“According to Logitech, the Performance and Anywhere [mouses] use dark field microscopy to detect microscopic particles and micro-scratches on high-gloss surfaces, rather than tracking the surface itself. The mouse sensor ‘sees’ the clean areas of glass as a dark background with bright dots and then interprets the movement of the dots to precisely track where the device has been moved. The Logitech Performance Mouse will be available in the US and Europe in August for $100, while the mobile-friendly Anywhere Mouse is expected to retail at $80.” I don’t know how many times I’ve cursed shiny new desks and wished that someone would finally utilize that dark field microscopy technique (end bad humor). Thank heaven for Logitec finally breaking through.
“Logitec” should be “Logitech”, “mouses” should be “mice” etc. Of course, it’s only page 2 item but still, it’s annoying.
As for the topic.. meh, neat trick but I am not planning to use shiny surfaces for my computing needs.
Most of the cheap home computer desks sold these days use plexiglass tops. That means most people wind up having to buy a mousepad to go on it. I’m sure many of these people would love to ditch the mouse pad for a better mouse.
But I LIKE my mousepads.
I can’t use a standard mouse comfortably without a pad and wrist rest. Ergonomics are important to me.
I even use a mouse pad for my trackball. It keeps the mouse body from slipping around.
That has bugged me for years, I might actually get one of those….after the price goes down a bit
Way back, before the advent of laser mice, I found that the best mouse pad was indeed a glass mouse pad. The ball used to stick really nicely to the glass.
Nice to know that it may soon be possible to use this mousepad again.
Now, where did I put it…
I’ve been annoyed by Logitech’s crap wireless (or ‘cordless’ like they put it) mice. Bought an expensive VX Revolution just to find out it’s the most poorly working pointing device in existence. Missed clicks, wheel scroll and it didn’t work on the same, a bit worn out wooden table that my previous Microsoft mouse had no problem on.
Took it to repairs and they gave me a Logitech MX 620 in return. It’s much better but still misses clicks and wheel scroll sometimes. The wheel button usually doesn’t register a click or then registers it twice, resulting in two tabs being closed or opened. Unusable in multiplayer, though, due to massive lag in response. Something my previous wireless Microsoft mouse did not suffer of.
Microsoft’s wireless transmitters are gigantic and have a somewhat short operating distance (~100 cm), but they work 100-% reliably within it and with great performance.
Edited 2009-08-21 06:08 UTC
Why do people want cordless mice ? I’ve never understood it. This extra dependency on batteries and extra cost.
Why would you want to pay extra for that ?
Because having a cord in the way *sucks*. Right now, I’m using a corded mouse, and I’ve had to move the cord at least a dozen time the last few minutes.
JAL
I, on the other hand, haven’t touched my cord all day. I sure prefer it to worrying about batteries, and any wireless mouse I have tried has had latency. Not for me. Unless I am on the road, a wireless mouse goes great with my eee.
Good thing we can both choose what we want!
I’ve had IntelliMouse 6000 and some other basic mouse that came with the Wireless Desktop 2000 set. Both had a transmitter that has a one-meter-long cord and it’s the size of a proper computer mouse.
Well, the IntelliMouse 6000 used 2x AA rechargeable batteries that lasted a month. Using ordinary non-rechargeable batteries instead would’ve resulted in much longer a lifecycle. Of course that amount of batteries weighs at least the same that a corded mouse does, but it didn’t slow down my gaming. It provided an equally pleasant experience as did its predecessor, corded IntelliMouse Explorer 3.0. That’s (IME 3.0) probably the same device I’m going to buy when I’m finished with this current, cordless, Logitech MX 620.
That’s odd. I have a wireless Microsoft mouse. The transmitter is the size of a USB flash drive and I get 2-3 metres out of it. Annoyingly though, the mouse doesn’t track on my quilt cover or my windowsill, so I have to “side-mouse” on the wall, I kid you not.
This is good. Now if only they could come up with a mouse that does not skip and hop on my very colorful mouse pad which I cannot use… because of the hopping and skipping and jumping. Very cool mouse pad. Picture of my wife’s synchronized skating team at the nationals in Detroit.