You can reassign any of the buttons via Logitech's intuitive SetPoint software, including mapping one of them to switch between two custom DPI settings. A new button on the thumb side also lets you toggle the scroll wheel to act as a zoom control. You still get Logitech's innovative scroll wheel, which lets you switch between ratcheted and free-spinning scrolling (the latter is excellent for navigating long documents or Web pages).
Otherwise, Logitech has only implemented a few tweaks to its successful MX mouse formula in the Performance Mouse MX.
While this design does require you to keep track of the cable (or find a full USB-to-mini-USB cable somewhere), we much prefer it to the clunky recharging station that Logitech has used in the past (and that Microsoft still uses, in trimmed-down form) that prevents you from working while your mouse re-energizes. Connect the mouse to a powered USB port via the included cable and you can recharge with no usability downtime. Rather than a recharging station, as Logitech has used in the past, it's simply added a mini USB input into the front of the mouse. Logitech also has an advantage in its recharging design. The receiver does snap into the body of the mouse for easy travel, but with the Logitech's microreceiver design, the receiver is so small you don't need to take it out of the USB port to begin with. If you're in the market for a complete input device overhaul, we can at least recommend the one Unifying keyboard we've reviewed so far.įor its part, Microsoft's mouse relies on a standard USB receiver that works with only the mouse it was purchased with. Granted that means you're tied to those six devices to take advantage of that efficient receiver ecosystem, which means spending more money on new products to get the full benefit of the Unifying technology. As a member of the Unifying family, the Performance Mouse MX can work in conjunction with six other Logitech input devices on the same receiver. The microreceiver itself is a tiny nub of a thing that sticks out less than inch from a typical USB port. Both are wireless devices, and both offer battery recharging, but the Explorer Mouse has a much less ambitious take on those features than the Performance Mouse MX.įor its wireless technology, Logitech has brought the Performance Mouse MX into its Unifying USB microreceiver family of devices. The sensor technology out of the way, Microsoft's Explorer Mouse becomes a less relevant comparison to the Performance Mouse MX. And if you've longed to go mouse pad-free on that glass-topped coffee table or desk, Logitech's Darkfield sensor can make that dream a reality. Still, we're comfortable saying that transparent glass is among the more common potential mousing surfaces out there. Your results may vary with safety glass, tinted glass, and other surface treatments and material combinations that find their way into a potential work surface. We can't claim to have tried every variety of glass out there. Mirrored surfaces are still too challenging for either mouse. The Logitech mouse also handled all of the surfaces the BlueTrack mouse pioneered, from carpet, to a pants leg, to high-gloss marble. In both cases, the Logitech mouse maintained its signal while the Microsoft mouse failed. We tested the Logitech Performance Mouse MX and Microsoft's BlueTrack-powered Explorer Mouse on a fully transparent glass table, and on another glass table with a frosted underside. The only solid surface it can't handle is glass. BlueTrack projects a wider, more intense beam of light than traditional laser mice. Microsoft solved most of those issues with its BlueTrack sensor at the end of 2008. Irregular surfaces, like cloth, or shiny surfaces, like glass, mirrors, and even marble countertops and varnished wood can throw off the reading.
While capable of much greater accuracy than the old IR sensor, the common mouse laser is limited in the kinds of surfaces on which it can track. Up until last year, the laser sensor had established itself as the mouse industry standard, even in high performance gaming mice.