A lot of people out there don't believe that spending over $10 for a mouse or keyboard is worth the money. Heck, I used to be one of these people not too long ago. The idea behind this logic is really quite simple: I'm going to eventually pour lemonade or some other citric-acid drink all over my keyboard that will kill it instantly or my mouse will eventually get SO dirty that I won't be able to clean it and it will be better to just buy an all-new one.

This mentality got me into trouble for a number of reasons. First, you get what you pay for. $10 mice and $10 keyboards are, for the most part, absolute garbage. The keyboards may have keys that will stick, won't have a high quality feel, or will have squeaks and rattles while you type. The mice will often be the perfect definition of imprecision and will get dirty or just outright break down a lot faster than other products.

The second reason is just as vital – the mouse and the keyboard are the only two devices with which you routinely access your computer. $10 mice just don’t have the fit and finish of a higher-quality (and thus, more expensive) mouse. Your entire computing experience can be lessened simply because you don't like the feel or functionality of the cheap equipment with which you're actually interacting with the computer!

The Logitech MX1000 Laser Cordless Mouse is Logitech's flagship mouse featuring technologies that are state-of-the-art in the marketplace. The Logitech MX1000 Laser Cordless Mouse is different from any other mouse on the market because of Logitech’s MX Laser Engine. The Laser Engine uses an actual laser to track the mouse’s movements unlike typical optical mice that use a far less precise light-emitting diode (LED). In addition, the use of a laser instead of a LED is faster and uses less power. Technically speaking, it’s obvious that a laser mouse should be better than a typical optical mouse.

However, when we first bought our test models, we were a little skeptical of the cordless aspect of the mouse. Typical cordless mice will have a slight lag between the movement of the mouse and the movement registered on screen due to the time it takes for the mouse to send its signal to the receiving base station. Instead of typical cordless devices which often run on the Infrared spectrum, the MX1000 runs on the RF spectrum (or Radio Frequency). RF is much faster than Infrared and also does not require line-of-sight, meaning that the base station can be placed on what part of your desk out-of-sight and you’ll still be able to use the mouse.

So, let’s get to the nitty-gritty: how is the mouse, really? Like the rest of Logitech’s MX series of mice, the MX1000 has an incredibly ergonomic feel. At first, it felt a little bulky as it’s slightly bigger than its younger brothers, but after getting used to the feel, the MX1000 has rapidly become Computer Mechanix’ mouse-of-choice. In addition to operating cordlessly with laser precision, other features include the rechargeable base station (that’s right, no more buying batteries because this puppy’s got built-in Lithium Ion), Mouse Wheel Tilting so you can scroll left-and-right through a web page or document as well as up-and-down and thumb-button controls (including an application button that lets you switch between open windows as well as standard forward and back buttons).

Logitech claims that the MX1000 is 20 times more sensitive to surface detail (thus equating to 20 times the tracking power) than standard optical mice and we believe this claim. In using the mice on both wood-grain and polished surfaces (as Logitech suggested), we found that this mouse works where standard optical mice don’t operate at all.

The battery life is exceptional. Three lights on the side of the mouse let you know where the battery is in its life and when the battery's really dying down, the third light turns red letting you know that the MX1000 really needs to be charged. Full recharge time seemed to take less than four hours and recharging only had to take place once every two weeks during mouse-heavy application use (such as Illustrator and Photoshop) or once every week through a week of 8-hour days of playing the online role-playing game, City of Heroes.

As for price, the Logitech MX1000 is reasonably priced at a retail MSRP of $79.99 (available for $69.99 from Computer Mechanix). We highly recommend this mouse to anyone with a computer -- after all, why use a $10 mouse to interact with your computer when a higher-quality one can improve your entire computing experience?

We haven't had any problems with this mouse and have test-driven it on Windows 2000 Professional, Windows XP Home Edition, Windows XP Professional Edition, and Windows XP Media Center Edition with no problems. Windows 2000 Professional requires the installation of the software while all versions of Windows XP will recognize the majority of the mouse's features without the software.

Quite simply, the Logitech MX1000 Laser Cordless Mouse is the best mouse on the market.

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