The Battery Pack – 5/5 stars
The Proporta Rechargeable Battery Back seems to be an excellent idea all around. The unit is fairly small (about the size of a iPod Classic), quite robust, lightweight (4.2 oz) and fairly good looking. There is only one button on the device which also contains an LED indicator inside. The indicator turns red while charging and goes green when complete. You’ll have to click the button to begin charging a connected device and the light remains green until it completes charging. The front side has a mini-USB input to charge the battery pack and a standard USB port to output power to your gadgets. The battery contained inside has 3400 mAH of storage and can output energy at 5v (700mA). I was able to fully recharge a completely depleted Creative Zen and a Apple iPod Nano without having to recharge.

Charging The Battery Pack – 5/5 stars
I was quite impressed to see that Proporta had provided many useful ways to recharge the Rechargeable Battery Pack. First method would be to use the included AC Adapter which has a USB port on the bottom. Just connect the battery to it using the included USB cable and it begins charging. Proporta provides pins for four major countries for the AC adapter, so you should be covered in some regard. The second method to charge the battery would be to use the cigarette car charger. You’ll have to use that standard cable in this situation as well. And if you have not already guessed the third method, it would be to just plug that USB cable into a computer.

Charging Gadgets With The Battery – 5/5 stars
Proporta outdid themselves in this category as well. I was able to charge just about every gadget I owned with this battery pack. For example I was able to use the USB cable that came with my iPod Nano to make the connection between the two. I used the included mini-USB cable to charge the Creative Zen and Motorola RAZR. I was also able to charge the LG Dare and LG Chocolate 3 (review units) with the USB cables that came with those phones. The best part about this being a USB interface might be the fact that when the device has received enough power, it sends a signal to the battery pack to shutdown, which saves battery for other devices. Proporta also includes a set of adapters for major brands of devices, these include: Nokia, Sony Ericsson, Apple iPod, Samsung, Mini USB, Micro USB, and a 4.0 DC. Proporta even sells additional adapters for other gadgets online, if needed. In my situation the included accessories for the battery was able to cover just about all the devices I had. In addition as a bonus, since one end of all the adapters is a USB head, you can charge any of the devices you would have been able to charging using the battery pack with either the AC Adapter or Car Charger.

Conclusion
I would have to say that this is probably one of my favorite accessories I have used or reviewed. The entire product was well thought out and just works. It is quite practical and thanks to the widespread use of USB this has become possible. As long as the lifespan of the battery pack last at least a couple of years, this should be an excellent accessory for long trips or commutes. Proporta even includes a designer Ted Baker soft case to hold all the components of the kit together, so you’ll never have to worry about loosing them. I will definitely packing this with me on the next trip I take. The Ted Baker Charging Kit is available for purchase on Proporta.com for $49, however since you are a Skatter Tech reader you are welcome to use the coupon code ’skattertech’ (no quotes) to receive a 10% discount.

Links: Ted Baker Rechargeable Battery Pack
Coupon Code: skattertech
Related: Proporta.com/Power

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