Virtual-Hideout.Net | Reviews | Logitech V200 Cordless Notebook Mouse Review

Logitech V200 Cordless Notebook Mouse Review

Date Published:
09-03-2005

Written By:
Stygian

Sponsored By:
Logitech

Pages: 1 2

Introduction:

Laptops or portable systems have gained much popularity in just the past few years. With prices falling and the increasing availability of a wide-range of laptops, many people are finding reason to purchase one. Indeed, with the return of the school year, many people will have bought a laptop for their first year away from home, under the guise of needing it for school work. Additionally, true desktop-replacement laptops have become prevalent in the past year or so, offering computing power nearly equal to many desktops but in a convenient package a fraction of the size. Our campus computing store has apparently taken note of this trend, and will apparently no longer be selling desktop systems in lieu of laptops for this coming year.

While laptops/notebooks are often unparalleled in terms of their portability, when compared to desktops they often fall short when it comes to input devices. With a desktop one can choose almost whatever keyboard and mouse that one wishes to use; with a laptop things become a little trickier. While it's true that you can always get an external keyboard and mouse to plug into most laptops, would it really be practical to carry each of them around with you if you were a true mobile computer user?

For the most part, this limits your input choices to the laptop keyboard and a corded mouse that was never meant to be used with a laptop and thus is hard to carry around with one, and always causes a tangled mess with its long cord. While most people can get used to a laptop keyboard, I'm willing to bet most people do not like the feel of the trackpad device that comes with most laptops. This is where Logitech comes in - for the past little while they've been developing smaller, more portable mice meant to be used with laptops, and recently have produced some cordless models that promise to make mobile computing even easier. Today I'll be looking and one of their recent products, the V200 Cordless Notebook Mouse.

Stock Photo	Stock Photo
Stock Photo	Stock Photo

Specifications:

You won't find any crazy features on this mouse like a plethora of extra buttons or the latest laser-phasor sensor, since its main feature is its cordless portability. You will, however, find a mouse that has fairly new optical sensor, and features 2.4GHz RF cordless communication. The mini-receiver, as its name implies, is a small unit that connects to your laptop's USB port and, when not in use, snaps into the bottom of the V200 mouse and turns it off to save battery life, a unique feature that was well-thought out.

Full specifications available here.

The mouse features three buttons, in the standard arrangement: left, right and a middle button that is also the scroll wheel. In a nod to Microsoft, the wheel also features side-to-side scrolling, as do many other recent Logitech mice. No carrying case is included but none should be needed since, as mentioned before, the receiver plugs into the mouse for storage/transport in one package. (Note: Logitech also produced an older similar cordless notebook mouse to the V200 that did not feature some of the things on the V200 such as side-to-side scrolling, so do not confuse that one with the V200.)

The V200 comes in a nicely-displayed package, but one that is quite hard to open; you basically have to cut it with some strong scissors. I would've preferred just an easy-to-open cardboard box but I suppose this shows off the product better. Once open you'll find not only the mouse and receiver, but also the 2 AA batteries needed for its operation, a software CD and a small installation guide. As you can see in the pictures below, the mini-receiver truly is small; it's barely longer than an AA-sized battery and quite a bit thinner. As you'll notice, the mini-receiver is USB-only; take note of this if you have an older laptop that features PS/2 ports and may only have one USB port that you're already using for something else. For most recent laptops this shouldn't be a problem.

The V200 mouse.	What's included.
Mini-receiver snaps into mouse...	... like so.

To making carrying around the mouse easier, the mini-receiver can snap into the base of the mouse when it's not in use - thus you shouldn't have an excuse for losing it anymore. This makes the mouse much easier to deal with as you won't have to be searching around in your laptop bag for the small-sized receiver. Snapping the receiver into the mouse's base also turns off the mouse as there is a small switch in the base that is activated when the receiver plugs in. The receiver snaps in and out fairly easily but fits snugly into the mouse so it shouldn't come undone by accident. A little problem with this snap-in feature is that the mini-receiver has a little nub on its underside to allow it to hook onto the mouse; this nub can interfere with a USB plug below it. To avoid this, just make sure you plug in the receiver to the lowest USB port on your laptop.

2 AA batteries are included and supply power to the unit. The batteries do add a bit of weight to the mouse, making it heftier than a regular corded mouse. This may take a little while to get used to, especially if you've been using a light-weight mouse for a long time, but personally, I did not mind the weight; some people even prefer the extra weight for stability. As you can see the entire top slides off to reveal the battery compartment, so there are no tiny and hard to open battery doors on the underside to deal with. Logitech claims "up to a 1 year" battery life on the V200, but from experience with other non-rechargeable cordless Logitech mice, I'd say about 4-6 months of usage can be expected, depending of course on how much the mouse is used during an average day.

Batteries.	Size comparison.
Bit longer than a pack of cards.	Quite bulky at the behind.

As for size, the V200 as expected was smaller than a regular mouse, as you can see from the pictures above. As it's meant to be a "portable" mouse, this wasn't a big surprise; however, I've always wondered why manufacturers have felt the need to make notebook mice smaller. Regular-sized mice are not that big, and easily fit in most laptop carrying cases, and so what is needed for laptop-specific mice are features that make it easy to carry and use, such as the mini-receiver of the V200 cordless. So, why not just combine the mini-receiver feature with a regular-sized mouse and have the best of both worlds? Certainly that would produce a better mouse that would be easier to use and not require time to get adjusted to because of its smaller size.

The mouse itself is an ambidextrous design, able to suit left and right-handed users alike. The colour is a dark navy-blue with metallic-silver highlights, which produces a nice look that should fit in nicely with any environment. The buttons are arranged in a typical format, with equal space to the left and right buttons and a scroll wheel/middle button in between them. The scroll wheel is regularly-sized and also tilts from side to side; below it is an LED that briefly glows green when the mouse is first turned on and blinks red when the batteries are low. The sides of the mouse are just plastic, and feature no extras like soft rubber grips; as you can also see back of the mouse rises substantially to accommodate the curvature of your hand.

Button placement.	LED below wheel.
Back of mouse.	Underside.

The buttons pretty much feel normal; there wasn't too much play and they were firm and responsive. The wheel felt great too, providing a nice ratcheting feedback when scrolling vertically, and also responding when pushed from side to side. However, the scroll wheel, when used as a middle button felt a little too tough; I found that it required a little too much pressure for my liking to activate. This took time to get used to, and I would have preferred if it felt more like the other buttons in terms of activation pressure.

Lastly, the optical sensor on the V200 features "invisible optics", which I assume is Logitech's way of saying that their optical sensor is now using wavelengths of non-visible light. A small green LED lights up when you pick up the mouse to look at its underside though, to let you know that despite the lack of a traditional reddish glow, it is working.

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