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Rarely do I get excited about non-essential hardware in association with my computer. Monitors, mice, keyboards, none of this stuff really gets me excited like a new processor or motherboard does but the Logitech MX Revolution made such an impression that I don’t know if I can safely make the above statement anymore. My previous mouse was a Logitech SBD69, it was so old that I cannot find a valid reference of it online anymore. The old mouse was a decent wired two button + wheel laser mouse and did a decent job but it started to act quirky and I decided it was time to pull the trigger on an MX Revolution. When the Revolution arrived I immediately realized this was a mouse designed for my hand and not just a clunky piece of plastic. Besides the mouse the package included a driver CD, a USB dongle, and the charger for the mouse. After popping the mouse into the charger for a half-hour charge I started putting the mouse through it’s paces.

Initial Impression

I’ve had the MX Revolution in my possession for roughly 4 weeks. I used this time to make sure I wasn’t basing this review from a 30 minute experience. I have had the time to fully utilize the mouse while also testing it in multiple environments and for multiple uses. For the first two weeks I used the mouse driver-less to see how it responded fresh out of the box and the second two weeks I installed the drivers and fully configured the mouse to my requirements. Right out of the box the mouse was a pleasure to work with as my hand seemed to naturally wrap around the mouse and the thumb-rest was proportioned just right. Holding the mouse and sweeping it across the desk was a seemingly effortless activity and it was possible for hours to sit at my desk and work and not get frustrated about the shape of the mouse. Actual use of the mouse was also problem-free as it responded just like my previous mouse with a slick twist. Initially the mouse-wheel operates in a ratcheting mode that gives you click by click accuracy for scrolling but by clicking the mouse-wheel it then transitions into a highspeed free-spinning tool of hyper-scrolling. This feature alone fascinated me for minutes hours as I used it to scroll through length documents, my iTunes library, and multiple webpages with the flick of a finger. Without the drivers this mouse proves to be a rather capable mouse but you really miss some functionality as the thumb-wheel doesn’t work and the search button simply opens up a Windows search box.

Second Impression

The moment I installed the drivers I’d have to say the functionality of the mouse shot through the roof. It went from a run of the mill mouse to a proper interface that relegated all my past mice as obsolete. The drivers include an application called SetPoint that lets you configure nearly every button on the mouse, assign multiple button profiles, adjust sensitivities, and monitor the battery. Once SetPoint was installed I immediately dove into the settings and bumped a few sliders around and adjusted a few button placements. Of the 9 inputs on the mouse you are able to configure 7 of them. It is then possible to have an individual profile for applications and SetPoint will detect which application has focus and apply the proper profile. Just to give an example, I currently have a profile for Crysis, iTunes, and a default config. I’ve tested out the profiles and they work on the fly which is immensely useful as I have buttons performing different functions in the various profiles. The only thing that bothers me about the drivers would be the fact that you can’t adjust the pointer speed for individual profiles, the slider for it adjusts all profiles.

Conclusion

I would have to say if you are looking for a desktop wireless mouse then the MX Revolution should be at the top of your list of mice to purchase. The entry price is a bit steep at roughly $80 at the time of writing this but I must say it is entirely worth it as it has become an essential part of my desktop. This is a great general purpose mouse, it can do everything you could want but it does have a few drawbacks in extreme cases. The lack of on-the-fly DPI adjustments via a button on the mouse is a slight downside as it would be useful but that doesn’t make the mouse terrible. The other issue could be the weight of the mouse, for gaming it could be a tad bit heavy. I noticed this while I was playing first person shooters but it wasn’t so heavy that it was frustrating to use. The one benefit of this additional weight is the exceptional battery life. So far I have charged it roughly every two days with roughly 6 hours of use each day. All in all the MX Revolution is a great mouse to use and I look forward to many years using it.

Final Score: 9/10

Pros

• Ergonomic Design
• Feature Packed Drivers
• Great Battery Life

Cons

• Cost?
• Cost

Note: Images scraped from Logitech MX Revolution website.