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 It was time to go shopping for a new mouse today, and after hitting a few websites and a few hardware stores, I found myself staring face to face with the Microsoft Wireless Optical Special Edition "Ice" Mouse. So I took it home, unpacked it, and decided to write up the following review...
On the Shelf:
The Microsoft Wireless Optical Special Edition "Ice" Mouse, is a beautiful mouse:
Sitting on the shelf, tightly packaged in clear plastic, this mouse stands out from everything else. The packaged specs show it has a wireless range up to 15', and prior experience with MS input devices had given me some confidence they were quality hardware. Obviously aimed at PC AND Mac users as I noted by reading the large "Works with iMacs!" sticker on the front of the package, I was sold. $39.95 later, I was going home to install this bad boy...
Out of the package:
The Ice mouse comes with 2 AA Energizer batteries, Intellipoint 4.1 driver CD, a small installation booklet, a wireless controller and, of course, the mouse. After spending all of 2 minutes reviewing the installation book, I discarded it, realizing it was for grandmothers and pre-schoolers. No troubleshooting tips are included, and the installation pics were adequate, if extremely simple. Batteries slide right into the mouse nice and tight, and a quick plug of the USB cable had the mouse up and running.
Actual experience:
The mouse has 4 glide pads on it\'s bottom base, but the mouse was particular about which surfaces it wanted to work on. The mouse was jerky on 2 of my 3 mousepads, and didn't work well at all on my smooth desktop. The pads seemed to stick on any surface that wasn't a tight weaved mousepad.
While easy to install and beautiful, precision and response were horrible. After reinstalling the latest Intellipoint drivers again, playing with the settings and configuring the Ice mouse several times, it became useable at best. Quake3 Arena showed lagged response times, including an unplayable rail gun. UT2003 didn't fair much better, regardless of how the mouse settings were adjusted. I also found the limitation of three buttons annoying, as most modern mice have at least an additional back button for web browsing. Then, to top off bad with worse, the mouse only has a useable range of about 7'-8' in an optimal enviroment. Overall, I was very dissappointed by the actual experience of this mouse\; I packaged it back up, dug my receipt out of the trash, and returned it.
Microsoft has a great idea here, but looking like Mac hardware doesn't make something quality. MS needs to upgrade it's drivers and perhaps even it's wireless base...the response time for this mouse was just unacceptable, and makes me wary of other MS wireless products.
Style: 5 out of 5
Precision: 3 out of 5
Response: 2 out of 5
Price: 4 out of 5
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