Page 1: Intro and Parts
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<b>Intro</b>:
PC games: the primary field of computing that has pushed this so-called "productivity box" faster and faster over the years. Sure, you can thank CAD or other CPU-intensive design software as well, but let's face reality: The most popular PC games are "bleeding-edge" and they thirst for more speed, mucho power, and all the latest technological buzzwords to fully appreciate. PC gamers themselves are pretty hardcore when it comes to computer hardware, and <a href="http://www.logitech.com">Logitech</a> is obviously well aware of this fact. The G7 Cordless Laser Mouse is their newest mouse made specifically for gamers trying to get an extra advantage out of every peripheral they purchase.
Come with me as I explore every nook and cranny of this great new mouse and its innovative, stand-out features...
<b>Box</b>:
<center>
</center>
This darker green box is indicative of the audience that Logitech is aiming for: the enthusiast. It's kind of like the Incredible Hulk version of their more common box designs.
<b>Parts</b>:
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</center>
The box contains the usual bricabrac: you get the charger, the receiver, the mouse, two(!) Li-Ion batteries, the manual, and the CD-ROM.
<center>
</center>
Since the G7 is an enthusiast's product, Logitech has done away with the drop-in mouse charger. On one hand, I don't like opening the mouse and swapping the batteries over and over again. In Logitech's defense, however, this lets the gamer use the mouse indefinitely... with just a 15 second downtime between charged/drained battery swaps. The charger itself has a USB port on it, so the receiver can be plugged directly into it. The nice part about this setup is that if you find yourself wanting to go gaming on your laptop, you won't need to plug in the big charger for the receiver to work.
<center>
</center>
I like the smaller receivers that Logitech is now bundling with their new mice. (I would like it more if it came with a true laptop mouse as well, but to each his own.) The receiver has a "G7" logo on it and it seems to be keyed to the mouse. There are no connect buttons on the receiver or the mouse itself. Both of the components that plug into the computer are black with dark translucent green accents. It is a very nice, slick look.
<center>
</center>
Logitech packs two batteries in the kit. This is quite useful, since you obviously have the ability to never be without a charged battery. When one dies, just grab the other one and stick the dead one in the charger. I've been doing this for days now, and it really is nice not having to worry about battery power.
<b>The Mouse</b>:
<center>
</center>
On to the true star of the review: the mouse itself. The G7 harkens back to the good old days of Logitech's first great cordless mouse, the MX700. In fact, it looks exactly the same, except for some of the button placements. This isn't to say that the mouse is old news, it just takes a page from the older days of Logitech design. Hey, even NASA is using techniques from the Apollo days with its new CEV... "If it ain't broke, don't fix it", as they say. The company seems to use the same sleek, tried-and-true style on all of its gaming mice. (I guess mainstream mice need to be bigger and beefier for some reason.) Regardless, I liked the MX700, so I like the style of this mouse as well. Despite its less-than-fresh stylings, this iteration DOES comes some with some great new features.
<center>
</center>
The first and most obvious are the buttons on the mouse. Gone is the basically useless forward button, and is now replaced with an extra large back button. This is a very welcome improvement. The actual placement of the back button is also much improved, since now your thumb justs needs a slight roll to press it. There are no scroll up and down buttons on the mouse. They have now been replaced by another function (which I will get into later). The buttons on the mouse are pretty minimal, and in my opinion, this is also a change for the better. When you have more secondary buttons on a mouse than normal buttons, something's amiss. Thankfully, each button on this mouse serves a specific, well thought out, and (gasp!) useful purpose.
<center>
</center>
The MX700 had a rubberized grip. The new G7 has no rubber parts on it at all. It is entirely constructed of a hard plastic material, so it doesn't get wet or lose its grip. It is a nice change from the old, rubber-laden design, that was "slippery when wet" (thanks, Bon Jovi). If your greasy, gamer-nerd palms tend to sweat a lot when playing an intense game of Unreal Tournament or whatever, this is the mouse for you.
<center>
</center>
OK, let's get back to the buttons: there are two buttons on the top of the mouse that are used for changing the DPI on the fly. This is a GREAT feature, and I'm glad Logitech incorporated it directly into the mouse. (this requires no driver to use, by the way.) Changing the DPI allows you to speed up or slow down the mouse. On the lowest setting, you get pixel-perfect precision and accuracy for doing things like editing photos, the middle setting is great for general Windows navigation, and the highest setting is perfect for games. ...all of this without loading any drivers or bloatware. There is a nice indicator on the mouse that shows the DPI and the power level of the battery as well.
<center>
</center>
On the bottom of the mouse you can see the battery port and the new PTFE feet that Logitech is using. Let me explain what polytetrafluoroethylene actually is. You may have heard about it by another name, Teflon. Teflon is the brand name that DuPont coined for polytetrafluoroethylene (catchy, isn't it?).
<center>
</center>
This is a typical PTFE molecule in a chain. PTFE gets its extremely low friction from the Carbon - Fluorine bond. Fluorine has the highest electronegativity of any element (4). This bond that forms is extremely polar and is the reason that nothing can react with Teflon. PTFE prevents other elements from being electrically attracted. This is the reason that it is great for non-stick frying pans and such. (Bonus Trivia: Teflon cannot be bonded to a frying pan, it must be mechanically attached. This is why Teflon comes off and the pan becomes 'stickier' as it gets used.) The static and dynamic coefficient of friction are nearly that same and in testing, this is the case. This mouse glides very easily from rest....a "smooth operator".
<b>Intro</b>:
PC games: the primary field of computing that has pushed this so-called "productivity box" faster and faster over the years. Sure, you can thank CAD or other CPU-intensive design software as well, but let's face reality: The most popular PC games are "bleeding-edge" and they thirst for more speed, mucho power, and all the latest technological buzzwords to fully appreciate. PC gamers themselves are pretty hardcore when it comes to computer hardware, and <a href="http://www.logitech.com">Logitech</a> is obviously well aware of this fact. The G7 Cordless Laser Mouse is their newest mouse made specifically for gamers trying to get an extra advantage out of every peripheral they purchase.
Come with me as I explore every nook and cranny of this great new mouse and its innovative, stand-out features...
<b>Box</b>:
<center>
</center>This darker green box is indicative of the audience that Logitech is aiming for: the enthusiast. It's kind of like the Incredible Hulk version of their more common box designs.
<b>Parts</b>:
<center>
</center>The box contains the usual bricabrac: you get the charger, the receiver, the mouse, two(!) Li-Ion batteries, the manual, and the CD-ROM.
<center>
</center>Since the G7 is an enthusiast's product, Logitech has done away with the drop-in mouse charger. On one hand, I don't like opening the mouse and swapping the batteries over and over again. In Logitech's defense, however, this lets the gamer use the mouse indefinitely... with just a 15 second downtime between charged/drained battery swaps. The charger itself has a USB port on it, so the receiver can be plugged directly into it. The nice part about this setup is that if you find yourself wanting to go gaming on your laptop, you won't need to plug in the big charger for the receiver to work.
<center>
</center>I like the smaller receivers that Logitech is now bundling with their new mice. (I would like it more if it came with a true laptop mouse as well, but to each his own.) The receiver has a "G7" logo on it and it seems to be keyed to the mouse. There are no connect buttons on the receiver or the mouse itself. Both of the components that plug into the computer are black with dark translucent green accents. It is a very nice, slick look.
<center>
</center>Logitech packs two batteries in the kit. This is quite useful, since you obviously have the ability to never be without a charged battery. When one dies, just grab the other one and stick the dead one in the charger. I've been doing this for days now, and it really is nice not having to worry about battery power.
<b>The Mouse</b>:
<center>
</center>On to the true star of the review: the mouse itself. The G7 harkens back to the good old days of Logitech's first great cordless mouse, the MX700. In fact, it looks exactly the same, except for some of the button placements. This isn't to say that the mouse is old news, it just takes a page from the older days of Logitech design. Hey, even NASA is using techniques from the Apollo days with its new CEV... "If it ain't broke, don't fix it", as they say. The company seems to use the same sleek, tried-and-true style on all of its gaming mice. (I guess mainstream mice need to be bigger and beefier for some reason.) Regardless, I liked the MX700, so I like the style of this mouse as well. Despite its less-than-fresh stylings, this iteration DOES comes some with some great new features.
<center>
</center>The first and most obvious are the buttons on the mouse. Gone is the basically useless forward button, and is now replaced with an extra large back button. This is a very welcome improvement. The actual placement of the back button is also much improved, since now your thumb justs needs a slight roll to press it. There are no scroll up and down buttons on the mouse. They have now been replaced by another function (which I will get into later). The buttons on the mouse are pretty minimal, and in my opinion, this is also a change for the better. When you have more secondary buttons on a mouse than normal buttons, something's amiss. Thankfully, each button on this mouse serves a specific, well thought out, and (gasp!) useful purpose.
<center>
</center>The MX700 had a rubberized grip. The new G7 has no rubber parts on it at all. It is entirely constructed of a hard plastic material, so it doesn't get wet or lose its grip. It is a nice change from the old, rubber-laden design, that was "slippery when wet" (thanks, Bon Jovi). If your greasy, gamer-nerd palms tend to sweat a lot when playing an intense game of Unreal Tournament or whatever, this is the mouse for you.
<center>
</center>OK, let's get back to the buttons: there are two buttons on the top of the mouse that are used for changing the DPI on the fly. This is a GREAT feature, and I'm glad Logitech incorporated it directly into the mouse. (this requires no driver to use, by the way.) Changing the DPI allows you to speed up or slow down the mouse. On the lowest setting, you get pixel-perfect precision and accuracy for doing things like editing photos, the middle setting is great for general Windows navigation, and the highest setting is perfect for games. ...all of this without loading any drivers or bloatware. There is a nice indicator on the mouse that shows the DPI and the power level of the battery as well.
<center>
</center>On the bottom of the mouse you can see the battery port and the new PTFE feet that Logitech is using. Let me explain what polytetrafluoroethylene actually is. You may have heard about it by another name, Teflon. Teflon is the brand name that DuPont coined for polytetrafluoroethylene (catchy, isn't it?).
<center>
</center>This is a typical PTFE molecule in a chain. PTFE gets its extremely low friction from the Carbon - Fluorine bond. Fluorine has the highest electronegativity of any element (4). This bond that forms is extremely polar and is the reason that nothing can react with Teflon. PTFE prevents other elements from being electrically attracted. This is the reason that it is great for non-stick frying pans and such. (Bonus Trivia: Teflon cannot be bonded to a frying pan, it must be mechanically attached. This is why Teflon comes off and the pan becomes 'stickier' as it gets used.) The static and dynamic coefficient of friction are nearly that same and in testing, this is the case. This mouse glides very easily from rest....a "smooth operator".