Logitech MX Revolution: New Technology means a Smarter Mouse
by Gary Key on September 28, 2006 1:00 AM EST- Posted in
- Peripherals
As we were in the middle of preparing for our upcoming P965 motherboard extravaganza (due out in the near future), something interesting happened: we lost the use of our trustworthy and long term test mouse. After a frantic search around the lab revealed that we did not have an extra mouse, we decided to make a run to the nearest CompUSA. As we were leaving Fed-Ex pulled up and instead of motioning to the driver (who is like family to us now) to drop the packages at the front door, we decided to take a chance and see if our expected items had arrived. No, we were not waiting on mice but instead looking for a couple of very interesting P965 motherboards for the roundup. Well, the motherboards did arrive but we also received a few other packages.
One package turned out to be full of new product releases from Logitech and included the MX Revolution we are reviewing today along with its notebook counterpart the VX Revolution that will be reviewed in the near future. Seeing this delivery as a sign of good luck and not wanting to mess with karma, we decided to review the Logitech MX Revolution while we finish testing our bevy of P965 motherboards. This gave us the perfect opportunity to work with the mouse in both general applications and gaming. Logitech touts the new features on the mouse as being perfect for the advanced business and home office user but it is not intended as a gaming mouse. While this may be true, we wanted to see if it could replace our dearly departed Logitech MX-510 for both gaming and application usage on our primary test bed.
As we looked over the impressive product packaging that certainly befits the $99.99 price tag, there was one item that stood out to us. Logitech claims this is the "World's Most Advanced Mouse" so we set out to see if this is true. We have always enjoyed Logitech mice and can count on them providing an interesting product refresh every couple of years. Their last major product refresh in the wireless product sector consisted of the MX1000 as a general purpose mouse and the G7 that was targeted to the gaming community. Both mice have enjoyed a successful lifespan with excellent design ergonomics, software support, and desktop performance in the rodent arena. Their corded cousins, the G5 and MX518, have also been very successful in the gaming community where the superb RAZER series of mice have been their chief competition.
The MX Revolution pictured on the left is meant as the direct replacement for the MX1000 pictured on the right. The overall design of the new MX Revolution is more evolutionary in nature but it is the feature set of the new mouse that Logitech considers to be revolutionary. We prefer to believe it is the opposite as the design is clearly aggressive and seems to be sculptured perfectly for those of us who are right handed. While the Revolution shares the same laser engine specifications with an 800-dots-per-inch (dpi) optical sensor as the 1000 series, it has been refined and in testing tracked more accurately in Photoshop and other applications.
One of the new "Revolutionary" features that Logitech hails as making it the "World's Most Advanced Mouse" is the significant upgrade to the scroll wheel that now has two modes of operation, line-by-line scrolling and free-spin scrolling. Free-spin scrolling turns the scroll wheel into a flywheel capable of traversing the largest of spreadsheets, web pages, or word documents with a single spin. The other new features include the document quick-flip side wheel, one-button web search capability, and a unique zoom slider that is available on the VX version only. Let's take a closer look at the features of the new MX Revolution and see how it performs.
One package turned out to be full of new product releases from Logitech and included the MX Revolution we are reviewing today along with its notebook counterpart the VX Revolution that will be reviewed in the near future. Seeing this delivery as a sign of good luck and not wanting to mess with karma, we decided to review the Logitech MX Revolution while we finish testing our bevy of P965 motherboards. This gave us the perfect opportunity to work with the mouse in both general applications and gaming. Logitech touts the new features on the mouse as being perfect for the advanced business and home office user but it is not intended as a gaming mouse. While this may be true, we wanted to see if it could replace our dearly departed Logitech MX-510 for both gaming and application usage on our primary test bed.
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| Click to enlarge | |
As we looked over the impressive product packaging that certainly befits the $99.99 price tag, there was one item that stood out to us. Logitech claims this is the "World's Most Advanced Mouse" so we set out to see if this is true. We have always enjoyed Logitech mice and can count on them providing an interesting product refresh every couple of years. Their last major product refresh in the wireless product sector consisted of the MX1000 as a general purpose mouse and the G7 that was targeted to the gaming community. Both mice have enjoyed a successful lifespan with excellent design ergonomics, software support, and desktop performance in the rodent arena. Their corded cousins, the G5 and MX518, have also been very successful in the gaming community where the superb RAZER series of mice have been their chief competition.
 |
 |
| Click to enlarge | |
The MX Revolution pictured on the left is meant as the direct replacement for the MX1000 pictured on the right. The overall design of the new MX Revolution is more evolutionary in nature but it is the feature set of the new mouse that Logitech considers to be revolutionary. We prefer to believe it is the opposite as the design is clearly aggressive and seems to be sculptured perfectly for those of us who are right handed. While the Revolution shares the same laser engine specifications with an 800-dots-per-inch (dpi) optical sensor as the 1000 series, it has been refined and in testing tracked more accurately in Photoshop and other applications.
One of the new "Revolutionary" features that Logitech hails as making it the "World's Most Advanced Mouse" is the significant upgrade to the scroll wheel that now has two modes of operation, line-by-line scrolling and free-spin scrolling. Free-spin scrolling turns the scroll wheel into a flywheel capable of traversing the largest of spreadsheets, web pages, or word documents with a single spin. The other new features include the document quick-flip side wheel, one-button web search capability, and a unique zoom slider that is available on the VX version only. Let's take a closer look at the features of the new MX Revolution and see how it performs.
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solrac111 - Monday, August 6, 2007 - link
This is not the only review on the Logitech's MX Revolution mouse available on the Web.This particular review seems quite honest and points out not only the pros but also the cons.
I do not the PC for games. My main use is postwork of Photography.
After reading the reviews available about this mouse I decided to buy it a week ago.
So far all I expected from this expensive mouse is achieved.
Besides that my wrist and arm are painless after hours of intensive use.
I agree that Logitech should improve the MX Revolution mouse software as the configuration of buttons is quite limited compared to earlier models.
Dainas - Sunday, April 29, 2007 - link
I bought one of these a few months ago to replace my MX1000, all I gotta say about it is the MX revolution is the biggest pile of overpriced crap in the mouse world.First off the sensor is in the stupidest place, right under your wrist on the opposite end it was on the mx1000, so you gotta move it like a paperweight to move the pointer the littlest bit and its completely worthless for gaming(also it feels terribly imprecise like a trackball under both the logitech and windows drivers). The thumb scroll is too slippery/imprecise, as is the main scroll bar. Unless you have super long yeti fingers there's no way to reach the right button without inadvertently hitting the back button with your thumb. Mind you it took me atleast a week to get used to the MX1000, but I gave my MX revolution 3 weeks before I returned it.
This anandtech review has got to be the worse I have ever read, the fact that no one amongst you didn't want to throw the MX revolution out the window after 10 minutes of use(or that this review was likely done by only one person), makes it complete bogus to me.
kmmatney - Thursday, September 28, 2006 - link
Nice review. I'm currently using ancient Logitech "iFeel" mouse, with vibration feedback, which was supported (I think) by one game ever. The only good thing about the force feedback feature is that it adds a nice amount of weight. Maybe I should get a new mouse...bbomb - Saturday, September 30, 2006 - link
I have a MS IntelliMouse Optical USB. I think it was either MS's first or second optical mouse. I think it is much more picky about the surface its on than newer models so I may have to upgrade this holiday season.GhandiInstinct - Thursday, September 28, 2006 - link
Great review Gary, keep em' comin' :)My G7 does wonders for me and for $100 it would not justify this minor upgrade.
AtaStrumf - Thursday, September 28, 2006 - link
G7 here as well. It's a good mouse with the notable exception of battery life, which sux. 24h if you use it a lot and much les if you game with it. Can be a few days if you don't really use it much.GokieKS - Thursday, September 28, 2006 - link
I know that the MX Revolution isn't really designed to be a gaming mouse, but I'd like to hear your thoughts on how it fares for gaming, especially in the area of how much control you have over binding different buttons/actions. The horizontal scroll wheel, for example... would I be able to bind the forward/backward/click actions to different actions in, say, World of Warcraft?I've been looking for a replacement for my MX500 and MX700 for a long time now, but all the new "gaming mice" (from Logitech, whose products I prefer having used their mice for nearly a decade, or even anyone else) have not been truly viable options. The MX518 is pretty much just a MX500 w/ better sensitivity, and I don't find that a problem; the MX1000 was tempting, but like the MX700, it's too heavy, and makes the switching between my computers awkward; the G5 looked like a wonderful mouse, but it had one major shortcoming - less buttons than the MX500; the G7 had the shortcomings of both the G5 AND the MX1000, so it was never an option.
So now we come to the MX Revolution. If the horizontal scrolling document flip... thingy... can have the 3 actions associated with it be remapped, it may just be what I need. I just don't want to have to drive 20 minutes, spend $100+Tax, and then find out that it doesn't work.
Gary Key - Friday, September 29, 2006 - link
The mouse is not designed for gaming, that said I was able to map/bind the majority of buttons and the scroll wheel in several games. I was not successful in binding the side wheel at all. Email me with your WoW settings and I will try them for you. :)
GokieKS - Friday, September 29, 2006 - link
Nothing special... just try to bind 3 different buttons to to pushing/pulling/clicking the document flip scrolling thing. If that works, it'll be all that I need.
Much appreciated, and I forgot to say earlier, but a very nice review. =)
Gary Key - Monday, October 2, 2006 - link
Answers today, going to try uberoptions also.