Review: Microsoft Wireless Mobile Mouse 4000

You've probably seen the Microsoft Wireless Mobile Mouse 4000 in stores. It comes in wide variety of colors and retails somewhere in the $30 to $40 range, depending on where you shop. What makes this mouse special and is it worth the cost? Let's find out:

Design

The Microsoft Wireless Mobile Mouse 4000 has a fairly simple shape which fits nicely under your hand. The sides of the mouse are coated in rubber, which is also quite comfortable to rest your thumb on. The Mobile Mouse 4000 has four programmable buttons, which include a clickable scroll wheel and an auxiliary thumb button on the left side of the mouse, in addition to the standard left and right click buttons. It can be used by both left and right handed users; however, lefties may find the auxiliary thumb button on left side of the mouse a bit awkward to press.

Portability

Size and comfort are well balanced in the Microsoft Wireless Mobile Mouse 4000. The mouse is large enough to be comfortable, while still small enough to easily fit in a laptop bag. The nano wireless receiver is small enough to be left in its USB port while transporting your laptop but if you wish to remove it, the receiver can be conveniently stored in a compartment located in the bottom of the mouse.

The Mobile Mouse 4000 requires only a single battery to function. To conserve battery life, the mouse will sleep when not used for a certain amount of time and can also be manually turned off with a switch on the bottom. With moderate use, this mouse will last about 7 or 8 months before the battery needs to be replaced. This makes the Microsoft Wireless Mobile Mouse 4000 quite suitable for portable use.

Functionality

This mouse uses Microsoft's new BlueTrack technology, which is marketed as having a wider and more accurate beam, allowing it to be used on more surfaces than standard optical and laser mice. The Mobile Mouse 4000 lives up to this claim. It works quite well on carpeted floors, polished wood, and even laminated text books. However, it should be noted that the mouse still won't work on glass like Logitech's Darkfield technology used in their latest computer mice.

The mouse moves smoothly and the default sensitivity is perfect for the average user. There is no noticeable lag as you might notice with cheaper mice. The 4-way scroll wheel scroll smoothly but lacks a tactile response when scrolling up and down so it can sometimes be slightly difficult to precisely navigate through web pages and documents. Also, like many other modern computer mice, the tracking beam on the Wireless Mobile Mouse 4000 is located off-center underneath the mouse, making it difficult to use the mouse on narrow and rounded surfaces such as your leg or the arm of a couch.

Personalization

The Microsoft Wireless Mobile Mouse 4000 comes in just about every color you can think of, from lime green to solid black for the less adventurous user so you should have no problem finding a color that is to your liking. Also, as mentioned before, the buttons are programmable so, using the included software, you can map different functions to the mouse's four buttons. You'll probably want to keep the left click, right click, and scroll button at their default settings but customizing the left thumb button mouse can be rather useful.

Overall Value

This mouse is a fine example of how much wireless computer mice have improved but when compared to its competition, Logitech's Anywhere MX Mouse, the Microsoft Wireless Mobile Mouse 4000 falls a bit short in terms of functionality and design. However, the Mobile Mouse 4000 is also $40 cheaper on average. If an extra thumb button and the ability to use your mouse on glass surfaces isn't worth $40 to you, the Microsoft Wireless Mobile Mouse 4000 is definitely the way to go.