Logitech VX Nano Cordless Laser Mouse

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http://reviews.cnet.co.uk/accessories/0,39100116,49292776,00.htm

Reviewed 7 November 2007

Reviewed by Michelle Thatcher

Last year, we liked the Logitech VX Revolution Cordless Laser Mouse so much that we gave it a 9 out of 10 in our ratings. Now the company's follow-up to that device, the smaller VX Nano, has likewise earned our affections.

Like the Revolution, the Nano provides comfortable contours, plenty of buttons and a storage space for its tiny wireless receiver. To that the VX Nano adds a gliding scroll wheel that's even easier to use, as well as a more compact shape that's accessible to both left and right-handed mousers. Though at £50 it's far more expensive than other notebook mice, the Logitech VX Nano represents the ultimate in portability for mousing on the go.

Design
Measuring 102 by 61 by 25mm, the Logitech VX Nano Cordless Laser Mouse is about the size of a bar of soap, which makes it extremely portable. That's also just about the smallest you can make a travel mouse without sacrificing user comfort. The VX Nano felt comfortable for our medium-size hands, though large-handed users might prefer the slighter bigger VX Revolution.

We prefer to mouse with our left hand, so we really appreciate the VX Nano's ambidextrous contours, which are comfortable for both left and right-handed users -- a major advantage over the VX Revolution, whose shape accommodates only right-handed mousing.

The Nano's USB receiver is the tiniest we've seen. The actual USB plug makes up most of its 4mm length, and when you plug in the receiver less than 8mm -- about the radius of a five-pence coin -- sticks out. At that size, you can easily leave the receiver plugged into your laptop, even when you're on the move.

The receiver also stashes into a storage slot under the mouse's battery cover. We like that the mouse automatically turns off when the receiver is stowed, which saves power and ensures the mouse won't accidentally turn on when it's in your bag. To protect the mouse while in transit, Logitech provides a handy neoprene case.

Features
Like all VX mice, the VX Nano incorporates Logitech's 'nearly frictionless' scroll wheel, which lets you scroll through massive documents at extraordinary speeds. With this feature, there's no tactile feedback on the wheel: give it a flick, and it just keeps spinning. We averaged 31 pages per spin while scrolling through a 300-page PDF, and it took just two spins to reach the bottom of our 350-message inbox.

If you want more controlled scrolling, just press the scroll wheel straight down to switch into a traditional click-wheel mode. This easy switching between gliding and clicking is a big improvement over the VX Revolution, which requires you to flip a switch on the bottom of the mouse to change scroll modes.

Performance
The VX Nano features high-precision laser tracking that we found to be very responsive on our desk, a notepad and our pants leg. There's a handy LED battery metre on the top of the mouse, so you know how much juice you have left. (Logitech claims the mouse will run for six months on two AAA batteries.)

Though you can use the VX Nano without any setup -- just plug in the USB receiver to an available port and go -- installing Logitech's SetPoint software, available for both Windows and Mac, makes all of the mouse's five buttons programmable.

Additional editing by Shannon Doubleday