Mice are one of those things that you don't really think about until they start acting up. I was getting sick and tired of weekly cleanings of the rollers on my standard corded ball mouse, so I was looking to go optical. I figured that since I was upgrading, I might as well go cordless as well. I could not be happier with this purchase. The mouse works perfectly, setup is easy, and battery life is quite good.

This mouse comes with a corded receiver that has a USB jack, but also comes with a PS/2 adaptor. I have used it both ways, and it works very well either way. The instructions recommend that you place the receiver away from things that could cause interference, like your tower or monitor, but I have it on the desk, right next to the monitor, and I have not found any interference.

Installation is very easy. I am using WMe and it was quite easy to install. After installation, there is a new icon in the taskbar which accesses the mouse control panel. The most important thing about the control panel is that it monitors battery life (the mouse uses 2 AA). I get about 4-5 months out of a set of alkalines. Lately, I have using a pair of rechargeable NiMH batteries, and I get about 2 months of use out of a full charge.

The mouse is a standard 2 button wheel mouse, and is quite comfortable to hold. It is maybe slightly heavier than a standard mouse, probably due to the batteries. I don't find it overly heavy, though. It moves very accurately on screen and the clicks are nice and secure. It is symmetrical, i.e., not specially shaped for right handed use.

Because it's optical, you're not tied to using it on your desk on a mouse pad. You can track it on anything, such as the desk itself, other furniture, papers, your body, etc. As far as range, I have used it from about 5' away with no problem. I don't know how far the practical range is, but honestly, I don't see why you would need to go much further than that.