The MX500.
Back of box.
Mouse, USB-PS/2 adapter, manual, catalogue, CD.
Logitech MX500 Optical Mouse Review
Date : Tuesday, 01 July 2003
By: Stygian
Provided By: Logitech
Introduction
Some would argue that the mouse is the most important part of a computer. Sure, it isn't the most expensive component, by far, and it sure can't inspire hype like the latest and greatest videocard, but one could surely say that along with the keyboard, the mouse is a bridge of sorts, acting as an interface between you, the user, and your computer. A fast computer is just that - without an easy to use interface, most users could care less. Along with other input/output peripherals such as your monitor and speakers, you probably won't be upgrading or replacing your mouse too often, and that is why you should invest both time and money to get the best one available. With the advent of optical mice some years ago, it was inevitable that all new mice would eventually go the way of a poor football player, and drop the ball. After all, the improvements were obvious - no ball meant no contact of moving parts with the mousing surface, and hence less cleaning, and possibly less chance of failure. Optical mice were also a godsend to public computers, where infantile users would often steal the balls of mechanical mice. But early optical mice suffered from poor tracking due to optics that just weren't adept at recognizing fast movement, especially a twitch movement from rest. With the two main mouse companies, Logitech and Microsoft, in a tough battle to win customers from one another, these optical technologies soon improved with next-generation sensors. Logitech recently introduced their newest line of MX mice late last year, sporting new and improved optics, in an effort not only to win customers from their rivals, but also to encourage stubborn mechanical mice aficionados to make the jump once and for all. Today, I'll be looking at the flagship corded mouse from Logitech's MX lineup, the MX500.
Specifications
As with any new lineup of products featuring a new technology, there has been a lot of market hype about the MX engine in Logitech's newest mice. This is not to say that I despise marketing (I don't mean to use "hype" in a negative fashion); I understand the need for marketing to explain new things to people in a positive manner, however, most of you will probably want to know exactly what all the terms surrounding the MX optical engine mean and how they affect performance. And, of course you'll want to know whether the MX engine translates into real-world results and performance.
The first figure, an 800dpi sensor, relates to the resolution of the image taken by the mouse's CMOS camera compared to a real-world measurement, in this case, one inch. So, for a given sensor size of say, 20x20 pixels, an 800dpi sensor will see a smaller area than a 400dpi sensor, and hence, be able to track finer movements better. An increased DPI count also makes the mouse easier to use at high monitor resolutions. For example, if the mouse speed of a 400dpi sensor is set with a 1:1 ratio with no acceleration, for every inch the mouse is moved, the cursor will move 400 pixels on screen. This can be too slow for higher resolutions such as 1280x1024, so increasing the mouse speed in software is the natural solution - but since the DPI of the sensor remains fixed, if one were to double the mouse's speed, then for every real-world "dot" moved, the cursor would move two pixels, resulting in less accurate movement. With an 800dpi sensor, there is none of this - and if the cursor movement is too fast, turning down the speed in software does not yield any negative effects like turning up the speed does.
The next number, 4.7 megapixels/sec is a bit confusing. I've never heard of megapixels being used to describe a mouse before, only cameras and other imaging devices. But since the optical mouse uses a CMOS sensor like other imaging devices, it would seem to have some merit, and surely "4.7 megapixels" is an impressive marketing term. What it means, is how much image data is processed by the hardware onboard the MX500 mouse, per second, in order to determine mouse movement. For those of you who've played with a digital camera, you'll know that a 1.3 megapixel image are the results of the dimension of that image, that is, 1280x960. So, this rating must have something to do with the size of an image, multiplied by how many times that image is taken during the course of one second. This image is the one that is captured by the MX500's optical sensor. The mouse will compare each image with the previous one; in this way, movement can be tracked. If, for example, a reference point in the previous image has since moved upward in the current image, it can be inferred that the mouse is moving downward. Then, with a larger sensor size, movement will better be gauged (as there will be more reference points to compare with one another); with a higher DPI and greater number of images taken per second, movement will be more precise, as finer detail and smaller movements will be noticed. I did some searching around, and found that Stéphane Kauffmann of Tom's Hardware did an excellent study into this figure, and reported the findings in an issue of Tom's Hard News. In the issue, it is reported and confirmed by Logitech that this MX engine has a sensor size of 30x30 (80% larger than others, Logitech claims), and takes 5250 images/sec, giving you the 4.7 megapixel rating, 60% higher than others, as claimed by Logitech. I do suggest that you read the article, as it gives a much better explanation of the MX sensor technology than I ever will be able to.
The next two terms, an acceleration of 10g and a top speed of 40 inches(~1m)/sec are somewhat confusing, the latter less so. "10g" sounds like a term used by astronauts, or some other group of smart, adventurous people, but what I believe it means is that the MX engine can continue to track movements up to an acceleration, or change in speed, of 10 times the acceleration due to Earth's gravitational field (9.8m/s/s), which turns out to be ~98m/s/s. Now, you're not likely to move your hand for one second at this acceleration, (as then it would be speeding at ~350km/h at the end!), but this type of tracking enables the MX engine to operate during fast twitch movements from rest, which aren't common when using regular applications, but are essential to survival in a FPS game. The top speed rating, is just that - the mouse can track accurately at a speed of up to ~1m/s. These ratings are not "pure" ratings, in that they are not concrete measurements, but rather derived from the performance of the aforementioned optical sensor.
With these improvements, the MX Engine hopes to forever solve the initial problem that gamers and other fastidious people had, that is, the inability of optical mice to track very quick and sudden movements, resulting in erratic cursor movement. As it represents the years of experience and research Logitech has had to improve their mice, Logitech has much riding on the performance of the MX Engine.
The MX500 comes in a somewhat new style of packaging for Logitech. As before, there is the ability to put your hand over the plastic shell that conforms to the shape of the MX500. A nice feature, but you can hardly truly get a feel for the mouse this way, and the design is probably more for an eye-catching appeal, than anything else. (You should always feel the store demo before buying a mouse - or read my review ;) ) The back of the box has an opening that allows you to see the vaunted sensor of this MX mouse, and although the picture doesn't show it too well, the clear plastic allows the bottom of the mouse to show through.
| The MX500. |
Back of box. |
Mouse, USB-PS/2 adapter, manual, catalogue, CD. |
Included in the box, beside the mouse itself, are a USB-PS/2 adapter, a manual, an outdated catalogue and installation CD. The install CD came with MouseWare v9.7-something, but I went ahead and downloaded the latest version of MouseWare, 9.76 at the time of this review, and used it instead. I've heard many complaints about buttons and especially the wheel not working in games, so I wanted to give Logitech a chance by using their latest offering, to see if any of these problems had been addressed. The MX500 continues the tradition of Logitech's earlier MouseMan mice, as it is only to be (comfortably) used by right-handed mouse users, such as myself. Though the shape looks somewhat symmetrical, lefties will have to look to the MX300 mouse if they want to truly take advantage of the MX engine. There are a total of eight(!) buttons on this mouse; you have the standard left, right and middle(wheel) buttons, and additionally, two thumb buttons, two "Cruise Control" buttons, in line with the wheel, and a "Quick Switch Program Selector" button, also in line with the wheel. A nice grip-like soft texture goes almost all the way around the sides of the mouse, and there is a contour/indentation on the left side for your thumb, just below the thumb buttons.
 USB-PS/2 adapter. |
 Sleek look. |
 Two thumb buttons. |
Let me just say, right off the bat here, that this mouse is damn comfortable. I'm not one who's prone to outbursts, but I can't let this be hidden. As soon as I put my hand on this thing, I felt as if God himself, had, in some gracious fit, designed this mouse just for me. I knew, however, that this "god" represented Logitech's furious team of ergonomics engineers or whoever, that through much research, developed this mouse that seems to fit like a glove. This thing feels almost like letting your hand melt in a block of butter - not that I do that sort of thing on a regular basis. If you have fun childhood memories about squishing soft Play-Doh in your hand, then I've done my job of communicating to you how comfortable the MX500 is, well, for righties at least. The sleek curves and shape of the mouse seem to perfect to the rest shape of your palm, providing nice support, and not only that, but the smooth textured grip plays a big role in making your hand feel nice, along with the indentation for your thumb, which fits mine like a key.
 Main mouse buttons are connected to the top shell. |
 Cruise Control and App. Selector buttons. |
 Logo adorns the back. |
Well, now that I'm done ranting and raving about the comfort I've experienced as the "hands" of the MX500, I'll get into more specifics. The two main buttons are connected with the top shell, as they are all part of the same piece. This creates an absence of a rift between the main mouse body and those buttons, and so results in less dirt/gunk being able to buildup in this mouse. About the only place where dirt can build up, is where the side texture meets the top, and near the wheel. There are three other buttons in the middle of the mouse along with the wheel. The "Cruise Control" buttons are meant to augment the scroll wheel. When held down, they scroll down or up a page, and by default they scroll a little faster than cursor keys do. The top-most button in the middle is the Application Selector. When pressed, by default, the MouseWare software pops up a list of running programs that you can switch between, very much like Alt-Tab does, and you can then select a program to jump to. Useful if you cannot Alt-Tab for some reason!
 Thumb buttons and thumb indentation. |
 Right side has a little indentation for your ring/pinky finger. |
 Mouse slopes gently away from your thumb. |
The thumb buttons, just above the thumb rest, serve as forward/backward buttons for your web browser. This is a fairly useful feature, as it's easier to hit these buttons, which are just above your thumb, than to have to move your mouse and click a button, your use your other hand to enter a keyboard command. These buttons are pretty easy to use, in that you don't have to reposition your hand to hit them, but they don't get in the way during regular usage, so you won't find yourself hitting them by accident. All of the buttons' functions can be reconfigured using Logitech's MouseWare software, and three fingers - your thumb, index or middle finger can operate all. As mentioned before, the left and right mouse buttons are part of the top shell that is somewhat lustrous, but still made of plastic as expected. This shell is smooth, but not glossy, and features Logitech's logo in the center-back.
 The mouse is not bulky. |
 All the buttons; default functions are indicated by icons. |
Although the MX500 is for right-handed users only, as the previous MouseMan line was, the MX500 mouse did not feel bulgy to me, as other entries in the MouseMan lineup have. Instead, it had a fairly slim profile that sloped slightly away from your thumb, making it a little thicker on the left side, than on the right side. It's fairly long compared to most other regular mice, but not so big when compared to the MS Explorer series. This mouse will fit just right on most, if not all mousepads.
 A little longer than a typical mouse. |
 A little wider as well. |
The bottom of the mouse has five Teflon feet to ensure a steady, almost friction-free movement across most surfaces. The labels cover up the screws holding the mouse together, and indicate that the mouse draws 100mA @ 5v. The bottom itself is made of a translucent plastic, allowing you to view the PCB and other components, something that seems to never go out of fashion. You also see the tip of the MX optical engine here. The LED projects its light at a pretty shallow angle, so that it shines out at maybe 30 degrees below horizontal. The optical sensor still sits directly above. One strange feature is that the LED's intensity remains constant regardless of whether the mouse is active, or being moved. This is probably a result of Logitech's new illumination techniques. Logitech claims this ensures even, bright lighting, and also reduces power consumption. The LED's constant intensity, however, was quite bright. As I'm not reviewing the MX700, the cordless version, I can't verify if this technique does in fact decrease power usage.
 Bottom is made of translucent plastic. |
 LED stays at the same intensity, no matter what. |
 Two screws at the front... |
 One at the back. |
About the only maintenance you'll need to do, is periodic cleaning of the Teflon feet to cut down on friction due to gunk buildup, and perhaps some cleaning on the top of the mouse, especially where the rubber-like sides meet the top plastic shell. As with any mouse, sweat is always a problem and you don't want bacteria colonies thriving on or in the secretions of your hand.
Installation
As with Logitech's other mice, installation is fairly simple. You can install the MouseWare software, then shutdown your computer, change mice, and then boot up. Upon boot up, the MouseWare software will tell you that it's detected the MX500 mouse and prompt you to setup the mouse. Because, perhaps, the mouse has eight buttons, and eight buttons makes for a substantial amount of first-time configuration, this setup automatically assigns the default functions to the MX500 right after clicking the initial "Next" button, and then you're done! As I said before, I downloaded the latest version of MouseWare from Logitech's site, and used that instead of the version on the CD. As Logitech is quite rigorous in updating their MouseWare, fixing problems and adding new features, you'll do best to check their website for an updated version of MouseWare as well.
 Initial setup. |
 Default configuration applied. |
 Every button can be customized. |
The MX500 supports either a USB or PS/2 interface (with the use of an adapter), and I suggest the use of the PS/2 port, if possible, which is likely. Not only does this free up a USB port for another device that may be USB-only, but if you don't use the PS/2 mouse port on your computer, what will? Adding to that is the fact that when used as a USB device, the MX500 can only have a max refresh rate of 125Hz, due to the polling limits of the USB interface, if I am correct. With MouseWare, you can adjust the PS/2 polling rate up to 200Hz - so there are no ill effects from using the PS/2 port, and in fact, the use of the PS/2 port may even be better from a precision standpoint! (Just for the record, if put on the spot, I don't think I could tell the difference between a 100Hz and 200Hz refresh rate, but the difference between the PS/2 default of 40Hz and 100Hz is readily apparent.)
Once the mouse has been setup/installed, you can adjust any of the eight buttons' functions to your liking. Just with the default button assignments, there is room for adjustment. For example, the Cruise Control buttons, which act like the down/up arrow keys when used to scroll through a web page, can be adjusted in speed or sensitivity. I found the default configuration to be quite useful, especially the thumb buttons, which are used to go back/forward in your web browser.
 PS/2 rate can be set up to 200Hz. |
 MouseWare 9.76 was used. |
 Button configuration. |
There are almost too many options for each button to be set to, and definitely too many to list here. Among some of the more useful ones are "Minimize All", "Start", "Run...", and several keyboard commands like the functions keys, [Enter], [Ctrl] and [Delete], among others. The Application/Program Selector button is unique to the MX mice, so that feature deserves special attention. It's basically an Alt-Tab of sorts, but you only need to press one button, and don't need to hold it down to keep the menu of running programs up. The menu itself is a little more verbose than the Alt-Tab list, and you simply click the program you wish to switch to. You can even use the wheel to select from the list. Overall it's a useful feature, but one that'll take time to get used to, no doubt.
 Available button configurations are extensive. |
 Application Quick Switch function. |
 MouseWare Advanced Settings Utility. |
Lastly, Logitech has recently put up a new utility on their website for configuration of your Logitech mouse, to be used in conjunction with MouseWare. This program adjusts registry settings that mostly relate to gaming with your mouse, and does not run in the background like MouseWare itself does - once you click OK, changes are saved in the registry, and that's it. This utility allows you to adjust a number of useful options. You can turn off accelerations on the mouse speed when games are run, undoubtedly a useful thing to do, and adjust a few other features. You can read about what all the options adjust in Logitech's document here.
Testing
I've been using this mouse for close to three weeks - not a really long period of time, but during this time the MX500 has replaced the mouse on my main PC. I really do love it that much. I've used it for everything, from regular desktop usage such as web browsing and document/image manipulation, to extended gaming sessions with Desert Combat for BF1942, Unreal Tournament 2003, Splinter Cell and MoH:AA, my steady gaming pastime. The resolution during most of these tests was 1280x1024.
As I said before, this mouse took next to no time to get accustomed to. The side rubber grips and shape felt like the perfect combination, and the thumb buttons were well within reach without being in the way. The main mouse buttons had the Logitech feel to them - they did not have too much play and had a firm response. The wheel had about just the right amount of resistance, and wasn't prone to accidental scrolling movements when depressing it as a button. The wheel provided nice feedback, but wasn't noisy, I found. During usage, I could not get the mouse to reproduce the twitch effect - no matter how fast I jerked it in unnatural tests, it did not seem to indicate erratic cursor movement. Score one for the MX engine! The accuracy and precision of the MX500 are by far the best I've seen in a mouse - any mouse. Though it may seem like I have been writing a prose version of "How do I love thee? Let me count the ways", about the MX500, there are a few quirks, related to button placement that I must address. Firstly, the Cruise Control buttons, one above the wheel and one below, can be hard to use. The "down" one isn't too hard to hit, but the "up" one, being beyond the wheel, is a little hard to reach, and for me, I must somewhat move my hand to press it. The Application Switcher button, being just behind the "down" cruise control button, is also a little harder to press, but this may change with familiarization.
Another issue I have to address is that of the wheel usage in games. If you've been reading around a lot, especially with the popularity of the MX series of mice, the problem of the wheels on Logitech mice not working properly in games when MouseWare is installed should not be new to you. Indeed, this has been a big turn off - to use the extra buttons, you need MouseWare; but what good is it when it makes the wheel nothing but a button in games? Indeed, the problem was linked to MouseWare replacing the native scroll wheel messages with scrollbar up/down messages in order to make the wheel scroll with all programs. This, however, rendered it useless in games in terms of input, as most games were designed to look for native scroll wheel messages. Logitech has had an option of using only native scroll wheel messages in their MouseWare for some time, and this or a registry file fix usually worked. But Logitech has finally gotten it right once and for all with the latest version of MouseWare. This time, the wheel is configured to send *only* native scroll wheel messages, and this cannot be changed, and should alleviate the problem of wheels not working in games. Additionally, MouseWare also detects when games are running by looking for Direct Input and/or OpenGL usage, and then disables special button assignments so that your mouse buttons will work as standard buttons, for better usage in your games. For example, you may have the thumb buttons set to forward/back when you're browsing the web, but when you launch UT2003, these buttons will appear just as mouse button 4 and 5 to the game.
I'm happy to report that with MouseWare 9.76, and without having to adjust anything using the advanced utility, games worked great! UT2003, in particular, has been of concern to some, and I can tell you that the wheel worked great in this game, along with five mouse buttons - left, right, middle (wheel button) and the two thumb buttons. The Cruise Control and App. Selector button did not work, and will not work unless you perform the workaround Logitech details here. Just as a little test, I set the PS/2 refresh rate to 200Hz, and gave the MX500 a quick run around to check the actual refresh rate - it turned out to be around 192-193Hz. Impressive!
 Mouse Rate Checker. |
Conclusion
The MX500 surpassed my expectations. I was merely expecting the next MouseMan-like mouse, with a right hands-only design that lacked much beyond that, but instead I was astounded by the comforting design and ability to use five mouse buttons in-game. The accuracy was equal to or better than any other mouse's I've used, and I truly believe the MX Optical Engine has lived up to its hype. The advantages here are clear: The MX500 is an unhindered optical mouse that by nature requires minimal maintenance for optimal performance. If you're a gamer, or even if you're not a gamer, the MX500 will be for you. It works well in any situation, and I can wholeheartedly recommend it - as long as you mouse with your right hand, perhaps the MX500's only real downer.
Pros
Cons
Lastly, I want to thank Logitech for providing the MX500 for review. Thanks guys!