The new Logitech MX Air mouse is total desktop eye candy. It is a sexy input device with revolutionary features. I have an older Logitech mouse on my home PC and have always liked their products.

Upon receiving the mouse from our Editor-in-Chief, I took a look inside. First off, and somewhat strange to mention, is that the box itself is very sexy looking. The included contents within said box are the mouse, the recharging station, an AC power cord and USB receiver, CD software for PC and Mac, the user’s guide and a cool polishing cloth. The MX Air mouse was a breeze to install and configure. Logitech's Setpoint software makes it a breeze to assign mouse properties to your exact preferences with little trouble. I will admit however that I incorrectly assumed I knew better than Logitech, initially increasing both the pointer speed and acceleration during `In the Air' use. I quickly learned that Logitech's default settings were more suitable, and restored the default settings - a task made easy with the `Restore Defaults' button Logitech provides in the Mouse Movement window.

The requirements needed to run the mouse is clearly displayed on the outer box, and it should be able to run on any current PC. The minimum requirements are for PCs with Windows XP or Vista and Macs. All must have an internet connection, USB, and CD ROM.

Looks and Usability

The MX Air mouse looks great. The top half of its body is glossy black and the bottom is chrome. The sharp contrast is eye catching it really looks as if the mouse means business. The other thing I noticed was the weight of the unit as it is very light. That being said it felt really good and balanced in my hand.

After using the mouse for a month or so I found one single design flaw: constant re-centering. Let me explain. In the air as a pointer the mouse does fairly well except for one thing, you constantly have to re-center it. To do this you either have to do some weird funky acrobatics to get it back to where you like or you press and hold the Back button, re-center, then release. This constant re-centering must be done every time you pick it up, and often during use. For me it is a usability killer. I am not sure if I am missing something here but how could they release a product with what seems to be a major design flaw.

The MX Air mouse reminds me of a similar controller device for the Wii which should be well known by our readers. In fact the MX Air mouse is a Wii-like mouse for the PC, no doubt. The pointer itself is very accurate and it has an impressive range that can be useful in any kind of boardroom setting or with a media PC that one may have in a home theatre room. However, for the normal home user I am not convinced if the function is all that practical. I found that when sitting at my couch it was tough to see my monitor and just as equally as tough to select music or video settings. What Logitech needs to do is they need to release a USB sensor bar just like the Wii that you can place below or above your monitor. This would not only solve the centring issue but also make it a much more usable function. Furthermore, I believe that most may find that the learning curve is steep, but as with most steep learning curves time will assist in understanding the intricacies of the mouse. I found a middle ground after a few weeks as the MX Air mouse became much easier to use and eventually become a pleasure to use. That being said I am still not convinced that the daily or regular mouse user will benefit from the MX Air, but I think that the techies out there will learn to love it.

I had a couple of other small gripes with the mouse I will also mention here. As you read this you should consider that these are just my personal opinions and may not apply to you.

- Touch-sensitive scroll panel: This is another innovative feature that is quite cool, but personally I need more tactile feedback like a wheel. It scrolls extremely fast, and often when you are least expecting it, so be sure to change your settings to slow it down. The scroll comes with a nifty sound when used and it sounds a lot like a fine fly reel so there’s no problem for me as I am an avid fisherman, but some may not like this at all. There is no option for volume so users had better get used to it.

- Buttons: The MX air’s buttons are well placed and work just fine. Each button has its own audible click, and as I mentioned earlier the scroll wheel makes its own interesting noise as well. The mouse feels very natural to use although it didn’t seem to fit into my palm very nicely. There was the odd time where I noticed that I couldn’t seem to get into a natural position when using the mouse; I think it was due to being so completely used to my older mouse and its workings. Sometimes when using your index finger you will have simple access to the scroll panel/wheel and the left/right buttons, but getting to the row of buttons directly behind the scroll panel is very difficult without having to take your hand off the mouse. Logitech recommends you hold the mouse like a TV remote and use your thumb to control the buttons. I agree that this is the most natural way of holding this mouse, however unless you have a super-long thumb the scroll panel is unreachable. The possible solution here is to use your thumb for the buttons and your index finger for the scroll panel. Keep in mind however that this is an "in the air" mouse, so this isn't exactly practical, because switching figures causes the mouse to move quite a bit and then you have to reposition the mouse again. Users shouldn’t fret though as I think with some practice most, if not all the problems I encountered can be virtually eliminated. As far as using the mouse in the air, after my time with it I can affirm that you can perform any mouse task in the air that you could on the desktop. You will have to train yourself not to move your wrist downwards when clicking the buttons though.

The MX Air mouse has good battery life and it should be good for at least a few weeks with out having to charge it. Of course it will tell you when it will need to be charged. The mouse has a nifty charging station that can also be used as cradle. I found that this cradle was very handy as I would put it there after a days use as it remained continually charged that way. On average it takes about 2 hours for the mouse to fully charge.

Overall

During my time with the MX Air mouse I went from a negative opinion to more of a positive one. It definitely has some quirks but looking past them reveals a quite functional and usable unit. The MX Air mouse is Logitech’s flagship air mouse and I am of the opinion that it is understandable to have a few issues with the new hardware. However the worst problem, which I found early in my time with it, is the tough centring and re-centring factor. I found after some hardcore use with the mouse the centring was easy to compensate for although it took a bit of practise. Some user training is required as most people are accustomed to everyday desktop mice. As a desktop mouse the MX Air is fully capable to do anything we desire it to, although I found the size a bit off. Logitech could easily solve this in the next model by simply adding a slight curvature to the sides of the device and a little hump in the top to mold better in the palm of your hand.

At the end of the day most want to know if the mouse worth its price? This is a tough question as the MX Air Mouse is quite unique. I believe that for such settings as a boardroom or media/home theatre room could benefit from a mouse like this. But be forewarned that it will take some getting used too. However, if you just want it for the novelty then I believe that this mouse won’t see much use and the pricing will be too steep for you at this point. As just a desktop mouse Logitech certainly has a winner. Overall the MX Air mouse performs very well regardless of its design shortcomings making it a worthwhile investment for me. In closing I’d like to also say thanks to the guys and gals at Logitech for letting us have the chance to review the MX Air mouse as it is something that should garner attention from tech-heads and even some everyday users alike.