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| Logitech MX310 Optical Mouse |
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| Written by Mikhail Ivanenkov | |
| Sunday, 01 July 2007 | |
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As far as I can remember Logitech hasn't had any major flops. The mouse to the first computer I ever built happened to be their First Wheel Mouse and it's still going strong. There came a point in time when Logitech would no longer allow Microsoft to rule the optical mouse market. Although their original optical variant worked just fine, it wasn't until the release of the MX700 that Logitech found a place in the heart of many computer enthusiasts. Today we'll be looking at the MX310, the second lowest model in the growing MX series.
Next up is the corded MX500, adding even more buttons and naming them Cruise Control along with modifying the mouse shell for right hand use only. There are two variants of the MX510: red and blue. The MX510's optical engine also captures 5.8MP/s whereas the MX500's captures 4.7MP/s. The MX700 is a cordless version of the 500 that comes with a charger/signal receiver. Finally we have the relatively new MX900, a Bluetooth version of the MX700. That said the MX310 came in a well packaged retail box. Included was the mouse, a PS/2 adapter to accommodate for users who don't have a free USB port, a somewhat silly installation guide in 4 languages (though possibly helpful to the average consumer), a nice catalog of all their products, and last but not least, a driver CD. The one I received contains MouseWare 9.76. It's always a good idea to install the latest drivers for any piece of hardware rather than those received with the item and that is why I downloaded version 9.79.1 instead.
The feet are surprisingly slick which is a major bonus when it comes to gaming. Even on a cloth surface I was able to push the mouse and it would slide a bit even after I removed my hand. And although completely subjective, I found the weight to be almost perfect for my tastes: a wee bit heavier that most mice (such as Microsoft's IntelliMouse), but not as heavy as a cordless which in my opinion somewhat hinders motion. This was a deliberate move on Logitech's part as optical mouse components alone weight very little.
Another factor in determining performance is the frame rate, but it's only a relative measurement. Successful tracking in an optical mouse occurs when sampled images overlap. If they don't, the pointer will go in a random direction. A large sensor with a low frame rate can therefore be just as smooth as a smaller sensor with a higher frame rate. Although no specifics are given, Logitech claims to have both a larger sensor and a higher frame rate so you get the best of both worlds. Yet another feature of the MX series is the 800dpi resolution, apparently twice that of competing mice (whatever those may be). This basically means that ideally for every 1 inch the mouse moves, the cursor will travel 800 pixels on the screen. Of course there are more factors to this in the way of user preferences and speed/acceleration, but a higher dpi corresponds to more precise movements. With a monitor capable of supporting high resolutions, you'll notice that you'll have to physically move the mouse a lot more to get across a 1600x1200 screen than one at 800x600. Needless to say, this can be very uncomfortable. Software compensates for this using the aforementioned settings, but the problem arises when pixels are skipped to achieve the desired speed. For instance, using "standard" acceleration, if your mouse has 400dpi resolution and you want it to move 800 pixels for every inch, it'll end up skipping every other pixel. While this may seem trivial, if you use 1600x1200 resolution and have small icons and even smaller text, you may run into some difficulties trying to select them. Other features include a completely redesigned lens for clearer images under all sorts of lighting conditions and enhanced software algorithms. Finally, the listed acceleration is 10g and the (max?) rated speed is 40 inches/second. I doubt anyone moves their mouse that fast. |
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| Last Updated ( Friday, 13 July 2007 ) |
