First Impressions: Logitech V450 Nano

I recently purchased the Logitech V450 Nano Cordless Laser Mouse (from Amazon), because I felt that dragging around a wired mouse was too big of a hassle. Should you buy it? Well…

The mouse arrived fairly quickly (within 3 days) from Amazon, even though I used free super-saver shipping. Inside the package, there was the mouse, the receiver, 2 Duracell alkaline AA batteries, a getting started guide wrapped in plastic, and an extension cable (why?). I was surprised that there wasn’t a bundled CD. Or maybe they just forgot to put it in.

I inserted the batteries into the mouse and plugged the Logitech Nano Receiver into my Windows 7 laptop. Windows recognized it and installed the driver automatically. Logitech’s SetPoint software wasn’t even needed. Install speed was quick, but compared to the Mac, it was a snail. Hey, but at least the plug-and-play aspect worked. Within a minute, I was mousing around. The mouse supports Windows XP, Vista, 7, and OS X 10.4+.

The Nano Receiver is really small. It operates on the 2.4 GHz wireless spectrum, so there may be possible wireless interference with your router and such. But I was able to use the mouse even across the room (20 feet), so it shouldn’t be an issue. A big plus is that because the receiver is so small, I can just leave it plugged in.

Logitech’s mouse feels ergonomic. The rubbery grips on the side of the mouse are welcome, but the glossy top shell is a fingerprint magnet. The scroll wheel scrolls up, down, left, and right.

On the other hand, the mouse is extremely sensitive. One small movement can send the pointer flying across the screen. I suspect that it must be because of the high quality laser sensor, which is more precise than optical sensors. Unfortunately, that means that I had to turn down the pointer speed setting, which basically renders my trackpad useless. It would be nice if Windows had two separate pointer speed settings…

I tested the mouse on an extremely reflective tabletop, and the pointer didn’t budge. If you’re considering using this mouse on glass or other shiny surfaces, I recommend the Darkfield line of mice that Logitech makes.

Logitech also claims that the mouse will last a full year on one set of batteries. I have yet to test this out. There is a manual on/off switch, if you don’t want to leave the mouse on at all times.

If you’re looking for a great wireless mouse, but you don’t need all the bells and whistles like Darkfield laser tracking, the Logitech V450 Nano Wireless is a great choice. Maybe you can consider it as a gift to a fellow laptop user. At $38 on Amazon, it isn’t a great bargain, but it is much cheaper than Apple’s Magic Mouse.

Apple unveils new iMac, MacBook, Mac Mini, and Magic Mouse

Today Apple announced refreshed iMacs, MacBooks, and Mac Minis. The new iMac offers a gigantic 27″ 16:9 HD LED display, but it also comes in a 21.5″ model. The processor comes standard with a speedy 3.06 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo. Standard memory is a whopping 4 GB, with a 500 GB hard disk. The 21.5″ iMac starts at $1200. That’s aggressive pricing, considering what you get.

The new iMac has a brilliant LED widescreen display.

Next up, the MacBook. Like its MacBook Pro counterpart, the new MacBook features a precision unibody polycarbonate enclosure, as well as a 7 hour battery life and NVIDIA GeForce 9400M integrated graphics. It also has a multitouch glass trackpad. The price is the same at $999 for a 2.26 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo processor, 250 GB hard disk, and 2 GB of RAM.

The MacBook now looks almost like a MacBook Pro.

The Mac Mini was also refreshed. It now boasts more memory (up to 4 GB) and a faster processor (up to 2.66 GHz), and it also has an option for Snow Leopard Server preloaded, making it a viable, affordable option for a home server. The Mac Mini starts at $600.

The Mac Mini is just a little faster.

And finally, the very most awesomest thing of all…the wireless Magic Mouse. It’s Apple’s replacement to the Mighty Mouse, and it features multitouch gestures. Click, swipe, pan, zoom. It’s all there. It’s now shipping with every new Mac, and you can buy it for $70. At the moment, however, there is no Windows support.

The new Magic Mouse supports multitouch gestures.

WWDC 2009 in 3 minutes

Don’t have time to watch the WWDC 2009 Keynote? Then WWDC 2009 in 3 minutes is just for you! This video summary covers the iPhone 3G S, new MacBook Pros, Snow Leopard, and iPhone 3.0 software.

New Apple Announcements

Phil Schiller just finished with his WWDC keynote, and we have a brief lowdown on what’s new.

A new iPhone. The iPhone 3G S is twice as fast as its predecessor, has a 3 megapixel autofocus camera with VGA video capture, allows for voice control of the phone and iPod, contains a digital compass, and runs iPhone OS 3.0. It comes out on June 17.

New MacBooks. Apple has revamped the MacBook line. The only MacBook is the white polycarbonate one, and it sells for $999. Where did the 13″ aluminum one go? It has been promoted to a MacBook Pro. It features Firewire, a backlit keyboard, an SD card slot, and a 7 hour battery life. And it’s only $1199! The 15″ MacBook Pro also got a SD card slot and 7 hour battery life. It goes for $1699. The 17″ model remains unchanged except for the new lower price tag, which is $2499. The MacBook Air sports a slightly faster processor and is cheaper at $1499.

Safari. Safari 4 dropped the Beta tag today. For those who don’t know, Safari 4 has a new Top Sites page similar to Google Chrome’s New Tab page, Cover Flow, and History search. Apple claims that it is the world’s fastest browser because of its revamped Nitro Javascript engine. It’s available for Windows and Mac OS X.

Mac OS X Snow Leopard. Scheduled for a release this September, Snow Leopard has refinements to Finder, Exposé, Stacks, Time Machine, Airport, installation, QuickTime, iChat, and Bonjour, among other things. All key applications in Snow Leopard are 64-bit, use Grand Central Dispatch to take advantage of multi-core processors, and support Microsoft Exchange for use in corporate environments.

PSP Go is Real

The PSP Go, a smaller, lighter version of the PSP-3000 is official and will cost $249. It has a 16 GB flash drive and no UMD drive; instead, games and movies will be downloaded to the device. The PSP Go will be released on October 1. The current PSP model won’t go away; it is still selling for $150.