Microsoft Wireless Laser Notebook Mouse 6000 Review

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By Vivek Gowri

A big name for a small mouse, the Microsoft Wireless Laser Notebook Mouse 6000 (NB6000) is the premium laser version of the popular line of Microsoft wireless notebook mice.  It offers cutting edge technology and good performance at a correspondingly high cost, although it can be had online for much lower than the retail price.

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Features

• High-definition wireless laser wireless technology
• Four-way tilting scroll wheel
• Magnification feature that expands areas of the screen
• Ambidextrous, ergonomic design
• Silver colored plastic with gray rubber side grips
• Battery saving standby mode
• Smaller USB receiver than older Microsoft mouses

Design, Ergonomics, Performance

Compared to the regular Microsoft Optical Mouse that I use on my desktop, the NB6000 is about the same height, but an inch shorter and is about the same weight when you include the battery and USB receiver. Considering the fact that the regular Optical is one of the lightest mice out there, the NB6000 is a very portable mouse; the additional weight and size are very little, I do not notice it in my daily load when carrying it.

The NB6000 on the left, and regular Microsoft optical mouse on the right (view large image)

In total, there are six buttons on the mouse: Right click, Left click, Middle click/Scroll wheel, Magnify, Battery release, and the Connect button. The right and left click work as advertised, nothing positive or negative to report about them. The scroll wheel works fine, but it offers no feedback (notching into position) like on other mice, which took a little while to adjust to. The middle click is a bit touchy, sometimes it doesn’t work, and often, while pressing the scroll wheel for a middle click, the scroll wheel is moved and then what you were trying to click is in a different position on the screen. The magnify button is rather difficult to press and again, is a bit touchy, but when it works the magnify feature can be pretty useful, such as when editing photos. The battery cover release button does what it is supposed to do without any problems. The connect button is in the cavity that the receiver is usually in, and is rather hard to press, but it is hardly ever used. There is a similar button on the receiver as well.

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I wasted about an hour trying to get the mouse to work with my computers; I tried installing the software, reinstalling it, using different computers, etc, until I realized that I had put the battery in the wrong way. A simple diagram, or even a plus and minus sign at the appropriate ends would easily correct this.

Performance wise, the mouse is pretty decent. There does not appear to be a problem with battery life for the mouse. It is rated to be over 6 months. There are more issues with scrolling: it has a much faster scrolling speed than the standard touchpad on the laptop, so you either need to have a very slow touchpad, or a very fast speed on the external mouse. I have the speeds set somewhere in between, so it is acceptable both ways, but by no means optimal. This is relatively easy to get used to in a few days, so it isn’t a critical issue.

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Purchase Info

This mouse is available at most tech stores, and also many online stores. It has a retail price of $49.99, but it can be had online for as cheap as $20 including shipping. I paid $20.84 from 3BTech.com, and received it in 3 business days after ordering. However, it came in a cardboard box with the mouse and installation disc inside bubble wrap, with no indication of where the retail packaging was. No matter, it has all you need to get the mouse working.

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Conclusion

This is a very compact and stylish laser mouse with an excellent feature set that I would not hesitate to recommend to anyone looking for just a wireless external mouse while on the move. However, it has some design and usability flaws that make it somewhat of an additional annoyance as well. Overall, I give it a 6.5/10.

Pros:

• Easy for carrying due to small size and low weight
• Sleek and comfortable design with nice silver color
• Many useful (and not so useful) features

Cons:

• Somewhat spotty response to middle clicks
• Hard to press magnify button
• Large speed disparity between touchpad and mouse

 

Does the usb dongle store in the mouse itself?

 

Yes, although the receiver sticks out of the bottom surface of the mouse when stored. This is a fault shared with the Logitech V200 wireless mouse, and is a no-go for me. Perhaps the original article author could post a picture?

I'd also like to know what power consumption the receiver uses.

Also, the mouse operates on a 27 MHz frequency, which might suffer from slower response times than the standard 2.4 GHz wireless band - to reviewer: any noticeable lag on the mouse? Also, what is the range/interference on the mouse?

6 months battery life is shorter than the 1 year claimed on the Logitech V200. But I don't know the veracity of the Logitech claim, so it still seems like plenty to me.

I wish I wish more manufacturers would make Bluetooth mice...

 

That dongle is massive compared to the VX one!

 

Great review, thanks for submitting it. I have been using this mouse for almost a year now and I have to say that I am satisfied with it on the whole.

As you said, the center click is hard to push and I still can't get it right to this day. This mouse is a like a lot of other Microsoft mice; no feedback from the scroll. No resistance either.

The mouse can be used for gaming but the scroll wheel is terrible for changing weapons and such - way too fast.

I've never noticed any lag with this mouse.

 

Well, I get the 'feedback' as you say with the scrolling from my regular MS optical mouse (seen in the second pic), but thats almost 5 years old now.

Gaming practicality is something that I cannot say because I dont play games on my laptop, and also because none of the games I play (Need For Speed, Racer, Toca Race Driver) use a mouse for any vital purposes, other than menus.

I havent seen much lag in the mouse when using it either. Range I would put at about 3 or 4 feet tops, if theres nothing in between.

The reciever sticks out a bit from the mouse, I'll post a pic in a little bit.

Here it is:

 

Chaz is right about gaming, when you try to scroll through different weapons in hl2/cs, it changes too fast and it's silent scrolling, which is great for surfin the web however. So u might have to fiddle with the options to get that working better.

The inside of the mouse looks like it can break easily like when you try opening the battery compartment so just be careful. Also the receiver that sticks out, u should be careful not to smash down on it with ur hand, u can break it since it's sticking out.

The range is good. It's meant for notebook usage so how often are you going to use the mouse to surf the web 20 feet away? The range is about a small sized room or like so. And any big things like trying to use the mouse behind a sofa won't work.

 

am i correct in saying that the magnify button is the one on the side?

If so can it be used as a normal mouse 4 button? because I'm considering this mouse to replace a combination of an old Microsoft notebook optical and a cheap wired optical but I like to set the side button(s) to things like melee in games (pistol whip pwnage mwahaha!!!)

 

Yes, it is. It can be set to do anything you want, once you install the software. And yes, it can be used as a 4 button mouse, but this really isnt the best mouse out there for gaming; the Logitech VX Revolution is likely much better suited for the purpose (I think night_2004 did a review of it some time back)