Verbatim Nano Wireless Mouse Review

It’s not particularly often that we get new gadgets to review. I think the last one was the less than stunning video capture device from Pinnacle. So recently Verbatim, a company known for its writable media and memory, has been delving into the PC accessory market and I received their new Nano Wireless Notebook Optical Mouse for test driving. It’s nice to get something physical every now and again for review. My test rig in this case is a Dell Vostro model laptop running Windows Vista Home Basic. Normally I use the built in touch-pad for laptop work unless I have to get into Photoshop or I’m gaming.

PACKAGING

This doesn’t speak to the device itself, but I wanted to point out how annoying the packaging is. Oh, it looks sleek enough, but there isn’t an easy way to actually get the mouse out of the blister pack without destroying the outer packaging. There just isn’t a clean way to do it when the plastic shell is glued to the backboard of the package, which is then slip-tabbed to the side of the package underneath an open-able window flap.

SETUP

After finally getting it the out of the package, setup was about as straight-forward as it gets. Install the batteries (2 AAAs, included), plug the dime sized receiver into an open USB port and let Windows do the rest. Software is included but offers little in the way of customizing the mouse and was poorly translated to English, as was the manual it comes with. Still, it was a no brainer install, which is how every USB device should be.

RECEIVER

The 2.4 ghz receiver is tiny. Small enough that it can stay plugged in indefinitely without risk of snapping off during travel in and out of your laptop bag. The plastic grips on the end had a bit of wiggle to it after being plugged in, but didn’t seem to affect the mouse performance at all.

MOUSE

The mouse itself was comfortable in my largish hands, a problem I usually have with so called ‘notebook’ mice being one reason I typically use a track-ball or Wacom Pen for day-to-day computing. It’s also noticeably larger, closer to a standard desktop mouse, than its competitors, but I happen to prefer them bigger (yes yes, that’s what she said). The sides on the lower half have a rubberized grip, also missing from most of these style mice. Flipping it over, you’ll find a click-slot for receiver storage that effectively shuts the mouse off, the battery compartment and a connect button. Verbatim offers the mouse in 7 colors to fit anyone’s style and generally has a good asthetic.

PERFORMANCE

I ran into a couple of issues here, but they aren’t deal breakers. I tend to sit on the floor, a lot. I like being able to stretch my legs, so often when I’m writing from home or hunkered down against a wall at whatever trade event or convention, I’ll spread out on the ground and write, design or program. Almost immediately, the mouse begins to go into epileptic fits on the carpet at home. I’d actually seen this before, but it turned out to be a Styrofoam kernel in the sensor. The Nano’s sensor was clear, so whether the optical lens is angled oddly or the pulse rate is on the slow side, you’ll need a non-reflective, solid surface to work on. Once I whipped out a mouse pad, I was back in business and playing Battlefield Heroes without issue. True enough that most people don’t work on carpet, but I thought it needed to be mentioned.

It’s hard to gauge battery life with such a short review time, but one of the best features is the automatic shut-off. After a couple minutes of inactivity, the mouse will nod off until a click happens and it instantly connects again without lag. It would have been nice to be able to set the time-to-sleep options because its timeouts seemed to be a bit too frequent. That said, I’d rather it conserve battery more often than not.

WRAP UP

I like it. It’s certainly going to replace the tiny two-button I travel with now that gets lost under three of my fingers. The Verbatim Nano lists for $39, but Amazon prices it more in the $25 range and you can find it elsewhere in the sub-20 range, so it has good built in value compared to pricier name-brand competitors like Kensington, Microsoft or Logitech. I wouldn’t jump to say it’s a good replacement for a desktop system, particularly for hard core gamers, but traveling professionals (say journalists for example) would certainly be satisfied.