Hardware – 5/5 stars
The form factor of the Anywhere MX is quite similar to the VX Nano. The MX feels as though it weights nearly twice as much mainly due to the use of 2 AA batteries rather than 2 AAA on the preceding model. The workmanship is excellent, just as it almost always is with Logitech products. From the minute you pick it up, you’ll know that it’s a high end quality product. The parts that previously had glossy plastic on the VX Nano are now covered with a chrome trim on the Anywhere MX. Scratches and fingerprints aren’t nearly as visible anymore. There’s a sliding cover which doubles as both the power switch and as a cover to protect the sensor from damage when in the “OFF position”. Other than that, there’s a large door on the bottom that reveals the batteries and a holster for the tiny USB Logitech Unifying receiver.

Buttons – 5/5 stars
The Anywhere MX features all the essential buttons necessary to make a good mouse. This includes a left/right-click buttons, back/forward-keys, a scroll wheel, and a middle-click. Unlike the Anywhere MX, many mice such as the Microsoft Mobile Mouse 4000 often fall short in offering all of those basic keys. The Logitech even takes it a step further by offering a scroll wheel that can switch between a frictionless free-spin mode and a notched  modes when the wheel is pushed in. The frictionless mode is great for flicking through long webpages, while the other mode is slower, but offers precision. The scroll wheel can also be leaned to the left or right for horizontal scrolling. The middle click defaults to the button placed right below the scroll wheel. Logitech made the wise decision to move the awkwardly placed forward and back keys on the VX Nano to the natural location of where the thumb finger would be located. The most important keys, the left and right click, have a strong and comforting feel. Overall, it’s a huge improvement over the VX Nano. Although I’m not taking a point off, I should note that this is a right-handed mice, it would be difficult for lefties to use this product.

Surface Tracking 5/5 stars
The greatest feature of this mouse is the new Darkfield Laser technology. It now can operate on virtually any surface including glass. Neither optical mice nor even Microsoft’s new BlueTrack technology can’t match it. The technology works by detecting imperfections and dust particles on the glass. It might not be as accurate as compared to using a traditional surface or mouse pad, but after a few tests on a glass desk, it seemed to work just well. Hard-core gamers will probably want a better mouse, but the precision of the new laser is better than any other mouse Skatter Tech has come across to date.

Other Components – 5/5 stars
Although Logitech offers a CD with Drivers, everything worked right out of the box on both Windows 7 and Vista. Unless you want to customize functionality, it might even be better to not install the extra tools to save system resources. The transmitter is about the same size as the one included with the previous model. It’s no longer limited to pairing with just this Anywhere Mouse MX, but can also connect to other products compatible with the Unifying technology. The signal strength is strong enough to transmit accurately from at least 20 feet away. Logitech even throws in a neat little pouch to protect the MX Nano when traveling. Although I couldn’t test the battery life span for obvious reasons, Logitech claims about 6 months with normal use. I’ll take their word for it considering the history of their quality products.

Bottom Line
There’s no question that this is one of the best mice on the market today. Although I wouldn’t mind using this as a full time mouse, Logitech also offers a larger desktop version called the Performance Mouse MX. We will be reviewing getting a hold of that one soon. This mouse simply works on just about any surface one would come across. The only downside comes with the price. The MSRP is $80. However if you shop around it’s available for a lot less. Amazon currently offers it for $50 after a $10 rebate. With the comfort, features, the tiny receiver, and even a case thrown in, there’s no way you’ll be disappointed.

Buy: Amazon.com Anywhere MX $50
Links: Logitech.com Anywhere Mouse MX

The Specifications:

• Connectivity: 2.4 GHz wireless (USB Adapter)
• Power: Two AA Batteries
• Sensor: 848nm Adjustable-dpi laser
• Special: DPI Controls & Stealth Thumb Button

The Buttons: – 5/5 stars
The best part of the MX 1100 is the large amount of buttons it features without becoming overwhelming for those who don’t plan on using anything past the essential ones. The mouse is a bit larger than an average sized mouse, but is quite comfortable to use and both the left & right click buttons provide great tactile feedback. A button below the scroll wheel allows switching between a “notched scroll” and a “frictionless scroll”. The standard “notches” setting lets you feel each bump while scrolling, whereas the “frictionless” setting allows flicking through pages rapidly. The scroll wheel supports 4-way scrolling, so leaning it to either side will allow scrolling in that direction. Pushing in the scroll wheel functions as a middle-click, which is great for opening links in new tabs. A plus and minus button at the top left of the mouse allows increasing or decreasing the DPI settings to adjust sensitivity. It’s quite neat to be able to change the sensitivity at anytime without having to dig through the Control Panel. Directly above the thumb rest are the forward and backward keys. Although well placed, they were a bit too soft to offer enough feedback in my opinion. The final neat feature is the “stealth thumb button”, located in the thumb rest, which has been configured by default to launch Vista’s 3D flip interface to switch between open windows. And as always, installing Logitech’s SetPoint drivers and software will allow customizing any button to do just about anything you would like it to do.

Accuracy and Transmission: - 5/5 stars
Despite being a wireless mouse, the device maintained a strong connection with the transmitter. There were no problems getting it to work from even over 20 feet away. The MX 1100 is also quite accurate, movements are almost flawless and the adjustable DPI doesn’t disappoint. Hard-core gamers will probably still complain about accuracy, but for most consumers this will end up being the most accurate mouse they have used. That doesn’t mean its bad for gaming, it was better than any of the mice I had and was excellent to use while playing a game of Counter-Strike.

Battery and Charging - 3/5 stars
The way the mouse gets it’s juice is probably the only drawback. The Mouse runs of two AA batteries and Logitech claims it will last about nine months. The mouse automatically goes into a power-save mode, however Logitech still says by using the “on/off button, you save even more power.” There is a battery indicator on the mouse that lights up when turned on, but fades away after a couple of seconds. A re-chargeable version of this mouse is available, however it can only be purchased as a part of a Cordless Desktop Wave Pro keyboard-mouse bundle. Unfortunately we can’t test the mouse for nine-months, but from experience I can say that the lifespan could be much shorter or longer based of how many hours it gets used each day.

Conclusion:
Overall, the Logitech MX 1100 is a top-of-the-line mouse and is probably one of the best ones I have used to date. It is extremely comfortable, completely customizable, and just works. If you do happen to be a “lefty” (left-handed), you are out of luck. It would be quite difficult to use this mouse comfortably with a left hand. For a retail price of $79.99, while being available for as low as $65 online, it’s affordable and offers just about everything you could ask for. I only wish it was rechargeable, but despite that most owners will be truly satisfied by what Logitech’s MX 1100 has to offer.

Links: Logitech.com MX 1100
Buy: MX 1100 For $65 (no tax + free shipping via Amazon)

Wicked Lasers Nexus Specifications:

• Output Power: 95mW
• Beam Diameter: 1.6mm
• Laser Lifetime: over 5,000 hours
• Power Consumption: 500mA
• Battery Supply: 2 x AAA (1.5V)
• Battery Life: 90 minutes
• Body: Black Polished Brass
• Wavelength: 532nm
• Size: 13mm x 144mm

The Nexus 95mW is bright enough that the target is clearly visible even in bright daylight. The actual beam isn’t so visible during the day, but is clearly visible when indoors. At night this laser pretty much resembles a Star Wars light saber. The beam doesn’t seem to ever end if you shine it into the sky at night. This is excellent for pointing planets or stars. It’s power might not be the best for all situations, for example a PowerPoint presentation. The laser will probably be much brighter than your projector and will most likely blind the audience. At night the Nexus can literally light up an entire room.

The laser pointer is actually quite compact, it’s roughly the size of an average pen. Wicked Lasers also includes a neat little hard carrying case to protect the device. The Nexus runs off 2 standard AAA batteries. The laser’s true performance will probably be best experienced in the first 15-20 minutes of use since it’s powerful diode rapidly drains battery life. Wicked Lasers also recommends avoiding continuously using the laser for over two minutes without allowing it to cool. If it overheats, it may damage the laser diode. As for the fun stuff, you’ll be able to light matches after a few seconds. It can easily burn through garbage bags, however you’ll need to be within a couple of inches for it to work. The same goes for balloons. Unfortunately the Nexus won’t do much to anything if you are more than a foot away.

For a quick comparison of how powerful the 95mW Nexus is compared to the 5mW Core, I snapped an image of both of them pointed a couple inches away from each other. If you’re having a hard time making out the image, the small circle on the left is from the 5mW laser and the big one is from the 95mW.

Overall I was quite impressed with the Nexus, it was by far the most powerful laser my friends or I had seen. The only downside to all of this might just be the price tag. The Nexus 95mW retails for about $400 on Wicked Lasers’s website. You probably won’t be purchasing this just for the hell of it unless you fell like spending some cash, but if you do become an owner, you won’t be disappointed. Wicked Lasers also sells 300mW, but as expected that’s going to cost a whole lot more. If you are worried about making a purchase, keep in mind that Wicked Lasers includes a 3 month warranty which should cover defects.

Links: WickedLasers.com | Executive Series (Green Lasers)
Related: Laser Community Forums

Notice: The Wicked Lasers Nexus a pretty fun little gizmo to mess around with, but if you haven’t guessed yet, this is definitely not a toy! This laser can badly sting your skin in a couple of seconds of exposure, which means that even a second of exposure to the eye may cause some serious damage. So it may not be a good idea to allow children to handle or even use around others unaware of the danger. So beware and be cautious when handling it. No one wants to be responsible for permanently blinding someone.

The Specifications:

• Connectivity: 2.4 GHz Wireless (USB Adapter)
• Power: One Rechargable AAA (with Dock)
• Sensor: High Definition 850nm Laser
• Other: 4-way scroll & back/forward buttons

The Buttons: – 3.5/5 stars
For a full-sized desktop mouse, I was partially disappointed to see how few buttons the mouse had. Other than the left/right click buttons the Wireless Laser Mouse 7000 only had a scroll wheel, which also functioned as a middle click, and a back/forward browser navigation buttons on the left side. The scroll wheel had no friction (no clicks) which made it slightly difficult to use with certain applications. It would have been nice if it had a switch to enable or disable the “notches” like some of the Logitech mice do. Clicking in the scroll wheel to perform a middle-click took some getting used to since I kept accidentally scrolling instead. And finally the back and forward buttons were placed high up making them hard to reach, however it wasn’t an issue after a day or two of use. I do wish they could have thrown at least a few more controls onto the mouse for faster navigation. And finally the two most important buttons, left and right click, were easy to reach, however were a bit too soft and were unusually squeaky.

Accuracy and Transmission – 5/5 stars
The mouse made up for its lack of buttons with its accuracy. The “High Definition Laser Technology” seems to be working since the movements were almost pinpoint accurate. Despite the mouse being wireless, as long as I was within 20 feet of the receiver (same room) I didn’t experience any hiccups. There are other wireless mouse that offer more sensitive lasers, however I found the Wireless Laser 7000 Mouse to be more than enough for any task I was performing on my machine which includes using Adobe Photoshop. Although I didn’t take off any points since this isn’t suppose to be a traveling mouse, I felt the transmitter could have been a bit smaller like those included with newer mice.

Battery and Charging – 5/5 stars
Microsoft’s mouse uses a single AAA NiMH 1000mAH battery to power itself. I didn’t try to use the mouse until the battery died, however I was able to go through at least 3 days without an issue. To recharge the mouse, just place it on the included AC powered dock. (Microsoft recommends charging it for 7 hours to reach a full charge.) The other neat fact might just be that, if you do happen to take this mouse with you and forget to bring the charger dock, you can just pop in a standard AAA battery temporarily.

Compatibility – 4/5 stars
The Wireless 7000 Mouse worked instantly when the USB adapter was plugged in without any additional software on Windows XP/Vista, Mac OS X Leopard, and Linux Ubuntu. If found that everything function just fine on all the operating systems, however the back and forward navigation buttons failed to do anything on Ubuntu and Leopard. If the included Microsoft IntelliPoint software is installed for Windows or OS X, the mouse’s buttons can be truly customized to do stuff like launching the 3D Flip or Exposé.

Overall Microsoft’s Wireless Laser Mouse 700 is a success and I felt comfortable using it within a day. The setup up process was easy as just plugging the adapter in for me, however Leopard users may have to install additional software. This mouse is bad news for left-handed consumers since it has been specifically shaped for the right hand. Finally other than the mouse’s build quality seeming a bit poor, everything else met my expectations. The mouse became available for purchase just last month and the MSRP is $69.99, however you should be able to find it for around $60 if you shop around.

Buy: Wireless Laser Mouse 7000 – $61 (amazon = no tax + ships free)
Links: Microsoft.com (Hardware) Wireless Laser Mouse 7000
Related: Logitech VX Nano Reviewed

We recently got a hold of the “CORE” green laser pointer from the folks over at Wicked Lasers and we’re quite impressed. It was probably the brightest laser pointer I had seen. According to Wicked Lasers, this model should be visible over 10,000 feet away (during a clear night). Green lasers are naturally over 50x brighter than red lasers since the human eye is more sensitive to it. The Core model outputs the green laser at 5mW (milliwatts), which is the maximum allowed under U.S. regulations. (100% Legal!)

As I mentioned, this was the closest thing I had seen to a true “laser beam”. When I tested it outdoors at night, a good portion of the beam was clearly visible due to moisture in the air. We compared it to another red laser of the same milliwatt output and close to nothing was visible. Although this is one of the least powerful green laser produced by Wicked Lasers, it is still quite dangerous. It is important to be cautious since direct exposure from close distances can permanently damage the eye. You will also find safety warnings on standard red laser pointers found in most office supply and electronic stores, but these aren’t nearly as dangerous or powerful.

If for some reason 5mW isn’t enough for you, Wicked Lasers sells green lasers with outputs reaching up to 300mW. (Once again ours was just 5mW) We wouldn’t recommend playing around with anything higher than the Core. If you purchase one handle it cautiously, don’t give it to children, or people unaware of its potential. If you want a better idea of how powerful these can get, the following are some examples of what each milliwatt range they can do: (So yes, they can burn and melt stuff!)

• 15-35mW: beam visible at night, in smoke, and in foggy areas.
• 55-75mW: 15 mile range, beam visible in lighted areas, melt trash bags, and stings skin
• 95-125mW: 50 mile range, pop air balloons, light matches, and melt plastic/rubber
• 200-300mW: 100 mile range, Tesla technology, and can even lights cigars

Getting back to the Core model, it runs on two standard AAA batteries for up to 90 minutes. The lifespan of the laser itself is expected to be somewhere around 5,000 hours of use. The one small drawback we noticed was the fact that using this pointer for over 3 minutes continuously could cause the insides to overheat therefore sacrificing the laser diode’s lifespan. Either way 3 minutes is a pretty long time to be pointing at something, plus it’s a great improvement over older lasers which were even shorter.

Red lasers are the most widely available, however green laser pointers are becoming much more common and cheaper. Just for a rough idea, just about 10 years ago a red laser would have cost nearly $100. As for the CORE by Wicked Lasers, it is available online for just $35. Wicked Lasers even provides a 12 month warranty with the unit and throw in a hard case, so there’s not much to worry about. Having a green laser for presentations can make things more interesting. If you wish to purchase other higher end models, prices reach over $500.

Links: Wicked Lasers CORE | WickedLasers.com
Related: TechLasers.com (Wicked Lasers Affiliate)

http://skattertech.com/media/2007/10/wicked-lasers-video.flv

On July 25, 2006, Apple released a wireless bluetooth, laser guided, and AA powered Mighty Mouse. The new and improved Mighty Mouse has many changes from its predecessor, which was released in August ‘05 and was still wired. The Mighty Mouse’s bluetooth will work up to 30 feet away, uses laser precision tracking for improved accuracy, has a touch sensitive left/right-click buttons, a 360° scroll wheel, and extra side “squeeze” buttons. All buttons can be manually programmed in System Preferences.

One problem with this product is the fact that it still requires 2 AA batteries. Most other wireless mouses these days usually have a special built-in rechargeable battery and a dock on which to charge it upon. Although this may be a wise solution for those who travel, it may not be the best for those who spend long hours on their computer. However some innovative features include the right/left-click which are detected using touch sensitivity and without any hardware buttons.

The Mighty Mouse is already available from the Apple Store and is priced at $69. The bluetooth Mighty Mouse will unfortunately only work on Mac OS X, luckily there is a cheaper ($49) USB-wired version which will work on Windows and older Mac OS machines and has most of the features.

Links: Apple Mighty Mouse | QuickTime VR
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