Save Microsoft B5W-00001 Wireless Notebook Laser Mouse 6000

Really, don't buy this.

I made the mistake of heading off to the shop without doing my research, and bought the Microsoft Wireless Notebook Laser Mouse 6000 because it seemed like it did what I needed and the price was right.

From the moment I started using it, it was a nuisance.

First off, the movement is jerky and there seems to be no way around it no matter what you do with the Microsoft mouse software. I am using a Mac and the best way to describe the motion is that it makes it work like a mouse does on Windows - sometimes moves one pixel, sometimes moves two or three, rather than the smooth movement Mac users are accustomed to.

Secondly, the battery lasts at most a few weeks. I am a heavy user (on the computer 12 hours a day) so I didn't expect to get the 6 months they were claiming. But with this thing I've been through batteries in as little as two weeks! It's preposterous.

Thirdly, the rubber grip coating on the sides started coming off within a few days after I got it. Little shreds of rubber, like you get from a pencil eraser, were constantly collecting on my desk and getting trapped under the mouse. Within a couple months, the rubber was almost completely gone from one side of the mouse.

Fourth, the radio receiver is near useless. I use the mouse two feet away from the receiver, on a desk. The only thing between the mouse and the receiver is an ordinary wired keyboard. I am not using wifi or any cordless phones or baby monitors or missile tracking systems or interstellar radar arrays or anything else. Yet, I had to connect the receiver to a little USB hub and perch it on an empty peanut butter jar just to get it to talk to the mouse at all. Every few days it stops and I had to move the jar around a few inches here or there to get it back in communication.

Fifth, it would wake my computer up from sleep at random times. Not every night, but a few times a week I would come in the morning and find the computer had been up for hours. Disconnecting the Microsoft receiver from the USB port stopped that from happening. I can confirm that the desk was not being bumped, and in any case, mouse movement shouldn't wake it up from hard sleep.

Exasperated, I went online and actually read the reviews for wireless mice, and ended up buying a Logitech V220. It solved every problem: pointer movement is smooth as silk, the battery's lasted for two months so far, the rubber grip is as good as new, it has no problems talking to the USB receiver, and the computer sleeps happily through the night.

Only things I miss from the Microsoft mouse were the extra little button on the side, and the Microsoft mouse's quieter scroll wheel. Small price to pay indeed for not having to face a daily battle with the urge to throw my mouse out the window.Get more detail about Microsoft B5W-00001 Wireless Notebook Laser Mouse 6000.