Microsoft's IntelliPoint Explorer is a high-fashion peripheral device, available in decorator finishes including, "Black Leather," "Immersion," and "Cobalt Basin." I went for "Night Vision," which, somewhat disappointingly, does not glow in the dark (unlike my dear old Logitech with blue LED).
I installed the Explorer mouse quickly, and installation was glitch-free. Subsequently, however, "problems were encountered," and the all-too familiar Microsoft error windows started popping up with some regularity. For the most part, there was no discernible problem, but at one point the cursor started "exploring" all over the page with no direction from me, sort of like the pointer of a Ouija board. Spooky! And the message from beyond? Yup, it was another error message. Sigh. Another restart, and we were back in business.
I encountered seven error messages in an hour, which could be frustrating for the average user. After I sought out and installed new drivers, things went more smoothly.
Wireless is a good feature for a mouse, and the Explorer moves the cursor smoothly and precisely when not under the command of forces from Beyond. Microsoft claims that the mouse can be used on any surface and from a distance of at least six feet, which proved to be uncharacteristically modest. With fully-charged batteries, the Explorer actually worked fine from at least 20 feet away, which was as far as I could go without leaving the premises.
Oh, yes -- batteries. According to Microsoft, the batteries will last six months for many users. They were included, but a recharge base would have been vastly preferable.
The "tilt wheel" scrolls nicely up and down and back and forth, which could be useful for things like spreadsheets and -- I'm guessing -- gaming. Scroll speed can be customized to suit your preference, with the fastest scroll speed going through about a page of text with one turn of the wheel. The five buttons (right and left, scroll wheel, and two on the top left side) can be programmed for a plethora of actions, including copy, paste, back, forward, show/hide desktop, maximize, minimize, and so on. Like most users, I cling to the traditional "left-click" and "right-click" for the left and right buttons, but I must say I find single-click copy and paste to be extremely useful. I haven't decided what I'll use the second button on the side for, but I'm sure it will come in handy for something.
Bottom line: Pretty good product in a snazzy package.
