Product: Microsoft Explorer Mouse with BlueTrack
Supplier: Microsoft
MSRP: $99.99     Find Lowest Price @ PriceGrabber
Author: Nick
Date: December 11, 2008

The computer mouse has evolved greatly over the years. First there was the mechanical mouse, then the optical mouse, followed by the laser mouse. Well the mouse has once again evolved with the introduction of Microsoft’s Explorer Mouse with BlueTrack technology. BlueTrack is billed as the ultimate mouse tracking technology because it can be used on surfaces that optical and laser mice could not handle. Is this in fact the case or is it all a bunch of hot air?

Features

• “BlueTrack Technology”
• Better than optical and laser
• Rechargeable
• Fully featured five-button mouse
• Blue Lighting Effects
• 4-way scrolling
• Sophisticated design and ergonomic comfort
• 2.4GHz reliable wireless connection
• Snap-in transceiver for portability
• 3 Year Warranty

Packaging/Contents

Included with the Explorer Mouse is rechargeable battery, charger with power cable, user manual, and the IntelliPoint 6.3 software.

Setup

Getting this mouse to work is just as easy as any wired mouse. Once the batteries are installed, simply plug in the transceiver and windows will install the necessary drivers. The IntelliPoint software is optional and only necessary if you want to program the mouse button functions. Also if you opt to use the rechargeable battery in the mouse right away, you may need to charge the mouse first.

First Impression

Microsoft’s Explorer Mouse with BlueTrack is 4.5 inches long, 3.25 inches wide and 1.75 inches high. I found this to be too small for my hands but still relatively comfortable to use.   The front half of the mouse had a slick finish.  The Explorer mouse is designed specifically for right handed users.

As stated before, the Explore Mouse is rechargeable. With heavy usage (8 – 10 hours/day) I was able go a little under 3 weeks between charges. Why is the battery life considerably shorter than other wireless mice currently on the market? The Explorer Mouse only uses 1 AA battery as opposed to many other mice which typically use 2 AA batteries. If the battery dies while on the road or in a situation where you cannot charge the battery, the rechargeable battery can be easily swapped out with a standard AA battery.

The blue lighting effects that the Explorer Mouse features are nothing special. They only come on when the transceiver is first removed from the bottom of the mouse or comes out of sleep mode and slowly fade off after about 5 seconds to conserve battery.

While the Explorer Mouse is a full size mouse, the snap-in transceiver makes the mouse ideal for mobile users. When the transceiver is snapped into its slot, the Explorer Mouse turns itself off to conserve battery.

The only downfall I could find with the Explorer Mouse was its low DPI of 1000. This is a little low for my liking even for desktop usage. However, for most people this probably won’t be a problem as wireless mice typically aren’t used for gaming.

BlueTrack Technology – How It Works

• Most mice use either red or Infrared light or lasers. This is the first mouse in my experience to use a blue light instead.

• Blue light has a significantly smaller wavelength than red, and even smaller than the invisible laser mice. This means that there will be less scatter or loss from reflecting off of a surface.

• The advantages to using a diffuse incoherent light over a laser is that the sensor does not expect coherent (a single orderly beam like a laser) light to return to the sensor. Since light returned from anything but a clean surface is going to be much less than coherent, the incoherent light allows for use on surfaces that are not clean.

• A wider beam allows for use on surfaces that are not necessary flat or solid. This (along with some of the other innovations above) is what allows the mouse to work on surfaces like carpet or surfaces with small holes.

• For Microsoft’s talking points visit Microsoft’s Explorer Mouse Reviewer’s Guide

Real World Testing

According to Microsoft, the BlueTrack technology is the world’s most advanced tracking. However how does the Explorer Mouse with BlueTrack fair in the real world. I tested the Explorer Mouse against the Logitech MX518 optical mouse and Logitech G5 laser mouse on the following surfaces.

• Standard mouse pad
• Wood surface
• Hard plastic
• White board
• Plastic zip lock bag
• Carpet
• Granite tile
• Vinyl
• Glass
• Cloth arm of a recliner
• Metal surface with ¼ inch holes every ½ inch
• Metal surface without holes

Here are the test results for each surface and mouse:

Microsoft’s Explorer Mouse with BlueTrack worked on 12 of the 13 surfaces while Logitech’s MX518 worked on 11 of the 13 surfaces. The only surface the Explorer Mouse didn’t work on was a mirror. Coming in last place was the G5 laser mouse, which only worked on 7 of the 13 surfaces.

Conclusion

The Explorer Mouse with BlueTrack is an excellent mouse but nowhere as superior as Microsoft would like you to think.  The Explorer Mouse only worked on 1 surface that its closest competitor, an optical mouse, did not work on.  It is relatively comfortable to use for extended periods of times, but I do not particularily care for the slick surface of the mouse itself. The main downfalls of the Explorer Mouse are its low DPI and small size. While the price tag might seem a little high at first, other rechargeable name brand mice run in the same price range.

Pros

+ Rechargeable
+ Comfortable
+ Works on a variety of surfaces
+ Snap-in transceiver
+ Visually appealing design

Cons

- Low DPI
- Not long enough for people with large hands
- Right handed only

Tags: BlueTrack, Explorer Mouse, Microsoft, mouse, wireless