| In short, I'm writing primarily to second Tinderbox's excellent review on all the PROs and CONs. Also, if you're currently using this mouse and like the extra buttons, I recommend installing Intellipoint 4.0 instead of the more recent Intellipoint 5.0 More on this below... quick partial summary of Tinderbox's review:
PROs:
1) good tracking
2) good ergonomic shape
3) well-placed extra buttons
CONs:
1) over time: sticky scroll-wheel
2) over time: left-click started registering multiple clicks when single-clicking
3) quick wear and now for some of my experiences... Mouse #1: corded Intellimouse Explorer
I bought the original corded Intellimouse Explorer for Win XP and loved it. It tracked well, felt good ergonomically, and I came to the point where I couldn't live without the added buttons. Personally, I mapped the small thumb button as my "back" button, and the larger thumb button for "ALT-TAB" to recall my last used window. After about a year, the mouse mysteriously died. I'm not quite sure why, but since I've become so enamored of this mouse by this point, I decided to get another Intellimouse Explorer. Mouse #2: corded Intellimouse Explorer 3.0
By this time, they no longer sold the exact version of my original mouse. Microsoft released v3.0 of the mouse. The only physical difference I noticed was that the thumb buttons were much thinner than the original Intellimouse, which originally irked me, but I quickly got used to. Within a year, the tracking started going haywire and the cursor would jump erratically. I tried to clean the contact surface, but it did no good. Trashed it and got... another one... Mouse #3: corded Intellimouse Explorer 3.0
However, within about a year and half, I experienced the exact symptoms mentioned in the Tinderbox review: sticky-like feeling on the mouse-wheel, additional random clicks registering on the left-click button. The latter problem rendered the mouse virtually unusable. As silly as this sounds, I was almost considering getting the same mouse again, just because I liked the feel and features, however, Intellimouse Explorer 3.0 are no longer readily available, since they have been replaced by the newer Intellimouse Explorer 4.0 (with Tilt-wheel). I tried v4.0 out at a store and could not stand it. Personally, I didn't like the fact the mouse-wheel moved left-to-right. But on top of that, Microsoft removed the "clicks" on the mouse-wheel, which just doesn't feel right to me. The thumb buttons are also placed a bit higher on the 4.0 mouse which lessens my comfort factor. All in all, the old Intellimouse Explorers were nice when they worked, but (at least for me) they seem to wear out a bit too frequently. I'm currently looking into the Logitech MX 510. As for the INTELLIPOINT software:
If you do own or plan to own this mouse, I HIGHLY suggest tracking down a copy of the Intellipoint 4.0 software instead of using the most recent version 5.0 PROs of Intellipoint 4.0:
1) had a larger set of preset options in the pull-down menus for each button function
2) allowed you to input your own keystrokes CONs of Intellipoint 5.0:
1) reduced the number of preset options, adding a few new ones, but removing a LOT of old ones
2) no more custom keystroke mapping to buttons. For example, I could no longer map my buttons to ALT-TAB or "recall window" with Intellipoint 5.0 This mouse is somewhat old by the time of this writing, but hopefully this info will be of some use to someone. | .jpg)
