to go to your local electronics store (like Best Buy) and see it in person to see if it fits your hand well and everything.
I would recommend this mouse, and I would definitely buy it new from Amazon. They shipped it promptly, and it was a *much* better price than in the stores. (At least when I purchased it- shop around just to be safe)
Happy purchasing! :)
Customer Review: My Favorite Mouse to Date
Summary: 5 Stars
As I write this review, there are 308 reviews already posted about this Microsoft Bluetooth mouse on Amazon. That means it is unlikely anyone will ever see my review here, but after using this mouse for over a year now, I felt that I should add my own "two cents" to the write-ups here.
The Microsoft Bluetooth 5000 Mouse is one of the best mice designs I've ever used. And that's saying something: I've owned literally dozens and dozens of mice over the years. I've owned large mice, small mice, high-precision mice, trackballs, thumballs, wireless mice, corded mice, and on and on. Some had scroll wheels, some had "control sticks" (much like the "eraser head" design we sometimes see on certain brands of laptops). Some were quite heavy. Some were so lightweight that they seemed empty of any interior mechanics. Most worked acceptably well, but none were really anything you would write home about.
The Microsoft Bluetooth 5000 Mouse, however, has turned out to be a bit different to me. I purchased the device to accompany my Bluetooth equipped laptop, an HP dv2000. From the moment I started using the mouse, I liked it, and liked it a lot. After using it a year, I still like it a lot, because it works well, is comfortable, and is small enough to transport easily with my laptop. I would recommend this mouse as a great mouse for most anyone, and although there are always new designs appearing, I still find this particular mouse quite impressive. And, to boot, the price has come down about $15 since I purchased it last year.
Pros
1. Small form factor
2. Relatively light weight (considering it must hold two AAA batteries)
3. Comfortable shape
4. Programmable side buttons
5. Good battery life
6. Easy (and problem free) Bluetooth connectivity to any computer
7. Soft pouch with Velcro closure included with device
8. Small LED warning when nearing end of battery life
9. Power switch on bottom allows device to be turned off when not in use
Cons
1. Still a tad pricey, but now much better than last year
2. Only available in pearlescent white (attractive, but would be nice to have a color choice)
If you are looking for a high quality bluetooth mouse, you likely will be happy with this model. I can easily recommend the device with five stars.
Customer Review: Bad Back Button and Wheel
Summary: 4 Stars
Initially I thought this mouse was too small and I had doubts about bluetooth in general. However it is very comfortable in my hand and bluetooth works reliably. It does go to sleep when not used, but wakes up very quickly. The wheel button makes a clicking noise when rotated, which I don't care for, but I'm sure I could get used to it. However, if I rotate upward, it clicks much louder. I find that irritating. And I find that I frequently end up depressing the wheel button (and activating autoscrolling) when I was just trying to rotate. But the deal breaker is the back button. The back button is hard to press, doesn't always make a clicking noise, and doesn't always work. And sometimes it makes a groaning noise. I don't know if I got a bad one or if they are all like this. But mine is going back.
EDIT
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I exchanged it for a Logitech V470 and immediately noticed two things.
First, the Logitech mouse doesn't slide as smoothly across my desk as the Microsoft mouse. I don't use a mouse pad. The Microsoft mouse slid smoothly and felt great. The Logitech mouse felt like dragging your finger nails across a chalk board. The more I used it, the more I dreaded the feeling.
Second, there was a noticeable delay between when I moved the mouse and when the pointer moved on the screen. This was MOST irritating. I realize that Logitech specifies Broadcom/Widcomm hardware and stack, but Microsoft has no such restriction. I have ISSC hardware and Blue Soleil stack. I have what I have and there is no delay with the Microsoft mouse.
Other than that, I thought the Logitech mouse was better. I preferred the larger size, the AA batteries, the tilt wheel, the quiet turning wheel, and the shiny blue housing. I think the battery cover design is more rugged. The buttons definitely have a louder click, but I have no preference either way.
I decided to choose bad over worse, sent the Logitech back and now have two Microsoft 5000's. My original one definitely had a defective back button. These two work fine. However, one has a wheel that clicks very loudly when turned (just like my original one), but the other one does not. The quiet one has an August 2009 build date while the noisy one has a May 2009 build date. I guess Microsoft made some improvements. I think I can live with them until something better comes along.