Everything is better with lasers

Sure enough, I came home to a package from Microsoft, containing a couple of their new Laser mice: The Wireless Laser Mouse 6000, and the Wireless Notebook Laser Mouse 6000. Sigh ... more unweildy names.

The packaging for the WLM6K is very nice, with a shape that is shaped slightly reminicent of the Superman shield logo. The WNLM6K, however, comes in one of those annoying bubble packs that makes an honest consumer feel like a criminal. The colors are very eye catching, though, and they should both help drive sales.

The mice themselves are silver, but the most noticable thing is that there is no red glow, or any lighting of any sort on these mice. The Optical series used a red LED to illuminate and "read" the desktop surface, and gave Microsoft's mice a trademark red glow. The Laser mice use an invisible laser, and don't light up at all. Quite frankly ... I miss it. The glow made the mice feel high-tech, and if there was ever a case where it would have been prudent to add such a thing just for looks, this would be it.

Plugging in the mice, the first thing you'll notice is how wildly sensitive the mice are. At 1000dpi, the mice will jump all over the place until you get into the control panel and slow them down a bit. Even so, they are quite sensitive to any movement, and instantly responsive. The included Intellipoint 5.4 software will allow you to configure the buttons and mouse speed, and is standard for Microsoft hardware products at this point.

One interesting feature is the mapping of the Mouse 4 button (already on the WLM6K and added to the WNLM6K) to a "Magnifier" feature. It works, providing a window that magnifies anything under the radius around the mouse. Not sure why I'd ever use the feature, but there you have it. Speaking of the additional button on the WNLM6K, it's far enough forward and above your thumb that you'll have to take your palm off the mouse briefly to activate it, which is an unnecessary nuisance.

As always, I'll have a full review of both products posted to Gear Live soon.