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Microsoft Wireless Optical Mouse 5000
Reviewed by
Justin Jaffe
on 09/16/2005

See all Microsoft Corp. products

Price range:

$30.79 - $49.99

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  • Quick specs
  • OS Required / Type: Microsoft Windows Vista Microsoft Windows XP Microsoft Windows 2000 SP 4 or higher
  • Form factor: External
  • Compatibility: PC Mac
  • See full specifications

Add to my list Product summary

The good: Smooth performance; comfortable to hold; five configurable buttons; includes magnifier feature.

The bad: Range of wireless reception could be longer; diminished feature set on a Mac.

The bottom line: The Microsoft Windows Optical Mouse 5000 is a straightforward, reliable mouse for basic home or office productivity.

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CNET editors' review

  • CNET editors' rating: 3.5 stars Very good
    Detailed editors' rating
      Installation and interface : 8.0
      Features : 7.0
      Service and support : 6.0
      Overall score: 7.0 (3.5 stars)
  • Reviewed by:
    Justin Jaffe
  • Edited by:
    Lara Luepke
  • Reviewed on: 09/16/2005
  • Released on: 09/01/2005

The $40 Microsoft Wireless Optical Mouse 5000 (WOM 5000) is comfortable to use (for the right-handed, anyway) and offers a simple but useful assortment of features and niceties. Sure, there are less expensive options out there, but we like the WOM 5000 enough to recommend it to anyone who wants a straightforward, reliable mouse for basic home or office productivity.

Almost identical in design to the Wireless IntelliMouse Explorer with Fingerprint Reader--just without the fingerprint reader--the WOM 5000 has a cool two-tone, gray color scheme. A right-handed reviewer found it fairly ergonomic and comfortable. The soft plastic sides provide a smooth and comfortable resting place for the thumb and the last two fingers. The two thumb buttons are well placed--comfortable to click, but not so convenient that you'll hit them by accident. The rubber four-way scrollwheel is easy to grip and move, and we dig the horizontal scrolling capability; however, the scrollwheel doesn't click or provide feedback in any way when you roll it; we sort of missed the tactile response.

Setup on our Windows PC was simple. First, we popped in the two included AA batteries; Microsoft claims they'll last for six months, but we did not test this claim. Microsoft recommends installing the software before connecting the mouse, so we did. It took a minute or so, and even though the PC threatened that we'd need to restart, we didn't, and it didn't seem to matter. When we plugged the mouse-shaped receiver into a USB port (a PS/2 adapter is also included), Windows recognized its kindred hardware immediately, and we commenced mousing. Setup on a Mac was a bit slower and more complicated: we had to install software, and configuration options weren't as plentiful.

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Reviews from around the WebPowered by alaTest

  • alaTest.com

    Editors' rating: 90

    Summary: alaTest has collected and analyzed 1897 reviews of Microsoft Wireless Optical Mouse from international magazines and websites. Experts rate this product 83/100 and users 78/100. Comparing these reviews to 82988 other Mouse & Pointing Devices reviews gives this product an overall alaScore™ 90/100 = Excellent.

    Read full review

  • techtree.com

    Editors' rating: 70

    Summary: The four-way scroll-wheel is easy to grip and move, however, the scroll-wheel doesn't provide a soft/tactile feedback on the middle clicks - it requires a lot of pressure, which is way too irritating considering its frequent use in today's operating ...

    Read full review

  • personal computer world

    Editors' rating: 80

    Summary: An already well-specified small-business network switch made even better by the addition of D-Link's Green Ethernet technology

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Microsoft Wireless Optical Mouse 5000

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