logitech mx air rechargeable cordless air mouse

Rating:
Date: 2008-07-07
Great for when a desktop mouse is not practical
It looks great, it's light, feels great, but it is not perfect. I have not had the re-centering problem many others have written about. But the mouse does feel to me that it is made of cheep plastic, though it works fine and nothing has broke. And it took me a while to get use to it ... heck I am still getting use to it and immediately grab my normal mouse for those hours when I am able. I do like the fact that all the buttons light up.

I have to spend almost half of my day in bed hooked up to machines and this air mouse comes in handy since I am stuck in place and cannot reach the computer. I found it best for using it to listen too my music or watch movies on the computer. But I never use it when I am to remove the wires and raise myself high enough to use a normal mouse. Now lets see if Logitech can get a keyboard to operate with an air mouse...

Now it can function as a normal mouse, but I really miss the side buttons like my Logitech MX-700 has. I maintain a website and a couple of blogs and spend the rest of my time in a web browser, so being able to have access to the sides of my mouse to move forward/back are critical and very convenient

But it does as it claims; it functions well as an "in the air" mouse solution. I do not know how long the charge last, I used it for hours to watch movies and surf and when I placed it in the charger it had not even used half of its charge.

Rating:
Date: 2008-07-03
Learn to scroll before you learn to fly!
I've read some of the other reviews and it seems that most of the negative ones relate to persons being stymied by the learning curve. This is a new human interface device. It's not really a 'mouse', just like the 'wii controller' really isn't a classic 'game controller'. It takes time to train yourself to use it.

Logitech, apparently, has tried to make this painless as possible. It can be frustrating. In order to use a regular computer mouse, we have to train our neural pathways to understand a whole new way of knowing. We move something under our hand, something appears on a screen in front of us. This evokes my sympathy for those persons that were early adopters of office PCs. The transition from looking 'down' at a typewriter, to 'across' at a screen must have been difficult - especially for older people who taught themselves to type.

This mouse is extremely easy to use, but it is different. It operates in multiple dimensions.. The best way to train yourself is to take it slow. It is extremely quick to respond. The controls do not favor a right or left hand, or hand position. You have to work out what is best for you, then practice. It is a bit like an ipod touch or a zune 80 in that you can scroll very quickly through a great deal of material just by moving your finger across the center section. The whole thing is touch sensitive. It also needs to be wiped off periodically. Logitech has included a nice big cleaning cloth that gets rid of smears easily. I am a handcream fan so this was a real bonus for me :)

This unit is replacing a Microsoft 6000 laser mouse. Everything was fine until I got into 'shooter' games, then I realized my mouse wasn't keeping up. I didn't want to get a wired gamer mouse, because I have enough clutter on my desktop. This mouse solves that problem. The charger can be located anywhere. It has an independent power supply that does need a larger plug. The sending unit is a slim usb that can fit easily into narrow, crowded slots. At first I plugged the usb into one of my front ports because I was worried that the signal could get blocked. Everything was fine. Next, I moved it to one of the ports on the back of my apple cinema screen. Same response :) So feel free to put the receiver/sender on the back of your box. Get it out of the way.

The next thing was teaching myself how to use it. If, like me, you find it whizzing all over the place, you can 'center' it by pressing the 'back' button for more than two seconds. That will lock the mouse in place. When you press the back button again, the mouse will move. Thereafter you can use it like you would a TV remote to scroll through menus, select items, or control your browser. In addition, you can also scroll through your volume control, like you would a TV remote.

What this thing is best used for right out of the box is for windows media center. If you are planning on building a system dedicated to recording/playing video, playing slideshows or playing music on your television, this mouse will make more sense immediately. It has an extensive range - 30 feet. You can put the charger on the coffee table then put the usb send/receive unit in whatever style computer you have hooked up to your television so you can use it as a 'remote'. You can also use this to turn your computer into a console game system hooked up to your television.

The ultimate test of the Logitech MX was whether it would help me improve my score in 'Jets'n'Guns Gold'. It did :) The response time is so much better than my old Microsoft 6000 it was a snap :) I am still learning to use the mouse in the air. It's a strange sensation to use it to flip through pages in e-books, or scroll through listings on ebay when it is not on a flat surface. It's getting there, though.

It also helps that this is a VERY nicely designed mouse that fits nicely in my small hand :)

Rating:
Date: 2008-06-13
MX Air A Real Gas
I've had my home theater PC for a number of years now and have been looking for a remote that would fit the bill. The MX air is almost it. It's stylish to say the least. As far as functionality? On the Mouse Pad it works like a regular mouse, but it's slim profile takes some getting used to. In the air it works as advertised. Sit back and hold the mouse like a regular remote with palm underneath and thumb on top. It takes a little bit of practice but before long you'll be a pro at cruising around apps and browsing the web simply by moving the mouse with your wrist. It also has some nice built in features; hit the back button to freeze the mouse, press the volume to mute or unmute or press and hold the volume button and move the mouse left or right to adjust the volume, press and hold the play/pause button and move your wrist clockwise or counterclockwise to jump forwards and backwards in windows media player. It's shortcomings can be annoying, though. The touch sensitive scroll bar is finicky, it either moves too slow, or slide your thumb across it accidentally and the web page goes cruising down at light speed, and the mouse gestures only work for windows apps; they won't work with third party programs like Winamp or Power DVD, but the volume control is linked directly to Windows itself, so it always works. People with short stubby fingers might find this product to be frustrating if not maddening due to its long shape. One last gripe is that it spends too much time on the charging base. Now after having noted all those shortcoming, I will say I do like the mouse, it does it's job well enough. Plus, next generation air mice from Logitech should address these issues. Logitech is a great company and I will only buy input devices from them. I expect future models will be top notch.

Rating:
Date: 2008-06-06
MX Air mouse
I stumbled into the concept of air mice by finding a deeply discounted Gyration remote/air mouse combo at a big box electronics store. I came to love the air mouse concept, but didn't like the big bulky universal remote that was built up around it. Therefore I thought I would give this mouse a try.

I have only had it about a week, but so far I am happy with it. Some have pointed out that the gyration mouse has a convenient setup where you press a button to unlock the mouse curser, instead of the pressing a button to lock the curser, such as with the Logitech. My take on this is that with the gyration, you have to do it that way or it would drive you crazy. You need the extra control that setup gives you. With the Logitech version, it is stable enough that having a fee moving curser is just fine.

The only things I don't like about the Logitech mouse are related. I wish it was a little heavier, and I wish the silver part was brushed aluminum instead of chromed plastic. Then it would have the right weight and would match my Dinovo Edge perfectly. This is getting fairly petty, of course.

I have yet to use this mouse grounded, and probably never will. I have no idea how well it would work on a desk.

Rating:
Date: 2008-05-26
No such thing as perfect air mouse
Previously, I used to own Gyration mouse (first version) and I gave bad review (search my review in amazon), IMO this mouse is much worse. At least for the reason for my purchase. I purchased this mouse to relieve some of my shoulder pain but instead it's adding more problems. If I use it continuously for 5 minutes or more, my shoulder pain worsens.

My Pros and cons:
Pros:
1) Sleek design
2) Moves very smooth in the air. This is the only area where MX air is better than (by far) Gyration. It moves flawlessly.
3) It's looking very pretty on my desk. It looks like designs from one the Star Wars squeal' space ship;)

Cons:
1) In the air, mouse cursor will continue to move. Unlike Gyration mouse MX air does not have the option to move cursor on demand. This could get very annoying if you are doing slide show/presentation. Unlike desktop mouse MX Air moves in 3D, so if you want to select small font sized link from your browser, you need to keep your hand very steady in the AIR. For those who have shoulder problems like myself, your shoulder pain will get worsen. In this respect Gyration mouse is MUCH BETTER. This reason alone defeats the purpose of getting air mouse.
2) Feels very awkward in your hand. Slippery and buttons are in the awkward position. ¾ of top of the mouse are all buttons and too wide of a grip for me to hold it comfortably. I believe I have normal size hand. I've gotten so frustrated with it's ergonomics and cons #1, I stopped using this mouse.
3) Instead of wheel scroll, it has 2 inches long touch scroll and the way it's placed on the mouse, it's not easy to control the scroll.
4) You can't replace the battery.
5) No s/w for Mac. At least not that I know of.

Since I've gotten this mouse (about 5 days), I pretty much gave up on using in the air (cons #1 and 2). Logitech mouse/Keyboard has always been my favorite brand but MX air is fiasco (IMO).
I don't understand how so many people gave 4 and 5 stars. If this deserves 3 stars, I believe Gyration deserve 5stars. At least I used Gyration regularly. Don't get me wrong, Gyration has it's own flaws but at least it's useable.

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