Iogear GME228BW6 Nano Bluetooth Laser Mouse
This new IOGEAR mouse uses VCSEL (Vertical Cavity Surface Emitting Laser) as the light source, which provides 30x more tracking power than mice using an optical sensor. VCSEL allows the mouse to work on virtually any surface, even glass. It provides an extremely high resolution of 1600 dpi, substantially reducing the amount of injury-producing hand and arm movement. IOGEAR’s Bluetooth Laser Mouse is USB ready, Plug-n-Play, and Hot Pluggable.
User Ratings and Reviews
1 Star A mouse with problems
This mouse has a serious flaw. It has two sleep modes – one that kicks in after 5 seconds and another that kicks in after 20 minutes. The 5 second sleep mode does create a little bit of jerk when it wakes up, but it’s not bad with the Vista Bluetooth stack. (I also tried the Toshiba Bluetooth stack, and the reconnect jerkiness was much worse.) The 20 minute sleep mode seems to kill the connection for good. I was unable to wake the mouse back up after the sleep mode, even by power cycling the mouse. I tried two computers running Vista. I tried both the Microsoft Vista BT stack and the Toshiba stack running on Vista. And I tried XP running the Toshiba stack. All exhibited the same problem. Even after swapping the mouse out for a new one, I still have the problem.
It’s hard to know whether this is a mouse problem or a BT stack problem, but the net result is that the mouse isn’t usable. I also have the pilot mouse mini bluetooth, and it works flawlessly with the same computers, so I’m inclined to think that this mouse is to blame.
Too bad. It’s light, has very high resolution, and is rechargeable. IOGear clearly has some work to do. I strongly advise against buying this mouse.
4 Stars IOGEAR Bluetooth Laser Mouse (GME228BW6)
I was looking into a wireless mouse for my computer. I wanted something bluetooth (so I wouldn’t need a 2.4Ghz usb adapter antenna), and I liked the new ‘laser’ technology allowing up to 1600dpi. I hadn’t read any reviews on this particular mouse, because apparently it was just released. I found a deal at NewEgg.com for it for $45. 3 days later it was at my door.
The packaging is very good, and it comes with instruction manuals in multiple languages, a velvet sack to carry the mouse in, two rechargeable AAA NiMh batteries, a USB charging cable, and the mouse. The mouse is bigger than the mini-mouse from targus, about the same size as a standard mouse, and is touted to have ‘nanotechnology’, which is really just a gimmick. I’ve seen cheap bic-style pens with company logos (like Preventa TM) given away with this stuff on them. Some people will feel that it has a place, maybe coating elevator buttons and subway turnstyles, but I don’t think my mouse needs it. Especially since the coating may contribute to toxic chemicals being used which hurt the planet and weaken our immune system to fairly harmless bugs. Just wash your hands people.
I inserted the batteries, but the mouse didn’t turn on, I tried the small on-off switch on the bottom (which is a little difficult to operate since it is so small) but I guess the batteries were not pre-charged. IOGEAR suggests charging the batteries for a full 10 hours prior to use, probably to prevent memory which is common with these types of batteries.
I connected the USB charging cable, and attempted to use the mouse… no dice. Apparently, the USB cable does not allow the mouse to work as a standard USB mouse, but only as a charging cable – the mouse must still be connected via bluetooth to function.
My Dell laptop did not support the HID profile. I had tried messing around with SP2 drivers and WIDCOMM BT stacks, before I finally discovered BlueSoleil. Bluesoleil is a standalone bluetooth interface package that DOES include the HID profile. I turned the mouse over, flicked the small switch to ‘on’ and held down the pairing button for 5 seconds. My computer detected the mouse and in less than 20 seconds my new mouse was connected to the computer.
Although it uses ‘laser’ technology, there is no apparent light emitted from the optical sensor under the mouse. You can’t really tell if it’s on or not unless you check the switch or try using it. I suppose this was to reduce power consumption, although my old wireless 2.4Ghz M$ mouse would last several months on a pair of batteries. While charging, the scroll wheel lights up yellow/green. After once the battery is done charging the light turns off. I would have preferred a blue light for status, but I can deal with this. There is also a supplementary red light that flashes when the mouse is in pairing mode, or when you hold down the middle and right buttons to change the resolution from 1600dpi to 800dpi. The red light comes on when the batteries are low.
While charging you can use the mouse as you normally would, without ‘interrupted service’ (See below). One quirck I notice is that the mouse makes occasional ‘purring’ and clicking noises. I’ve never experienced this before, and can’t explain it. I hope it goes away once the batteries charge fully. It might bother some people though if it doesn’t. I’ll have to see if this continues while the mouse decharges during use.
During normal use (on batteries) the mouse enters two forms of power saving mode, discussed in the manual as well. Normal operation uses 26-36mA to operate bluetooth and the laser LED. After 10 seconds of inactivity, one of these powers down, and it uses only 5.5mA. After 5 minutes of inactivity it enters ’sleep mode’, and uses only 2mA. I’ve read complaints from others about the iogear mini-bluetooth mouse and the Targus mouse having this ‘quirk’ as well, some people find it makes the mouse unusable to constantly be trying to wake it up. I guess the designers needed it to last a little longer than 24 hours before dying, so they implemented this ‘feature’. However, I wish there was some sort of software that allowed you to set the time limits before entering ‘power save’ and ’sleep’ mode.
The mouse fits my hand equally well in the right or the left. However, you will have to find some means of swapping the buttons if you wish to use it truly left-handed. I like the scroll wheel, which has normal ‘detents’ as you roll it around. It has a soft rubbery texture. For a mouse this big though, I wish it had at least two more buttons. I’m really used to having a five button mouse, which makes for easy web surfing as I assign one button as ‘back’ and the other as ‘forward’. Still, 3 buttons is better than 2, which is better (IMO) than 1 (offered on macbook pro for those windows users).
I’ll see if I can add to this review later to state whether the purring noises stop, and how long the batteries last.
—-EDIT—-
The purring noises never stopped, and the mouse refused to charge. I contacted customer support about it, and they concluded that my unit was defective and I ship it back. I did, and got a refund (minus the shipping costs to me and back). In the end I think I’m happier without it, either using my laptop’s touchpad, or getting something else. I think the biggest drawback was the hibernate mode that made it take a half second to wake up. If it didn’t have hibernate, or at least I could set the amount of time before hibernation via software, if the on/off switch was a little easier to use, if there were a 4th/5th button, if the green LED used was blue or red, and if the batteries would last as long as a standard wireless RF mouse I would LOVE this thing. As it is, I think I’m happy passing on it.
Leave a comment