Microsoft Wireless Laser Mouse 7000 Review

by Kevin O'Brien

The Wireless Laser Mouse 7000 is new mouse out from Microsoft aimed to fit right into the ergonomic desktop mouse segment. While many notebook users sway towards smaller mice for travel reasons, there is still a large group that enjoys full-size mice at their desk.

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Specifications:

• Rechargable: 1 AAA 1000mAh NiMh battery
• Wireless: 2.4GHz Mini USB reciever
• Microsoft High Definition Laser Technology
• 3 Year Warranty
• Retail Price: $69.99

The mouse resting on its charging base. (view large image)

Comfort and Use

The Laser Mouse 7000 has a very sleek and comfortable feel. The design of the mouse is wide to accommodate your fingers in a resting position, keeping your fingers off the mouse pad while you are sliding the mouse around. Moving the mouse around on various surfaces take very little effort, having some of the best Teflon pads I have ever seen. Compared to my Logitech Revolution MX (see images below), its sliding action is much smoother even on bare desk surfaces.

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Action buttons on the mouse spread out in a way that is easy to hit with your fingers, and don't take too much effort to click. The middle mouse button (wheel) click does require more effort than the others, but was not a problem once you got used to it. The two customizable buttons on the side are easy to find, but placed high enough to prevent hitting them by accident. Overall, the design is virtually identical to the new Microsoft Wireless Laser Mouse 6000 (see below).

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Scrolling motion is smooth and notchless, and the only part of this mouse that I don't like. I prefer scroll wheels that click, but that is entirely user preference. Tension was very light to flick with your finger, but the wheel would not continue spinning more than 1/10th of a turn before stopping.

Mouse movement on the computer is very smooth, having a very precise movement from the laser pickup. Responsiveness was excellent, with very little perceivable lag ... it really felt like a wired mouse. The laser pickup worked flawlessly on almost every surface I tried it on, including pants, bare desk, and mouse pad.

Setup

Setup was very plug and play, with only pairing of the receiver and mouse to start working. Drivers were not required for basic operation, but to buttons to specific functions you need to install the Microsoft provided software. This software lets you map every button on the mouse to almost any function you can think of.

Range

The receiver for this mouse can pickup signals far beyond the range you would ever be away from your computer. In the office it was working through three walls and about 30 feet before it started to lag.

Battery Charging

Charging is done via a docking plate that is roughly the same footprint as the mouse. You place the mouse on top of it, and the charging indicator comes on. I never had a problem with battery life throughout the business day using it as my primary mouse. For travel use I would probably have decided on packing one or two extra alkaline AAA batteries, instead of bringing the charging plate and wall adapter. Replacing the battery on this mouse is very simple, as it has a standard plastic battery door.

The new Wireless 6000 (left) next to
the Wireless 7000. (view large image)

Conclusion

The Microsoft Wireless Laser Mouse 7000 is a very comfortable and easy to use wireless mouse. It offers great wireless range, smooth gliding motion across many surfaces, and lag free experience. If you are looking for a mouse for office or home use I highly recommend that you check this out.

Pros:

• Great Range
• Very Lightweight
• Very smooth gliding on many surfaces

Cons:

• Wireless receiver could be smaller

 

There's the review I"ve been looking for. Any word on availability of when it will be in stores?

 

thx for review

 

Good review! This seems very similar to my Wireless Laser Mouse 8000, except it's not ambidextrous nor bluetooth like the 8000 is. It also uses a rechargeable AAA instead of a rechargeable AA like the 8000 does. The charger is very similar to the one on my 8000, though.

I have to agree with you on the Teflon feet of the mouse: My 8000 glides on just about anything with extreme smoothness (given that the feet are clean).

One thing to keep in mind is that the scroll wheel seems to "loosen" over time. There is virtually no resistance to the wheel on my 8000 anymore. If I flick the wheel hard, it will continue to spin for almost a half a second before it stops.

Any word on how long the battery lasts before you have to put it in the charger again?

 

Some people (ie. me) like that. It's the best feature of Logitech MX and VX mice.

 

I don't understand how you can like that. Doesn't it screw up scrolling for you? I had a mouse that had the mouse wheel loose and everytime I scrolled down, for some reason it would scroll up at the same time too; due to the lack of resistance of it scrolling up. So I would scroll down but yet I'm going two notches down and one notch back up.

 

I personally don't mind the loose scroll wheel myself, either. I have the scrolling set such that it will fly when I flick the wheel, but I can still scroll slowly through a document without any issues. The wheel itself does feel strange sometimes, but I've gotten used to it.

Arkit3kt, there had to have been something else wrong with the scroll wheel if that mouse was doing that. The wheel on my 8000 is quite loose, and I don't have any of those issues whatsoever.

 

Cool review.

Does seem like a nice mouse to have . . .

 

Anyone know when this will be out in stores? The 6000 already is.

 

hey everyone, I recently reviewed this mouse as well, here's my take at it:
http://skattertech.com/2008/04/microsoft-wireless-laser-mouse-7000/

 

i just ordered mine off amazon. haha.

 

well I got mine, but after a month of having it, i dont know if it is charging! i put it on the base, and it slowly blinks green for a while, then blinks red! what am i doing wrong? is the battery defective?