This is a Notebook Mouse ... The VX Revolution is a Revolution for Notebook Mice

Author's Rating:

Pros: Excellent tracking, excellent ergonomics, can replace desktop mouse!

Cons: Really expensive... as in gaming mouse price expensive ($80)

The Bottom Line: 
If not for the price, the VX revolution destroys any other notebook mice on the market. It's good enough for desktop use!

Author's Review
I just bought the V400 mouse which should cost me about $8 after the Staples mail-in rebate. Here comes my friend Jeff who had the V400 mouse for months before me with his Acer laptop.

Jeff - "I have something to show you... a new toy that you don't have!"

Me - "What would that be?"

Jeff pulls out a Logitech desktop mouse... wait it's a bit smaller than a desktop mouse. I thought he pulled out a Logitech G7 but it's smaller and somewhat different looking. He then says "VX Revolution man. It's the best notebook mouse I ever used!"

He then proceeds to kick my behind on several First-Person Shooter games.

Jeff - "I'll even use this mouse on my desktop system! it's that good!"

Me - "How much did you pay?"

Jeff - "Ummm... alot... $79.99 at the Logitech website. But I used your 20% coupon which pretty much paid for the shipping and handling costs. I couldn't stand the V400 anymore... this mouse doesn't have the same problems with tracking as that V400!" (BTW the 20% coupon is a one-time use coupon for registering a Logitech product through their website.)

He then let me try it. I had the SetPoint 3.01 software from Logitech installed (latest version as of this writing). VX Revolution detected. My goodness... accurate, responsive, comfortable, and tracks on more surfaces than my V500, V400, or Microsoft Notebook Laser Mouse 6000. This was pretty close to Logitech's high end laser mice. I wanted one... but the price was too steep. Time to see what made the VX Revolution special and see if there's something there to nudge me to buy.

Short Take

The VX revolution mouse is a superb mouse which is extremely sensitive and tracks very well on most surfaces. I don't think I encountered any problems on any surface I ran the mouse on... except clear glass (but they document that glass and mirrored surfaces may cause problems). Even on clear glass I still had decent tracking. This alone puts my other notebook mice to shame.

Like most of Logitech's other 2.4GHz mice, the VX Revolution (I'll call in the VX Rev from now on) performed well even at 25+ feet away from the receiver. You have a good number of buttons and switches that can be programmed through the latest SetPoint software from Logitech. After installing the SetPoint software, you plus in the receiver and uh... mouse. Although the mouse is not as portable as the V500, it is smaller than a desktop mouse and compares favorably to the V400 and the MS Notebook Mouse 6000. Of note... the VX Rev feels more comfortable than any notebook mouse I've used and comes close to the feel of high-end desktop mice. Unfortunately, the VX Rev is meant for right-handed use only.

The major innovation is the new scroll wheel. Dubbed the MicroGear Precision Scroll Wheel by Logitech, this new scroll wheel allow the user to fly through pages in a document or a spreadsheet with a single flick. It works surprising well and is a welcome addition for productivity applications.

Battery life is stated by Logitech as lasting a continuous 120 days on a single AA battery.

In just a couple of hours, I was convinced that I was using the best notebook mouse on the market. Now if it didn't cost $80 to get one.... sigh.

The Look

The VX Rev has a nice three tone color scheme and an ergonomic look similar to Logitech's other high end mice. It is extremely comfortable to use in the right hand (sorry southpaws) and all available buttons were pretty easy to reach. A single AA battery powers the mouse inserted through the bottom. There is a slot on the lower back of the VX Rev to store the 2.4GHz micro-receiver... when you store the receiver, the mouse turns off.

Button wise, the VX Rev has a right and left mouse button, the scroll wheel acts as the middle/third button, two mini-buttons (forward/backward) on the right side of the mouse reachable by your thumb, a search button below the scroll wheel, and a zoom slider. The scroll wheel also can be tilted left and right as well.

There is a full battery meter LED display that more accurately shows how much juice is left in the VX Rev (4 levels). This display is placed before the two thumb side buttons. The bottom of the unit has several buttons and a switch. The switch allows you to make the scroll wheel frictionless or switch in to the old clicking scroll wheel. The buttons are a reset/on/off button and the receiver eject button.

As far as the overall look, I still think the V500 has the best look but the VX Rev feels the most comfortable in the hand. The VX Rev is also slightly larger than the V400 and the Microsoft Notebook Laser 6000 but not as big as Logitech's desktop mice. The VX Rev is fairly portable but doesn't get as compact as the V500 ingenious collapsing mechanism. Logitech lists the VX Rev weight as 4.2 oz.

The Tech

I think the old Phillips Twin Eye Dual Laser technology used in the V400 has been thrown out the window for now (I don't see any indications, labels, or references that the VX Rev uses Phillips Dual Laser technology). My understanding is that the laser is similar to the one used in the MX1000. The tracking results of the V400 and VX Rev are very different... the VX Rev wins hands down.

Scrolling... i.e. the MicroGear Precision Scroll Wheel, can be set to the traditional scroll wheel where each motion click of the scroll wheel scrolls a certain amount of lines. A quick flick of the switch on the bottom of the mouse will change the scroll wheel into frictionless mode. One flick of the wheel will allow it to spin for 7 seconds... allowing you to scroll through pages of text or a long long spreadsheet in seconds with ease! You have to get used to stopping the wheel where you want to... but the ease of paging through a long document with a simple flick was unbelievable. I only wished that the switch between the two scroll modes wasn't on the underside of the mouse.

Logitech continues use of 2.4GHz receivers compared to competitors like the MS Notebook Laser 6000 which uses a traditional band (27Mhz band).

There is an LED near the two thumb mini-buttons that let you know the power status and when the battery is running low (4 level display compared to a single LED that flashed green or red on the V400).

The zoom slider... well it's just that. It allows you to zoom in and out. All this did was free up the scroll wheel button... not that I'm complaining mind you.

All-Terrain... Give the VX Rev this Label not the V400!

Yeah yeah yeah... this label was given to the V400. But if you compare the V400 to the VX Rev, the VX Rev leaves the V400 in the dust. The VX Rev has more right to the All-Terrain label than the V400!

On the majority of surfaces, the VX Rev reigns supreme from all the notebook mice I've used. It was accurate and sensitive enough detailed photo work and even FPS gaming (although not quite as good as a true gaming laser mouse). Smaller movements were interpreted quickly and displayed accordingly on the screen. I'm not sure of the mouse resolution but it seems to be at least 800dpi if not higher. I would not be surprised if it was as high as 2000dpi. The VX Rev really feels and controls that well. According to other review sites, the VX Revolution is 800dpi mouse.

From Photoshop CS to Microsoft Word to Adobe Acrobat to Warcraft III to World of Warcraft, the mouse performed well on a variety of surfaces. It was even good for Doom 3, Halo, and Half-Life 2 although not at the same level as a true gaming mouse. The G7 will still outperform the VX Rev.

Actually, I think the only thing that stopped me was trying to mouse on the dining room window. Even there I still got some response from moving the mouse!

Transmitting and Receiving

The VZ Rev uses a 2.4GHz micro-receiver which allowed distances of 30 feet or more (I didn't test any further than this. Under the same interference conditions that I ran my V400, the VX Rev had no problems when nearby a 20 inch LCD monitor, a desktop PIII, a notebook computer, 3 printers, and an active paper shredder. Remember in my V400 review that the Microsoft Laser Mouse 6000 had problems under these conditions.

The receiver inserts quite flush to the mouse. Thankfully, there is an eject button now making it easier to remove the receiver from the mouse than the V400.

Battery Life

I can only go by Logitech's stated numbers and packaging. Logitech lists up to 120 days of continuous use.

The VX Rev also seems to have the tendency to go to sleep mode if not used for a few minutes (to conserve power). However, I didn't notice any lag when moving the mouse again. If there is any, it is very minimal from what I can see.

Again the battery LED is a four level LED with different colorations as the power levels decrease (green for good and red for low power)

Again, inserting the receiver into the slot on the back of the mouse turns the VX Rev off.

Note you can manually turn off the mouse by pressing the reset/on/off button at the underside of the mouse. This is especially helpful if you like leaving the 2.4GHz receiver plugged into your notebook or desktop.

SetPoint Software

Currently at version 3.01, this is Logitech's mouse and keyboard controll and setup software. It is a rather large program taking up to 50MB of space installed! However, it is useful in setting up your mouse and changing the programming of several of the buttons on your mouse. It also allows very limited modifications for game playing but not much. All in all it works fairly well.

I should note that if you're using older Logitech software... like the old MouseWare programs, you should uninstall those programs first before installing the SetPoint software.

One Last Thing

I haven't mentioned the Search button. Highlight a word or phrase with your point and press the search button. Another web window will open showing a web search display from either Google or Yahoo (you can't pick any other web search engine however). It a neat little productivity tool... although I'm not sure how useful it is yet. It does make web searching a little easier although you're forced to pick between Yahoo or Google.

Final Thoughts

I really want to buy this mouse after using it for a couple of hours over two days but the price of $80 is very steep. I can get the Logitech G7 high resolution gaming mouse for less than the VX Rev! However, that new scroll wheel and the overall tracking abilities of the mouse make it a must have especially for productivity applications. Going back to my V400 feels strange now. I wonder if I can hold out for a few months to see a price drop on this model... maybe I'll jump the fence to the join the Revolution when I get to play with Jeff's VX Rev again this evening at his dinner party. Update: I wound up purchasing the VX Revolution for $42 from Staples after ink coupons and a dollars off coupon.

Absolutely Recommended if you can afford to plunk $80 for a notebook mouse. Excellent productivity, photo editing, and web browsing performance and above average gaming performance. It can even replace your desktop mouse... and that's saying alot!