MS Optical Mouse 4000 Review - Hardware

This mouse uses a red diode pair for its scanning ("Microsoft-proprietary optical technology," according to the spec page; at least MS provides a spec page-- Logitech should take the hint). The diode it is exceptionally visible to show that it's working.  The scanning resolution goes up to 1000 points per inch.

This mouse has four small glider feet, two in front and a pair in the back, as opposed to  the Logitech mouse, which had much larger front feet and a single rear foot that stretches along the back.  The movement is smooth and effortless. The scroll wheel is light-grey rubbery plastic with grooves. The scrolling is absolutely smooth, no "clicking" as felt in the V200.

Also unlike the V200, there is no "Connectivity Utility" but there is a button both on the mouse and the USB key which are supposed to cause the two to connect if communication is lost.  (The Logitech utility is supposed to get the mouse to connect to the computer, but seems to do nothing outside of popping up a little window telling you to check the batteries and hit the reset button on the bottom of the device).

This mouse is smaller in the hand than the V200 is, and for people with larger hands and/or long fingers, it's a tad too small.  I don't really know why the mouse makers automatically assume that a notebook mouse has to be smaller than a desktop model... it's not like the slightly smaller size saves any significant space or weight in the carrying case.

My kids took an instant liking to the MS 4000, though, and the youngest particularly likes the smaller size as it fits his hand much better.  I may just take the V200 back and use it with my work computer.

The center button on the scroll wheel is not too deep, though it's firm enough to cause one to inadvertently scroll while center-clicking but not while trying to scroll left or right.  Annoying, but not too much so.  Speaking of the lateral scroll, this one has good tactile and audio feedback when pressing the wheel to either side.  This was a problem I had with the V200- unless you were watching the screen move sideways, you couldn't tell if the button was engaged.

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