Great if you are right-handed, but a waste of time if you are left-handed. There are four buttons: left, right, middle and “back”, which is next to the main left button and can pressed by your thumb to take your web browser back a page – you can see it in the top picture. It’s an optical mouse with a laser motion tracker so resistance will depend entirely on the surface in use. In use, the 5000 works pretty much like any mouse. I imagine that it will work with iPads and other iOS devices but I didn’t have one at hand to test.
I successfully paired with an Android tablet, a Windows 8 tablet and a Chromebook. After that, the mouse should appear in the device list of whatever computer is to connect to the mouse. To pair the mouse, there’s a second button on the underside that needs to be pressed for a few seconds to put the mouse into a pairing mode. I’ve been using the mouse for about a week and I’ve yet to replace the batteries. There’s an on/off switch on the bottom to conserve power when not in use. Two Duracell AA batteries power the 5000, which are supplied in the packaging and Duracell’s make a welcome change from the generic AAs that usually accompany remote controls and other battery-powered accessories. The silver matched my Samsung Chromebook rather nicely but the colour does vary with the light. This is the version with silvery-white buttons and dark gray body there is a version with these colours reversed too. Looks-wise, it’s not a Microsoft Arc or a Logitech Ultrathin, but it’s not entirely unattractive. I certainly wouldn’t want it as my main mouse as I can’t really rest my hand on it, but this is all subjective and some people may find it perfect. People with large hands may find the mouse is too small but for occasional use with a tablet or notebook, it’s fine. The 5000 is fairly typical of notebook mice being smaller than a typical desktop mouse at only 9 cm long and about 5.5 cm wide. On review here is one such mouse, the Microsoft Bluetooth Notebook Mouse 5000. Less common are Bluetooth-based mice which have the potential to work with any Bluetooth-equipped unit, including Android and iOS tablets, potentially making them much more useful.
Wireless mice are commonplace these days but many only work with their own brand wireless transceiver, which restricts their use to devices equipped with USB ports.