Text and Photos by Gadjo Cardenas Sevilla
Logitech's Touch Wireless Optical Mouse (M600), $ 79.99 brings together the best features of an optical mouse and the versatility of a multi-touch trackpad. Ideal for most desktop and notebook users, the M600 is all about improving multi-touch interaction without sacrifing the freedom of movement and responsiveness of an optical mouse.
Out of the box, the M600 comes with 2 AA size batteries, a small wireless USB dongle (which Logitech has named the Unifying Receiver) and a soft carry pouch.
Putting it all together is quite straightforward. The USB dongle, which goes into the PC, is quite small and easy to lose.
I was happy to find out that Logitech made it possible to dock the Unifying Receiver dongle into the mouse when not in use. The Unifying Receiver can actually manage up to six devices wirelessly on a GHz wireless signal for up to 10 feet.
The mouse itself feels smooth and polished with good tracking texture, the sensors under the surface are designed to look like a carbon fiber weave. This shows Logitech's mastery over materials and their ability to subtly meld great design with necessary functionality. The M600 should feel comfortable to both right handed and left handed users.
Designed for users who want the ease of use of gesture based navigation coupled with the quickness of an optical mouse, the M600 is ergonomically designed to fit in one's hand while making it easy to move from mousing to finger based navigation.
This mouse can take advantage of today's modern and gesture-filled operating systems, the M600 is ideal for surfing, image editing and content consumption but it may not satisfy gamers because it lacks physical buttons and may not endure the vigorous use often associated with high intensity gaming.
The M600 is portable enough for notebook users and will offer a great deal of functionality over a basic trackpad or trackpoint specially when scrolling through long pages or when multi-touch gestures can get things done faster.
Logitech only makes driver software available for Windows 7.
I still managed to get it working on Mac OS Lion and without any driver downloads,
Granted, not all the multi-touch functionality one would expect is available, basic mousing and scrolling functions are available to Mac users but we can't recommend this product for them until Logitech decides to release OS X drivers for the M600
It is on a Windows 7 machine that the M600 really shines.
Downloading the Logitech Flow Scroll software pluginprovides a smooth scrolling experience using Internet Explorer 8, Internet Explorer 9, Firefox 6 and up, and Chrome 13 and up while browsing through web pages via the internet.
I experienced some trouble installing the Logitech Software driver and getting it set up. The installer kept asking me to close my Chrome browser (which was already closed) and refused to continue setting up the software driver so I was not able to test many of the more detailed features and settings on my 64 Bit Windows 7 notebook. This was dissappointing.
The Logitech Touch Wireless Optical Mouse will satisfy the needs of most users who want the familiarity of an optical mouse as well as the versatility of multi-touch scrolling gestures.
Rating: 3.5 out of 5
Top 3 photos by Gadjo Cardenas Sevilla