Being a wireless mouse, the MX1000 requires some sort of base station to receive the signals from the mouse. The base for the MX1000 is similar to the one used with the MX700, again with minor improvements. The mouse cradle now includes a larger guide for the mouse, ensuring a proper charging connection with placing the MX1000 into the base. A dark tinted panel holds the mouse upright, and gives the receiver unit a nice high end look. We tested the range out to about 10 feet with consistent mouse movement, even when the receiver was not in visual range of the mouse. An internal lithium ion battery powers the MX1000, and the new base features a rapid charging system that is truly rapid charging. A quick 10 minute charge will last one full day, and four hours on the charger gives the MX1000 a full charge. I’ve had the mouse off the cradle for two weeks, and I still have two power bars illuminated. A full charge is listed as lasting up to 21 days, and from our testing on the office desk, I would completely agree with that claim.
Installation of the MX1000 was standard fare for any USB device. Install the software, plug in the unit. That’s it. The included software, SetPoint, allows remapping of the MX1000’s 8 buttons, along with the standard mouse options; pointer speed, wheel scrolls lines, mouse tails, etc. Nothing extremely fancy, but then again, simplicity is an often overlooked feature. Point, click, the mouse works. That is a good thing.
But, the MX1000 is more than just a prettied up version of the MX700. The internal components of the mouse are completely new. So new in fact, that the MX1000 is the first mouse of it’s kind on the market.
The first hint that something is amiss is the lack of light emanating from the bottom of the MX1000. The eerie red glow of the standard optical mouse is gone, which can be a good thing or a bad thing, depending how attached you are to lights and gadgets. I was never one to mod my mouse with blue lights and fans, so the lightless MX1000 didn’t bother me at all. One less thing to run down the battery.
The heart of the new MX1000 is the laser optic system. A laser is pointed at the surface, and the light is reflected into the mouse, where the reflected image is read and interpreted by the mouse driver software. The laser light is far more concentrated than the traditional LED power lights of a standard optical mouse, and can “see” a more accurate depiction of the mousing surface. Each second, the mouse is reading 6000 of these images, which translates into 5.8 megapixels. Finally, the software compares the images, and uses the tiny changes in the digital images to interpolate movement. Logitech claims a 20X improvement over the current generation of LED optical mice, and from what we have seen, the MX1000 is extremely accurate and responsive.
Now before fledgling scientists get crazy ideas about lasers and mice, Logitech is quick to point out that the MX1000 laser is completely harmless to you, even if you were to look at the laser through a magnifying glass. So much for the sharks with freaking laser beams, eh?
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