Using the cordless Logitech's MouseMan Pro mouse

By Zatni Arbi

JAKARTA (JP): I don't think very many people have a desktop as cluttered as mine has become. With two PCs, I have to have two keyboards and two mice. Luckily I can use one single monitor for both PCs -- thanks to a mechanical switch that I bought for about Rp 80,000.

I thought, if I could have a cordless mouse, I could reduce the clutter somewhat. If I didn't need it, I could put it away. And my life would be easier with the disappearance of one dancing mouse tail from around my keyboard drawer.

So quite recently I went ahead and ordered a cordless mouse from an Internet mail-order company in the U.S. (gee, isn't it something?).

That was my first on-line shopping experience, and I'll be sure to tell you about it in detail in another article.

For now let me just tell you that the Logitech Cordless MouseMan came six days after I placed the order.

It was delivered by a DHL man. After it arrived, I didn't waste any time to open the package, and, oops!

I was expecting to see a regular, three button Logitech mouse. That was the picture of the cordless mouse that I had seen in so many of Logitech's advertisements.

What I found in the box was something that looked more like the real rodent. You can see in the accompanying picture. I took it out, and I was a little disappointed. It didn't feel as sturdy as a standard Microsoft mouse.

Well, let's just hope it is actually stronger than it feels, I said to myself. After all, it has come a long way from the U.S.

I turned it around and read the labels. This cordless mouse, which was called MouseMan Pro by Logitech, turned out to have been made in China.

Logitech is a Swiss company that is also the largest mouse maker in world. It's not surprising that it has factories all over the world.

My favorite Logitech TrackMan Marble, for example, was made in Taiwan, and so was my Logitech First Mouse.

Nonetheless, when I realized Logitech also had a factory in China, I couldn't help wishing that it also had chosen Indonesia for the site of one of its factories.

Like China, we also have cheap labor. Our market is not a small one, either. Well, here's more proof that investors need more than just cheap labor and huge market potential.

Great feature

The cordless mouse is rather small for my hand. It is also quite a change for me, because I've become so used to the three- buttoned TrackMan Marble and First Mouse.

With MouseMan Pro, I have to click the right mouse button with the middle finger, while in the other pointing devices this finger is used to press the middle button.

With the MouseMan Pro, the middle button is clicked using the thumb, because it resides on the left vertical side of the mouse. It really took me some time to get used to, and I still haven't felt perfectly at home yet.

But the two-diskette software that came with it was packed with great features.

First, I could now use a larger size mouse pointer. As my eyes are not so good, having a larger pointer in a high resolution display helps a lot. Secondly, the middle mouse button can be configured to do a lot of different things, and certainly we can assign it to execute our most common operations.

My dear colleague, Dewi Fortuna Anwar, for instance, always insists on assigning the middle button to double-clicking.

To assign the function is very easy. I clicked on the Mouse icon in the Control Panel, the Mouse Properties dialog box appears. I clicked on the Buttons tab, and I had access to a list of 30 different functions that I could assign to the middle button. If I liked, I could also set the middle button to act as any one of the F-keys.

My favorite function is the HyperJump. With this function, I can call up a small window containing eight buttons that allow me to minimize the active window, close the application, recall the previous application, jump straight to the vertical scroll bar, activate the Start menu, jump to the horizontal scroll bar, or resize the active window.

Using this HyperJump function requires a little training, though. I have to press the button, move the pointer just a little, and release it if I want to get the HyperJump window.

The good thing is that we still can use the middle button to simulate a double-click. However, to do this, we have to press and release the assigned mouse button quickly without moving the mouse even a bit.

The funny thing about the software is that, during installation, it asks you whether you're going to place the mouse on the right or on the left side of your keyboard.

Given the shape of this mouse, there is no way a lefty can ever use it. This mouse is strictly for right-handed computer users.

Radio frequency

The mouse doesn't use infrared signals, it uses radio frequencies instead.

The receiver, which is just as big as a cigarette pack, is connected to the serial or PS/2 port of the PC. It comes with the PS/2 to 9-pin serial connector, but there's no 25 pin serial adapter. The device draws power from the PC.

The mouse itself requires two AAA batteries to send radio signals, and I got two Duracell batteries in the box.

One thing about the cordless mouse is that there is no power switch, so I think the battery power is wasted most of the time. I think there should be a sophisticated way to turn the mouse off when it's not in use.

One of the things that Logitech could implement is an automatic switch that brings this rodent to life the moment we touch it, but have it turn off automatically after a preset period of idleness.

The receiver can handle up to two mice. You might think this is a little bit redundant, and I think so too.

Well, unless you are teaching somebody to use the mouse, I don't think you'll ever need more than one mouse at the same time.

The LED on the receiver blinks each time we move the mouse so as to indicate that it is receiving signals from the mouse.

When the batteries inside the mouse run out of juice, you'll know it because the LED on the receiver will keep quiet.

This mouse was released in the fall of 1996, anyway. The latest mouse from Logitech was MouseMan for Notebooks, a version that the company claims to be lighter but sturdier than its desktop siblings.

I do think that it's high time this mouse maker introduced more new great pointing devices.

The fact is, we have grown so dependent on them that we cannot live without them.

I still have to spend some time getting used to this new toy. Although it doesn't fit the palm of my hand as comfortably as the TrackMan Marble, the absence of the cord on my desk was indeed a welcomed feature.

Besides, the software is great. If you are using any Logitech mouse with Windows 95, don't forget to download the file M72_W95.EXE from the company's Web site, www.logitech.com.