Belkin Australia Rechargeable Wireless Optical Mouse

Belkin are a company not known for their prowess in the computer peripheral market. That said, the products that we have had through the office so far have impressed us as a whole. The only let down? This mouse. Their keyboard and mouse combination was an incredible product for the average user, but the Rechargeable Wireless Optical Mouse simply fails to deliver, suffering from an awkward design that makes it very difficult to use.

From the get go our impressions of this product were less than favourable. We originally thought it was designed as a left handed mouse, because the body naturally curves to a left handed grip, but the two internet buttons were in the normal place for a right handed person. We tried it with both hands, and could never get a comfortable grip with either. Comfort is a big factor when it comes to mice, as you're pretty much using it all the time that you're on your PC; if you aren't contented you'll pay for it later. No matter how good a mouse may be, if you can't hold it properly it isn't going to be effective.

The design also looks a little odd. Belkin have implemented a space age silver and black motif on this unit, with a clear plastic strip running down the middle. It looks quite reasonable, but something about the bubbling design of the mouse's back end makes it look a little out of place.

Aside from this design problem Belkin have done a reasonable job with this product. The 800 DPI sensor is very accurate. We felt the mouse was precise and suffered no noticeable lag from the wireless connection. Our testing revealed that whilst this unit excels at basic desktop tasks it is also suitable for gaming, assuming you can get your hand around the awkward grip.

The unit utilizes rechargeable AA batteries and a USB powered cradle. Replace the mouse on the cradle at the end of the night and it recharges; a simple, yet effective design that we praised on other units, such as the Logitech MX5000. Having seen the awesome rechargeable battery system on the Logitech G7 it is no longer our favourite recharge method, but it gets the job done very well.