Excellent optical mouse without the price tag

Before purchasing this mouse I had a Microsoft Intellimouse (right hand only, green scroll wheel, mechanical ball mouse) and I needed something which was far more accurate than this mouse I had been using for 4 years.

With my old mouse occasionally it would become 'stuck' and even if you move the mouse more than 4 inches, nothing would happen. This means life or death in games and a regular visit to the 'Edit > Undo' option in Corel. I cleaned this mouse regularly and still it happened. This was a year ago.

I wanted a mouse which wasn't too different in shape and feel from the Intellimouse, but has an optical sensor. The solution was for me to buy a Microsoft Wheelmouse Optical from a local retailer for NZ$30 (roughly US$19). This mouse was in OEM packaging (just the mouse in a plastic bag with an adaptor) so I didn't get any fancy packaging with it (which I couldn't care less about at this price). If your computer doesn't have any USB ports, use the included USB - PS/2 adaptor to convert the rectangular USB connector to the more common PS/2 round connector. I personally use it in USB mode.

I plugged the mouse in and it glowed a bright red colour underneath (the sensor picks up the red light and translates it into movement) which I think looks quite impressive. When I started using it, the first thing I noticed was the weight, which is significantly lighter than my old mouse. Trying out the mouse in Windows I can now move the cursor very fast from one direction to the other without any lag or unwanted movements. In games, aiming is much more accurate and precise and the mouse never gets stuck which is a great relief.

One problem I do have with this mouse is that the scroll wheel is a little TOO loose if you're not used to it. With my old mouse the scroll wheel required far more force to roll one notch but with this one you can flick the wheel and it'll roll by itself for about half a second (this is however good for scrolling large pages). Since rolling the wheel in games usually changes your equipped weapon or item, this proved to be a slight problem until I got fully used to it.

So if you've had similar problems with mechanical mice as I have, this is the perfect model to make the switch to if you want value for money. But if you need more than 3 buttons you'll have to look elsewhere.