Wired Vs. Wireless Mouse Review
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Well over a year ago, OCA reviewed the MS Intellimouse Optical Mouse. A truly innovative product that easily made OCA's Best and Worst of 2000. Today, we pit this tried and true mouse against Microsoft's latest optical product, the MS Wireless Intellimouse Explorer. Since the first second I saw this mouse I had to have it. Although I recently acquired this spiffy piece of technological history, it remains to be seen whether or not it is worth the hefty price tag Microsoft has hung on it.
Company: Microsoft
Products: Wireless Intellimouse Explorer vs. Intellimouse Optical
Availability: In retail stores and online everywhere
Price: Wireless = $60-$70 Intellimouse = $25-$35
Written By: Mack (SPeeD) Littleton
Reviewed: January, 2002
Introduction: Microsoft is slowly but surely introducing innovative products in the hardware sector as well as software. With the arrival of Optical technology, the mouse has become not only more user friendly, but much more accurate and easier to clean as well. The good old days of cleaning dust balls and grime from the inside of your mouse are long gone, and I for one don't miss them one bit. Well over a year ago, OCA reviewed the MS Intellimouse Optical Mouse. A truly innovative product that easily made OCA's Best and Worst of 2000. Today, we pit this tried and true mouse against Microsoft's latest optical product, the MS Wireless Intellimouse Explorer. Since the first second I saw this mouse I had to have it. Although I recently acquired this spiffy piece of technological history, it remains to be seen whether or not it is worth the hefty price tag Microsoft has hung on it. Lets move on and see the truth.
Features: Lets checkout the features of each mouse to see what each has to offer.
The MICE | 
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Surprisingly enough, the venerable Intellimouse Optical is holding it's own in features. Also, one feature that I would like to add, that MS hasn't brought up is the WEIGHT factor. The MS Wireless mouse is extremely heavy, compared to an optical or even "normal" mouse. In a normal "ball based" mouse, the majority of your weight comes from the rubber-like ball that inhabits the inside of the mouse. The optical mouse is very light because it uses no moving parts and has no heavy weight ball to deal with. The Wireless mouse on the other hand has 2 AA batteries residing underneath it's belly, and while 2 AA batteries does not sound heavy, they become so very quickly. Try working with this mouse hours on end and your wrist and hand will be begging for mercy. I would liked to have seen MS perfect the power consumption of the wireless technology to allow for 1 AA or possibly 2 AAA batteries before bringing this product to market. As it stands, this mouse is MUCH too heavy for average everyday use.
System Requirements: Ok, I know, these are only mice right? What system requirements could they possibly need, other than simply a working computer? All the same, lets checkout what the differences are here with each mouse and see how they stack up.
Wireless Intellimouse Explorer:
Windows-based PC
To use Microsoft® Wireless IntelliMouse® Explorer with the scroll wheel and all customizable buttons, you need:
- IntelliPoint software (included)
- One of the following: Microsoft Windows 98, Windows Me, Windows 2000, or Windows XP Home Edition or Professional operating systems
- 25 MB of available hard-disk space
- CD-ROM drive
- An available Universal Serial Bus (USB) port on your PC
- Microsoft Internet Explorer 4.01 with Service Pack 2 or later to view Help files (Internet Explorer browser software included; requires 486DX 66 MHz or higher processor, 45 MB of additional hard-disk space, and 16 MB of RAM on Windows 98)
Note: Two AA alkaline batteries are required (included).
Intellimouse Optical:
Windows-based PC
To use Microsoft® IntelliMouse® Optical with the scroll wheel and all customizable buttons, you need:
- IntelliPoint software (included)
- One of the following: Microsoft Windows 95, Windows 98, Windows Me, Windows NT® 4.0 with Service Pack 5 or later, Windows 2000, or Windows XP Home Edition or Professional operating systems
- 25 MB of available hard-disk space
- CD-ROM drive
- An available PS/2 or Universal Serial Bus (USB) port on your PC (Windows 95 and Windows NT 4.0 operating systems do not support USB)
- Microsoft Internet Explorer 4.01 with Service Pack 2 or later to view Help files (Internet Explorer browser software included; requires 486DX 66 MHz or higher processor, 45 MB of additional hard-disk space, 16 MB of RAM on Windows 95 and Windows 98, and 32 MB of RAM on Windows NT 4.0)
At first glance, the requirements appear very similar. Upon closer inspection however, you'll notice the Wireless Intellimouse Explorer does not support Windows 95 or NT 4.0. The reason for this is the lack of support for USB hardware. While the Intellimouse Explorer can easily use the PS/2 adaptor, the Wireless mouse cannot. Other than this, the system requirements for each are identical.
Not to leave out the MAC fans we have (if any). Here are the System requirements for both, should you be utilizing the fine Macintosh hardware and operating system.
Macintosh-based PC
To use Microsoft IntelliMouse Optical with the scroll wheel and all customizable buttons, you need:
- IntelliPoint software for the Macintosh (included)
- Mac OS 8.6 or 9.x (excluding OS X or later)
- 15 MB of available hard-disk space
- CD-ROM drive
- An available Universal Serial Bus (USB) port
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