At a Glance
The Good: Easy scrolling, easy clicking, BlueTrack
The Bad: No extra customizable buttons
Design
The Microsoft Express Mouse is fairly subtle as far as peripherals go. A wide, almost flat, device, it features an attractive colored rubber outline with a matching USB cord and scroll wheel, and its white body is reminiscent of all things Apple and iPod … or, perhaps, an egg. Six outline/cord colors are available.
Although there are left and right buttons, there are no visible marks to distinguish them. While it seems like this would make it harder to differentiate between the two, I had zero trouble with this while mousing and clicking.
Other pluses to the mouse's design include the USB cord connecting to the top-left side of the mouse, rather than the middle of the top. It's a small change, but one that results in fewer occurrences of getting tangled in the cord.
The rubber scroll wheel scrolls smoothly and effortlessly. Although it doesn't have any type of Hyper-fast scrolling, maneuvering through longs documents is about as easy as it gets with standard scrolling.
It can be used with either the left or right hand; however, this means that there are no ergonomic details. Fortunately, long periods of mousing left no soreness or discomfort in my testing.
BlueTrack
The Express Mouse has Microsoft’s BlueTrack technology, which is meant to let the mouse operate on nearly any surface (it won’t work on glass desks or mirrors). While $19.95 is more expensive than many wired mice on the market, it’s Microsoft most affordable BlueTrack mouse -- the next cheapest one is the Comfort Mouse 4500. The 4500, however, throws in a few extra programmable buttons.
Wish List
The biggest downfall to the Express Mouse is its lack of any extra customizable buttons. Although you can download software to customize the left- and right-click buttons and scroll where, there are no additional buttons to program. If you’re dependent on those oft-found programmable side buttons, this isn’t the device for you.
The Bottom Line
The Express Mouse is an attractive, simple wired desk mouse with the added bonus of BlueTrack technology. Its low price makes it a reasonable choice for those searching for a no-frills device.
