Meet the Logitech Anywhere Mouse MX. It’s the wireless notebook mouse that gives you new freedom to work anywhere without a mouse pad—on virtually any surface. Your laptop bag balanced on your lap at the airport. Your granite kitchen countertop. It even gives you precise cursor control on glass conference tables and hotel desks—the surface where no mouse has worked before. From the first track-on-glass technology to a tiny USB receiver that never needs to leave your notebook, this compact mouse is ready to help you fly through any task anywhere you go.
$ 39.99
Excellent mouse, but also consider the VX Nano,
This is a great mouse. One of the best ones I have ever used. Some of the features I really like:
– The (newer) nano receiver, which can stay on the laptop at all times.
– The wireless just works. No pairing issues, no long initial wait when turning on.
– The “anywhere” part which is true! This mouse works on absolutely anything.
– All the buttons you need on a small mouse
– The great dual-mode scroll wheel for step-by-step scrolling or fast flowing scrolling.
– Good ergonomic despite the small size.
– Easy on/off switch at the bottom, which doubles as a protection flap for the sensor.
– Nice pouch.
All of this said, I am instead using a Logitech VX Nano Cordless Laser Mouse for Notebooks (Black).
I don’t think one is clearly better than the other. Choosing one vs. the other is a question of personal preference and priorities.
Here are the main differences:
– The VX Nano is quite a bit lighter (by 30-40{b81fbfd19e1fca5890798868c0714c408bbd5ec471654b6f9630c0fffa6e7eb3}) and it makes a noticeable difference. The Anywhere MX is a bit heavier to begin with, but more importantly, it uses AA batteries vs. AAA for the VX Nano. Note that despite the larger batteries (about 2x capacity), The SetPoint software is predicting ~100 days for the Anywhere’s AA and ~150 for the VX’ AAA, so I guess the new “dark field” laser uses 2-3x more power. I thought of using AA-AAA adapters to keep the weight difference down, but that would drop the battery life to <2 months. For me, that was the biggest deciding factor with the next bullet. UPDATE: I have since discovered that the Anywhere MX can work with a single AA battery, which IMHO keeps the weight more reasonable.
– The VX Nano is quite a bit cheaper. Now that it’s not the “best” Logitech laptop mouse, its price has dropped quite a bit. While the Anywhere MX price is pegged close to MSRP, the VX Nano’s price is oscillating up to 40{b81fbfd19e1fca5890798868c0714c408bbd5ec471654b6f9630c0fffa6e7eb3} cheaper than the Anywhere MX. That’s a big difference.
– The Anywhere MX can be used on any surface. In comparison, the VX Nano can only be used on most surfaces. It’s still extremely competent and works on fabric, many shiny surfaces… anything you’ll normally find in a home or an office, and is much better than old red LED-based mice. It does not, however, work on transparent surfaces. If that’s important, then the Anywhere MX is the only option.
– The VX Nano has the back/forward buttons on the top vs the Anywhere MX on the side for the more traditional thumb access. Advantage Anywhere MX here. Those top buttons on the VX Nano are not great and I think that was one of the main complaints. I am glad Logitech listened.
– The on/off button on the Anywhere MX is easier to use (flap to slide vs. hold for 3 seconds).
– Both mice get a pouch. The VX Nano has a mesh pouch that’s a bit baggy. The Anywhere MX has a tight smooth pouch. It’s a near tie.
– The VX Nano comes with a USB extension with holder to use with a desktop. The Anywhere MX doesn’t. Not a big deal IMHO.
– The Anywhere MX has the new Nano receiver that can support several devices. The VX Nano has the “old” one. They are the same size though and behave identically with a single device. In particular, there is no pairing and initial latency issues as seen on Bluetooth devices.
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|Perfect Laptop Mouse,
I love this thing – it’s comfortable, it has the hyper-fast scrolling that I love on my desktop mouse, it does indeed work anywhere, and the plug-and-play unifying receiver (USB stick) is teeny and does not have to be removed to put your laptop in the case. I got it for my work netbook – upon which I have to do a lot of writing.
SIZE/SHAPE: Perfect for me (I am a woman). As a portable it is a bit smaller than a traditional mouse, but that fits me better and my hand does not cramp up using it. It does not have a dramatic ergonomic curve like some bigger mice, but it does have grippy sides and a bit of shaping for your fingers (i.e. it’s not just a hard plastic uniform shell).
DARKFIELD “ANYWHERE” TECHNOLOGY: I love this feature – and it’s exactly what you need for your laptop… since you never know where you’ll be using it and what sort of surface will be available to you. I have tried it on glass, paper, laminate, my couch, an airplane desk, a glossy desk, my leg, etc. It really does work anywhere. Love this. I used to carry a piece of cardboard in my laptop case for places without a good mouse-surface. That’s gone.
SCROLLING: It has the hyper-fast scrolling that I have come to love on my desktop mouse (Logitech MK700 wireless keyboard/mouse). This enables me to fly through long PDFs or the like. You can easily (more easily than on my desktop mouse) switch to click scrolling – simply by pushing on the scroll wheel. You can also scroll horizontally (I use this for excel) by pushing the scroll wheel right/left.
BUTTONS: Big, slick, easy to use on/off slide button on the bottom – I use this a lot when carrying my netbook around to different offices (I keep the netbook on but don’t want the mouse to accidentally click), so I like how easy this is to do with one finger (unlike some small fussy on/off buttons). Scroll wheel button converts from hyper-fast to click scroll as described above. Button below the scroll wheel brings up a window with thumbnails of all open applications so you can quickly go to where you want – I use this a lot too. And your standard forward/back buttons.
RECEIVER: Teeny. This is the best feature of the mouse. It sticks out maybe 1/4 of an inch when plugged in to the laptop, so you do not need to remove it to fit your laptop in the case or wherever. If you do want to remove it (why?) – there is storage in the mouse itself. It’s a ‘unifying’ receiver capable of managing up to 6 compatible (i.e. Logitech) devices. Like most here, I cannot review this feature as I don’t have any other compatible devices, sorry. But I still love that I plugged it in once and have never fussed with it since.
BOTTOM LINE: Small, comfortable, good features on the mouse itself – notably the hyper-fast scroll and the ‘anywhere’ technology – but the best feature is the tiny receiver that can easily live in your laptop without taking up space. I love this mouse!
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|Another great mouse from Logitech,
It is great mouse, and I can definitely recommend it if you are looking for new laptop mouse. Here are some more details:
1. Appearance: It is very similar to VX Nano, but has better rubber and color coating.
2. Size: It is a bit larger than VX Nano. (I assume the new laser technology, Dark-Field might be required more space. Another obvious reason is two AA batteries are used rather than AAA batteries which are used in VX Nano. Anyway, this mouse is still small enough to easily carry around.)
3. Left & Right buttons: They are a bit heavier touch than VX Nano. I don’t like heavy touch on left & right buttons because it makes my fingers get tired faster. It is my preference, so other people could like a bit heavier touch.
4. Back & Forward buttons: They are a little difficult to click with my thumb (I believe my hand is typical size). They should be located same as VX Nano.
5. Hyper-fast scrolling: I always love this scrolling mechanism since it was introduced, and it is one key reason I prefer Logitech mouse. But, there is one problem that its rubber band around the hyper-fast scrolling can be loosed in some time. After the rubber band is loosed, it makes erratic resistance while it is spinning. I guess it may not be a problem to someone, but to me, it is serious problem because I use it all the time. I think Logitech should do something about the rubber band.
6. Dark-Field Laser tracking: I don’t know how much it is more accurate and precise than typical laser tracking, but I can be sure that it can be used almost any surfaces including glass & laminated surface which typical laser or optical mouse wouldn’t work. It is truly amazing. You will love this.
7. Carrying Case: It is come with carrying case which seems to look better, but its size is smaller than the carrying case of VX nano. So, it has very tight fit which makes a bit difficult to be zipped. I have switched its carrying case with VX nano carrying case.
8. Battery life: at this point, I cannot say much about it, but assume Anywhere MX consumes a little bit more battery since it uses AA rather than AAA. Plus, the dark-field laser tracking mechanism might be required more power than typical laser tracking.
Last thing is “SetPoint” program which is its driver from Logitech. It gives some options to customize each button, but limitation. I might suggest “uberOptions”([…]) which allows customizing each button any way you want, but use it at own your risk.
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