CNET Editor's rating: 7.8 out of 10
Reviewed by
Rich Brown
Review date: 08/24/06
Release date: 08/24/06
The good: Free-spinning scrollwheel makes it easy to navigate long documents and Web pages; thumb-side wheel aides in application switching; comfortable design.
The bad: Scrollwheel can be a little tweaky during finer movement; thumb-side buttons not sensitive enough; no on-the-fly cursor speed customization.
The bottom line: Every year we think Logitech has pushed the cordless laser mouse to the limit of functionality, and we're always proved wrong. The MX Revolution has a few minor issues, but for the most part, this high-end mouse continues Logitech's streak of market leadership and innovative design.
Logitech continually impresses us with its high-end mice. The MX Revolution is yet another example of Logitech's dogged pursuit of mousing excellence. Like the G7 and the MX1000 before it, the MX Revolution is a top-of-the-line, cordless laser mouse, with only a few minor issues. For $99, you have to be serious about your input devices, but if you spring for it, you'll be treated to a mostly outstanding experience.
The chief innovation of the MX Revolution is its scroll button. It functions in both the typical incremental click style, but also as a free-spinning wheel. This means you can whip the wheel frontward and back and navigate hundreds of pages in a document with a single spin. It's a little touchy when you zero it in on a particular page; sometimes moving your finger from it will make it jump another line or two, which can be irritating. But mostly, the free-spinning capability makes it much easier to scroll through long documents and Web pages.
In addition to the main scrollwheel, it also features a thumb-side wheel (the mouse is designed for righties). This side wheel acts like a rocker switch. It has a limited range of motion, but it's not designed for scrolling. It's meant to act as an application switcher. Roll it, and it brings up a small window listing all of your currently applications. You tap the wheel to move between them and press it to make a selection, at which point that app becomes your active window. It provides a remarkably easy way to switch between tasks, as long as your desktop setup is straightforward. On a system with two monitors and with multiple Firefox tabs open, we found keeping track of which screen was going to open up where a little difficult at first. Eventually, we got used to it.
Aside from the wheels, the MX Revolution is a relatively basic laser mouse in an extremely comfortable shell that has most of the features you'd expect. The two thumb-side buttons are smaller than on many other mice, but they're no less convenient to press for moving backward and forward between Web pages. At times they didn't register when we thought we'd pressed them, though, so the button sensitivity could use some tweaking, and that is not a setting you can change in Logitech's SetPoint software.
We were also a bit disappointed to see that the MX Revolution has no option to tweak the laser sensor's sensitivity on the fly. Perhaps Logitech considers that feature more appropriate to gaming mice, but for $99, we'd like to see such an option included. We imagine that designers and others, in addition to gamers, would appreciate the ability to switch cursor sensitivity without going into the mouse software. Logitech could have used the small button that sits under the scrollwheel for this. Right now, it's designed to call up the search engine of your choice, but we never found that capability particularly useful.
Intro:
This Logitech MX Revolution is a laser, wireless mouse.Compared to other wireless mice on the market, it is expensive at around $90.This unit is available in black only.Backed by a three year warranty.This product connects to any available USB port.
Noteworthy Features:
Has laser movement detection, which is more advanced than some similarly priced mice.Offers an One-Touch search and zoom wheel.
Weaker Features:
None noted, given available product data.
Suitability:
Suitable for users wanting to avoid tangled wires.
Value:
Overall, this mouse's price seems a bit steep, with respect to its features.
Suggestions:
You might be interested in comparing this with a mouse that received Editor's Choice on CNET.
9 out of 10 - Spectacular Great for carpal-tunnel sufferers, incredibly programmable
As a graphic designer, constant movement and clicking leaves me with an acheing hand. This device is so far beyond ...
As a graphic designer, constant movement and clicking leaves me with an acheing hand. This device is so far beyond anything I've used in that it provides a wide array of buttons all of which can be designated for specific actions within specific applications. Much less movement required, much more control. Especially helpful scrolling long documents, whether text or graphic.
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by rfwinans (see profile) -
September 9, 2006
9 out of 9 users found this user opinion helpful.
2 out of 10 - Terrible Very Poor now, could be great. Significant Problems.
This opinion is based on a product that?s likely to come from one of the first production runs so ...
This opinion is based on a product that?s likely to come from one of the first production runs so if your opinion the review many months after the releases date, things are sure to have improved. Logitech is a big company that seems to know how run a production line.
The golden egg in this flagship product is supposed to be a ratcheted scroll wheel that turns into a fly wheel when you want. When you want; well not with the current version of Setpoint / 3.1. The program erratically and frequently resets to what I assume is default settings and on multiple systems. Unless you want this on all the time this is a problem, if you want it off, get a different mouse. But in reality you wont want it on all the time, it?s too imprecise.
If you use a middle mouse button and would like to keep using the scroll wheel as you probably do now, this is not the mouse for you. The middle button/scroll wheel seems to have 2 levels of compression. The first, which seems to have something to do with the control of the ratchet system, is erratic and sometimes not present. The second requires more force than I?ve ever had to apply to a scroll wheel.
The thumb ratchet is overly sensitive in the forward direction and sometimes fails to disengage. Right and left main buttons sometimes fail to make contact, specifically they make a clicking noise but nothing happens, happens about half a dozen times in a days use.
The battery lasts 2-3 work days but charges quick.
If you like this mouse I?d wait a while and these problems will likely be ironed out by Logitech.
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by Ramfaq (see profile) -
October 8, 2006
7 out of 8 users found this user opinion helpful.
10 out of 10 - Perfect Simply Excellent
This is a great product for a mouse that we thought had reached its limit.
Go for it.
This is a great product for a mouse that we thought had reached its limit.
9 out of 10 - Spectacular Best, Mouse, Ever, Period.
This is so far, the best mouse I've ever used. Logitech has done it again! If you like the ...
This is so far, the best mouse I've ever used. Logitech has done it again! If you like the MX 1000, you will love the new MX Revolution which is a lot more precise and responsive, might take you a little bit to get used to the wheels. The new smart wheel is truly a smart invention. Not to mention the new SmartShift and HyperFast scroll wheel technology that will make scrolling a breeze, the improved side buttons and one touch search plus the side wheel just boost the mouse to it is "Revolution" title.
Cross-platform is another huge plus for this mouse. It doesn't matter if it's PC or Mac, as long as you have the Logitech Control Center software installed right, it'll just take you to the next level. However the software design is a bit confusing and lack of full control for the hardware, hope Logitech will improve on the software.
It will take you a little while to get used to it. Although price is a bit high but consider this, it'll last you YEARS and it comes with a 3-year warranty program. If having a precise, accure, powerful and make your life easier mouse is your priority, besides input devices are one of the mose used computer equipments, then the Logitech MX Revolution, is your choice.
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by Steve Du (see profile) -
September 2, 2006
2 out of 2 users found this user opinion helpful.
10 out of 10 - Perfect Highly Recommended
I'm not a gamer - just a power business user. Moreover, this is the first non-trackball mouse (other than ...
I'm not a gamer - just a power business user. Moreover, this is the first non-trackball mouse (other than with laptops) I have ever used.
I will never go back to my beloved MicroSoft Explorer 1.0.
This is a very comfortable mouse to use - and the scrolling feature is easy to get used to and a real step forward in design. I did not find any problem with it as reported by the cnet reviewer.
I have very large hands (which is why I have traditionally used a trackball), but this fits my right hand very comfortably.
I don't write many reviews, but when someone produces a product that stands out from the crowd, I feel compelled to take the time to recommend it. This product is a real stand-out.
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by pctower (see profile) -
August 30, 2006
2 out of 3 users found this user opinion helpful.
8 out of 10 - Excellent Version 1.0 of a great mouse
I needed a new mouse this weekend and got the latest & greatest. The MX-Rev has a great feature set ...
I needed a new mouse this weekend and got the latest & greatest. The MX-Rev has a great feature set for the non-gamer. The scroll wheel, especially in free-spin mode makes surfing a lot more efficient. The battery life is impressive and the MX-Rev fits my hand well. I can hold it a variety of positions and it still functions well, important since I don't want my wrist problems aggrevated. But the extra features feel like a Beta or v1.0. Docu-Flip opens a dorky-looking window to choose the active window. I would have liked it to match at least the quality of the TaskSwitch PowerToy which shows a thumbnail of the selected window. And there's something loose inside that rattles; I think it's the scroll wheel but I'm not about to take apart this $100 gizmo; maybe one of the review sites would be kind enough to do that and figure it out.
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by egerter (see profile) -
September 7, 2006
1 out of 1 users found this user opinion helpful.
9 out of 10 - Spectacular Great mouse, little pricey
This mouse is awsome. It will take time to teach yourself to actully use the features, but they come in ...
This mouse is awsome. It will take time to teach yourself to actully use the features, but they come in handy...especially the document flip function. I first got the Logitech G7, i used it for about three weeks and decided to get this mouse becuse of the sexy look. I am glad i made that decision. The only feature that i liked on the G7 and was not carried over was the on the fly ability to change the dpi settings. A feature that can come in handy espicially in cs:s. If you are looking for an excellent mouse and dont mind the hefty price tag, then the revolution is an excellent choice.
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by needspeed355 (see profile) -
September 5, 2006
1 out of 1 users found this user opinion helpful.
9 out of 10 - Spectacular I recommend this to everyone.
As soon as I picked this mouse up I knew it was a winner. The design conforms perfectly to my ...
As soon as I picked this mouse up I knew it was a winner. The design conforms perfectly to my hand and the rubber next to the thumb gives an extra sense of control.
You have to go through some menus in order to get the scroll wheel button to work as it should. And doing this requires you to sacrifice the ability to manually switch scrolling modes. However the auto flip feature works great and you can set it to specific programs.
When I first opened photoshop with it I was pleasantly surprised to see that the mouse automatically flipped in to free spin mode to allow for precise slider selections.
It is lightweight and the battery life is great, everyone should own this mouse. I never thought something could take me away from my G5.
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by picknslap (see profile) -
August 31, 2006
1 out of 1 users found this user opinion helpful.
3 out of 10 - Poor Fashion won out over function
I'm a long time Logitech customer. I've used the MX1000 Laser the past year and decided to upgrade ...
I'm a long time Logitech customer. I've used the MX1000 Laser the past year and decided to upgrade to the Revolution. Big Mistake. The primary problem is the ergonomics. The cutout makes the mouse too narrow and forces you to apply pressure with your thumb. After 20 minutes of use, I had a cramp in my thumb. Cursor movement was also not fluid despite several attempts to adjust. The Wheel is no big deal. How many times do you need to fly through multiple pages? It's easier to just use the scroll bar on the side of your screen for long distance scrolling. It's going back to the store...
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by doogieman (see profile) -
March 20, 2007
1 out of 2 users found this user opinion helpful.
8 out of 10 - Excellent A great PC mouse, not so great for Mac
The new Logitech mouse fares pretty nice against its high end competitors. In fact, this mouse is one of the ...
The new Logitech mouse fares pretty nice against its high end competitors. In fact, this mouse is one of the nicest PC mouse available. The stellar tracking makes you forget the mouse is wireless and scrolling through long documents has never been so fun. This mouse is also one of the most comfortable mouse around, but it leaves left-handed people out of luck.
Unfortunatly this is not all joy, the non-removeable battery has a less than average battery life that can't compete against Microsoft's, although it's substantially enough to forget to recharge it a couple of days.
This mouse is also equipped with a less than average DPI and is devoid from dynamic DPI switching even at this price, which is obviously caused by the low 800 DPI.
If your on a Mac, you may want to look eslewhere. This mouse has a one of the poorest Mac support available. Tracking becomes muddy in comparison to Windows and the scroll wheel becomes buggy if not totally annoying.
If you have a PC and want it to look super slick, your in for a treat, but I would recommend avoiding this mouse if you have a Mac.
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by Pacoup (see profile) -
June 11, 2008
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