Logitech V550 Nano

Logitech adds to its family of high quality mice with its latestmember, the Logitech V550 Nano Cordless Laser Mouse for Notebooks. Thismouse is compact without being undersized, lightweight without feelingflimsy, and features a unique Clip-and-Go dock that allows you tophysically attach the mouse to your notebook. And did we mention thebattery life is rated by Logitech at a fantastic 18 months? Throw inthe usual perfect tracking from the laser sensor technology and thehyper-fast scroll wheel and you've got a mouse that has a lot to offer.

Published November 19, 2008 at 07:32:54 PM, by Daniel Shain

Overview

Design
The package includes a pair of AA batteries, a pair of Clip-and-Godocks (one silver, one black), a Clip-and-Go storage box, 2 cleaningwipes, a Clip-and-Go removal tool, and a desktop USB extension stand.

The mouse is pretty plain looking but it does get a few stylepoints. Our unit was silver with a curved gray section separating thetop from the black base, but there's a version with bluish huesavailable on the Logitech website. There's also a black line runningdown the middle as a continuation of the separation between the leftand right buttons, and a reflective Logitech logo on the bottom rightof the mouse.

The V550 Nano is smooth all around with a relatively small arch, andit feels just as comfortable in our left hand as in our right. It is anexcellent size for travel at only 4" deep, 2.25" wide and 1.25" tall atits peak, and it weighs a mere 3.6oz before you put the batteries in.

Features
Although it's missing a few things, Logitech does give this mouse itsusual host of decent features in addition to its newest, theClip-and-Go dock. The mouse is powered by laser precision, which offerssuperior tracking and smoother control than optical mice do. It alsocomes with the family's standard Plug-and-Forget Nano-Receiver, whichplugs into a USB port and extends a mere 8mm while operating at 2.4GHz.The V550 Nano also comes with a hyper-fast scroll wheel. This featureenables you to switch between a ratcheted scroll for better control ora slick quick spinning scroll to rapidly move up or down a page. Youswitch between these modes by clicking the scroll wheel. On many othermice clicking the scroll wheel brings up a special function, soLogitech has placed a small button directly below the scroll wheelwhich can be customized with their downloaded software instead.

We really found the Plug-and-Forget Nano-Receiver to be a usefulfeature, as we could truly forget about it as we moved our laptoparound the office or in and out of its case. Another feature designedto let you forget about your mouse as the computer moves around is theClip-and-Go dock. It is essentially a small metal clip which attachessecurely to your laptop, allowing you to clip your mouse directly toyour laptop. It attaches securely and saves you the trouble of tryingto carry two things at once, although depending on your laptop case youmay not be able to fit your notebook in there with the mouse stillattached.

We do wish Logitech had seen fit to equip the V550 with forward/backbuttons on the side. They make up for it by allowing you to configurethe left/right side scroll to act as forward/back, but to do this youhave to sacrifice your side scrolling functionality.

Power Management
If Logitech's theme was to let you forget about your mouse, then the 18months of battery life off of a mere 2 AA batteries is right in linewith the rest of the features. When traveling you can insert thereceiver into the mouse under the hatch and it will turn off, and thereis also a manual on/off button on the underside of the mouse foradditional conservation. The downloadable SetPoint software keeps trackof your battery life – ours is listed at well over 500 days.

Comfort
Notebook mice tend to be designed for portability and not for comfort,and while the V550 Nano attempts to do both it is unfortunately noexception. The mouse was comfortable enough to use, but we foundourselves missing the familiar ergonomic arch support we've become usedto on larger desktop mice. Logitech did raise the back of the mouseenough that we felt some support though. The left and right mousebuttons are a little on the noisy side, but the mouse wheel is smoothlysilent (except in ratcheted mode, where the clicks are arguablydesirable) and the center button is also quiet.

Set up and Extras
Setting up the mouse is extremely easy. Batteries are included so yousimply open the hatch to insert them into the mouse, turn it on, andthen plug in the receiver and you're good to go. That will give youbasic functionality, with the center button acting as a standard middlebutton for scrolling up and down. To utilize the center button moreeffectively, you must go onto Logitech's website and download and install their SetPoint software.

The Clip-and-Go dock is also extremely easy to set up - simply peeloff the sticker and apply it to the desired section of your laptop.There is a diagram in the quick start guide which can guide you to theideal locations.

Real life performance
In use the mouse performed very well. The laser technology was asresponsive as we could ask for, and the features were all useful. Inparticular we enjoyed the center button. At first we were concerned atits location, since being behind the scroll wheel we had to lift ourpointer finger up out of its home position on the mouse to click it,but we quickly got to like it there. The Clip-and-Go dock we found tobe as secure as advertised, as well as convenient in the rightsituations.

Conclusion
Logitech has provided a pretty useful mouse in the V550 Nano.It's not as comfortable as a desktop mouse but about as good as you canget from a mouse this portable. The precision is excellent and thescroll wheel was perfect for whizzing up or down large documents. Thetiny receiver, in particular when in concert with the Clip-and-Gofeature, helped us truly forget about our mouse when moving the laptop,along with the phenomenal battery life. It is missing forward/backbuttons, but at least there's a way to get something close. In the endit was a portable, feature rich mouse that we simply enjoyed using.

Bottom line
If it's a choice between this and a trackpad you'd be wise to upgradeASAP, and even if you already have a wireless mouse for your laptopit's still worth a long look. The mouse is smooth and has a few nicefeatures we're sure you'll enjoy. We highly recommend this mouse.