Wireless Optical Mouse R.I.P.

My Microsoft wireless optical mouse, the Wireless IntelliMouse Explorer 2.0, is now officially deceased. For days it has double-clicked about every fourth time I single-clicked the left mouse button. Today the false double-click rate rose to about every other mouse click. You can imagine the problems that created in most applications, so I have reluctantly retired the wireless mouse and gone back to using my eight-year-old corded IntelliMouse.

The wireless mouse is less than a year old, and I always treat my computer equipment with great care, so I called Microsoft to see if they would do anything about what I consider a defective product. The person I spoke to there was very polite and sounded sympathetic, but he said that my mouse has now been discontinued, and it is not Microsoft’s policy to replace a discontinued item — and that was the end of the matter for them, even though I emphasized that I have had the mouse for less than a year. I am not pleased about their response. I think that mouse was defective and that Microsoft should have replaced it with an equivalent newer model. (Also, when Microsoft moves from the Wireless IntelliMouse Explorer 2.0 to the Wireless IntelliMouse Explorer 2.0A, I don’t call it “discontinued,” I call it “updated.”)

I miss that wireless mouse already. Its shape fit my hand perfectly, and it was wonderful to never have to open it up and use tweezers to pry fuzz off the rollers (as I always have to do with my non-optical mice). I also appreciated the wireless mouse’s higher resolution and the handy thumb buttons along the left side of the unit.

My first impulse was to essentially buy the same mouse again, but this is actually my second Microsoft wireless optical mouse that has failed in exactly the same way, so now I’m wondering if this is a weakness in the product line. If I buy another Microsoft model, will it too last for less than a year? Should I buy a Logitech mouse instead?

Tags: Microsoft Mouse, Wireless Mouse, Optical Mouse

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