When we think of mice, most of us think of Logitech. Sure, there are other great companies out there who make good mice and pointing devices, but Logitech is definitely one of the most popular brands for mice on the market.

I remember the infant days of portable pointing devices for notebooks (I'm talking about the early 1990s here). While some were so bulky it made you wonder if the designers ever used a notebook, other devices were so depressingly small that you'd have to be a leprechaun to operate it.

Thanks to advances in wireless and optical technology, Logitech now offers an excellent mobile mouse which offers all the features of a full-sized cousin and some features you may not have seen before.

The Logitech VX Revolution is a fairly small mouse  compared to the similarly looking Logitech G5 corded mouse. Measuring roughly 4.25" in length, 2.5" wide, and 1.75" thick, the VX Revolution is small enough to put into the smaller pockets in your luggage or notebook bag while travelling. Compare this size to the Logitech G5 which is 5" in length, 2.5" wide, and 2" thick.

Perhaps the best feature of the VX Revolution is that the small radio receiver slips into a small slot in the mouse itself. This may sound like a trivial gimmick, but for a traveller it keeps the transmitter in a known spot so it doesn't get lost. Also, it makes packing a lot easier since you don't have to find space for seperate items. I generally just find it useful to have this little pocket on the mouse... it's hard to explain, but it does make moving it around a lot easier.

On the bottom of the VX Revolution is a small switch called "MicroGear" which switches the scroll wheel from click-to-click wheel mode, to a free-spinning smooth scroll. This little switch is really interesting as it gives the VX Revolution the advantage of precise tactile clicked scrolling (which I like for playing games), or the rapid smooth scrolling which is great for panning through documents, webpages, or any window with a vertical scroll.

I wish the MicroGear switch were on the top of the mouse since I can see how a user would want to switch between the different modes more quickly and easily -- flipping over the mouse to switch modes could become a nuisance.

Just below the scroll wheel is the One-Touch Search button which is an incredible little button. By highlighting some text in a document, hitting this button would execute a search in Google or Yahoo. If you don't have text selected, hitting the One-Touch Search button would launch your browser and open it to either Google or Yahoo (depending on which you selected in the Logitech SetPoint software.

The VX Revolution also has a Zoom control switch which controls magnification of an image being displayed, or enlarges/decreases the size of the text displayed in the window (webpage, text document etc.). This is pretty handy during presentations when small text is hard to read on an projector or on a shared screen with peers.

Finally, there are forward and back buttons, and a battery power gauge.

Software Installation

You'll be happy to know that the VX Revolution is true plug and play - without any extra software, the VX Revolution will work with your PC. This is particularly handy if you're taking the mouse to another system you do not want to spend time installing drivers.

On MacOS X, the Logitech VX Revolution will basically work without the software installed, but all buttons with the (exception of the main left and right buttons) are non-functional including the scroll wheel. So if you're a Mac user, best to install the software.

Document Flipping is a handy middle-button function.

In most cases I strongly suggest installing the Logitech SetPoint software since it will enable you to use the VX Revolutions exclusive features like the One-Touch Search and the Document Flip feature. The SetPoint software also shows you how much battery life is left on the VX Revolution. Pretty handy.

With the software, you can also customize each button to perform an action you want. So if you don't like the actions of the side buttons, you can always reprogram them to do something else like tabbing through windows or increasing/decreasing your speaker volume.

Battery and Power Conservation

The Logitech VX Revolution uses a single standard AA battery to power itself. This is really convenient becuase this means you don't have to carry a seperate charging cradle for the mouse. Since AA batteries are readily available worldwide, you can feel secure knowing that you will never be far from some backup power.

Unlike early wireless mice, power conservation on the VX Revolution is very good. When you slip the transmitter into the VX Revolution, the mouse powers itself off, when you hit the eject button it turns itself back on. So when you head out the door, as long as the transmitter is in the built-in pocket the VX Revolution will not sit idle draining itself empty.

With the transmitter plugged into the USB port, if your notebook enters power-saving mode, the VX Revolution will enter into a sleep state as well. The mouse will not resonpond to any user input or movement until the notebook is back on, only then will the VX Revolution wake itself up. This once again ensures that the mouse does not sit idle and slowly drain the battery.

After 5 days of general usage, the VX Revolution still has 106 days left. Not bad!

With a brand new Duracell AA battery loaded, I used the VX Revolution for a full week doing roughly 8 hours of work a day and the battery was still strong at full bars on the battery guage. According to the VX Revolution software, there was 106 days left on the Duracell battery, and given my experience with it so far, I don't have any reasons to doubt this claim.

The Logitech VX Revolution (Left) vs.
the Logitech G5 gaming mouse (Right).

I found tracking via wireless pretty good for most tasks, but found precision a bit challenging with small precise movements like in photo editing or highlighting text in a document. For users who do a lot of fine and precise movements with the mouse, you would be better off with a corded cousin, otherwise most users will find the VX Revolution just fine for most applications.

Another quirk I found was with scrolling. If you so a quick scroll with the wheel, often the window would skip down (or up). This could be a bit disorienting since the skip doesn't convey which direction you have moved in the screen.

The One-Touch Search I found immensely useful to quickly look up search words on the 'net or just to open up Google / the web browser.

Document Flipping feature on the middle button was immensely useful especially when I needed to switch between many different windows and documents.

Document Flipping is quicker and easier than Alt-Tabbing.

The Zoom key I didn't find much use for in daily use, but it did come in handy for websites that use a font size much too small. I'm sure some of you would find the zoom feature pretty handy.

Since the VX Revolution used radio transmission, you can stand far away and still control the notebook which would be useful in presentation situations or even in HTPC environments.

If I had to sum up the Logitech VX Revolution, it would be with the word convenience. Everything about it is convenient which proves to me that Logitech's product designers have spent a good amount of time figuring out what mobile users want from their pointing device.

Convenience:

• It's easy to carry around and is small in weight and size.
• The pocket for the USB receiver is useful to keep all the parts together in one place and reduces the risk of parts getting lost.
• The long life on a standard AA battery (approximately 3 months on a single cell) and its power conservation features ensure you have power whenever you need it.
• The One-Touch Search and Document Flip functions are immensely useful

I didn't care too much for the MicroGear or the Zoom functions, but I can see where these features can come in handy for some users. Even if you don't use the Zoom feature, you can re-assign the zoom button to do another action like a forward or back action for browsers or even a keystroke so you can have it skip tracks in your media player.

This is not your typical entry-level mobile mouse. It's design and construction sets it apart from your mundane 3-button variety, as such the VX Revolution costs a little bit more. But given the advantages of wireless, excellent stamina, and general convenience of form and function, the Logitech VX Revolution is really a great tool worthy for your consideration.