Logitech iFeel Mouse

URL: http://www.logitech.com/cf/products/productoverview.cfm/79?29

Check Prices On This Product

E-mail this article to a friend

Rating: Excellent!

Review:

The stand-out feature of this mouse is the force feedback. Rolling the pointer over buttons, icons, hyperlinks or toolbars makes the mouse vibrate in a variety of different ways. You can also feel the friction as you drag a window across the screen, or move a slider.

The Immersion Desktop software provides a number of themes, and each event can be customized for texture, pop, impulse, strength, and many more settings within these categories. Many happy hours can be spent fiddling with these settings!

Opinions are divided amongst those who have tried it over whether this is a gimmick or a useful feature. I found that it rapidly became an expected part of my computing experience, and would kick and scream if you tried to take it away from me.

The rest of the mouse is of the high quality I would expect from Logitech. It is the first optical mouse I have owned, and there is no going back. The expected wheel sits between the two buttons, and is made of a high-grip rubber compound that feels very good. The dusty-blue casing feels comfortable in the hand, and seems to resist the dirt well. The design fits either hand comfortably.

Because of the high power required by the actuators (the mouse is rated 500mA at 5v), the iFeel mouse is USB only. Logitech also state that it will not work on passive USB hubs i.e. those without a power supply, or the extra socket often found on USB keyboards.

In my haste to install the mouse, I forgot to remove the old mouse drivers. The new mouse then installed, but the feedback didn't work. A full uninstall then reinstall (aided by the ReadMe file) solved the problem. It uses the latest Logitech Mouseware drivers with an extra driver provided by Immersion to control the feedback.

Summary

iFeel technology - brilliant innovation
Optical Technology - essential
Mouse in general - very high quality

Submitted by: smellystudent