Product Description

The Microsoft Wireless Laser Mouse 8000 combines cutting edge features with sophisticated design. Microsoft's first rechargeable mouse delivers 2.4GHz Bluetooth wireless performance, high definition laser, and much more.

Product Details

• Brand: Microsoft
• Model: 4CH-00012
• Platform: Windows
• Format: CD
• Original language: English
• Dimensions: 3.50" h x 9.25" w x 9.25" l, 1.57 pounds

Features

• High Definition laser technology for more precise, more responsive, and smoother tracking
• 2.4GHz Bluetooth with First Connect Technology so you can connect wirelessly right out of the box
• Four-way scrolling button with Tilt Wheel technology for greater efficiency and comfort when ripping through long documents or web pages
• Fully rechargeable so you save money on batteries, includes a battery-status LED indicator
• Runs on one AA NiMH battery, and requires a PC running Windows XP (with Service Pack 2) or Windows Vista, 45 MB free space

Amazon.com Product Description
The Microsoft Wireless Laser Mouse 8000 combines cutting edge features with sophisticated design. Microsoft's first rechargeable mouse, the 8000 delivers 2.4GHz Bluetooth wireless performance, high definition laser and more, all in a sleek and stylish brushed-aluminum package.

Fully rechargeable so you save money on batteries, this mouse has a battery-status LED indicator that indicates when batteries need recharging so you won't be caught without power to run your mouse in a critical moment. This Microsoft wireless mouse is designed to be symmetrical for right- or left-handed users, with an authentic brushed-aluminum casing that feels as good as it looks, and has a four-way scrolling button with Tilt Wheel technology for greater efficiency and comfort when ripping through long documents or web pages. This mouse utilizes Microsoft's High Definition laser technology for more precise, more responsive, and smoother tracking, as well as 2.4GHz Bluetooth with First Connect Technology so you can connect wirelessly right out of the box. For convenience features, Microsoft's 8000 mouse has an Instant Viewer function that lets you click the scroll button to display all your open windows so you can click to select the one you need, a Magnifier function that lets you point-and-click to enlarge and edit sections of detail, and customizable buttons that provide you with quick access to media, programs, and the files or functions you use the most.

The Microsoft Wireless Laser Mouse 8000 requires a PC running Windows XP (with Service Pack 2) or Windows Vista, 100 MB free space for installation and 45 MB free space for ongoing usage, an open USB port, and a CD drive for installation software. This unit comes with a mini-Bluetooth transceiver, one AA NiMH battery, an installation CD, and a user manual.

Customer Reviews

Damn near perfect.
This is the second Bluetooth mouse I've owned. The first Bluetooth mouse (from a different manufacturer) was so bad, I took it back after 2 days because:
- The 2 AAA batteries went flat after 2 days.
- After letting the mouse sit for a minute, moving the mouse gave no cursor movement until it came out of some sort of deep sleep.
- It performed badly on timber surfaces.

The Microsoft Laser 8000 has none of these faults. I've been using it for almost 3 weeks with min 12hr days and it has taken this long for the battery to go flat. Actually, it's not flat, but the red light says it's time for a charge. Amazing.

The mouse performs very well on timber surfaces, although it can do a minor mistrack sometimes, but not enough to cause frustration. It shows zero delay after leaving the mouse sit for any length of time - the cursor responds instantly.

The power switch is great, making it easy to throw the mouse in the backpack when travelling from home to the office or further. Initially I was sceptical about the smooth spin scroll wheel, but now I'm a convert.

Good Points:
- Battery life from a single charge lasts easily over 2 weeks.
- Single AA battery (cheap to buy & carry an emergency replacement if necessary).
- Power switch, great for switching the mouse off before travelling.
- Perform well on timber surfaces and every other surface I've tried.
- Cursor responds instantly, even if the mouse has been untouched for hours.

Bad points:
- The mouse requires the charging base to get recharged. The charger won't plug directly into the mouse and the mouse can't be plugged into a USB port to charge. This is bad for travellers, but at least the charging base is flat so it packs easily.
- The scroll wheel is stiff to press (ie middle mouse button).

Another review said the Instant View feature only works with the dongle. This wasn't the case for me. I have an IBM T42 and all the features work with the laptop's built in Bluetooth transceiver. I must confess I didn't like this feature as I use the middle button for other things.

In summary, I'm very happy with it. The pros easily outweigh the cons, so I have no qualms recommending it.

Works with Mac OS X too.
I bought this mouse to replace my decrepit Bluetooth Intellimouse Explorer. I was betting on the fact that this one would also work with my iMac, since it didn't mention it anywhere on the box. Needless to say it took a little fudging, but I discovered this method works well if you want to get it working on your Mac:

1. Turn on the mouse
2. Press or hold down connect button until light flashes alternating red and green
3. Click Bluetooth tray icon; Browse Device...
4. If the device "Mouse" is not in the list click search, then click browse.
5. Next to search button it will say "Device does not have the necessary services."
6. Click Cancel; Quit Bluetooth File Exchange
7. Open System Preferences; Bluetooth; Devices section
8. Settings section; Click the device ID in the list of your mouse, Add to Favorites

Using this method, you can hook up the mouse with your Mac's built-in Bluetooth rather than using the included dongle.

Overall, this mouse looks and feels great. I was pleasantly surprised to find that side-scrolling also works, and you can always assign the extra mouse buttons to Expose in your system preferences.

Finally wireless mice come of age!
I used the original Microsoft Bluetooth mouse, several Micorosft wireless mice (not bluetooth), and a miniature laser 5000 for notebooks from Microsoft. This is easily the best I've had and here's why:

1) on off switch - worth mentioning twice
2) invisible laser very accurate
3) works on every surface I've tried
4) on off switch -- if you're a traveler like me and you prefer a full size mouse, this is a fantastic option
5) rechargeable
6) can take a regular AA battery if you aren't in a place to recharge
7) energy efficient (2 weeks on a charge)
8) looks good
9) the wheel is very smooth and silicon
10) the wheel tilts left and right and you can push as a button although the pushbutton is a bit hard as another reviewer commented.
11) if you're a home user the recharging base is fantastic, looks cool and very easy to plug set the mouse on for it to charge
12) Full sized -- I love full sized mice and with the on/off switch, this is a wonderful laptop traveling mouse
13) BLUETOOTH -- this is huge if you have a laptop or desktop replacement with built in bluetooth....Microsoft includes a bluetooth dongle but my mouse mated up perfectly with my HP laptop and with my Dell. Bluetooth is a standard so the mouse should mate up with any bluetooth laptop. With a bluetooth laptop, I don't have to worry about dongles or wires or anything like that...the mouse just works.

What I don't like about this mouse:

1) the side minature (supplementary) buttons are either hard to use or unusable especially the right hand side one, haven't figured out a real way to click it. I can use my thumb for the left one. Although with the other mice were really right handed mice and this one is more of an ambidextrous --- in the other mice, if you were left handed, you were out of luck unless Microsoft made a left handed version of the mouse. With this mouse you get one auxilliary button that you can click with your thumb if you're a lefty or a rightie...just a thought. Microsoft might have just split the difference in the design to create an ambidextrous mouse that isn't perfect for the right handed person but which provides one thumb auxilliary button for the left handed...

2) the charger should be able to plug in directly into mouse but with the options of taking a regular A battery and with the long life of battery this is almost a nonissue

3) when I bought this mouse it was too expensive but its dropped some, I imagine it will continue to drop

Overall,
I'm very glad that the people at Microsoft people listened to the users and made this pretty much the best ambidextrous wireless bluetooth mouse.