Logitech MX 5500 Revolution review

Gallery

Verdict:

A touch of excess. Excellent mouse and loads of extras, but you pay too much for the OTT features.

Review Date: 14 Aug 2008

Price when reviewed: inc VAT

Reviewed By: Chris Lee

Our Rating 3 stars out of 5

Review
Specs

All right, when we ordered our 'bread and butter' desktop sets, we made an exception.

The MX 5500 Revolution is big, expensive, and the epitome of a 'multimedia' peripheral. Full music playback controls are on the left, complete with zoom and Flip 3D buttons for Windows Vista, and the function keys along the top double as shortcuts for popular PC applications, all of which can be reprogrammed using the supplied software. The top of the keyboard houses a small LCD screen complete with thermometer, key counter, email inbox, clock and calculator. No, we're not joking.

For gadget lovers, the oversized laser mouse is also something of a marvel. Shaped like a stingray, it has a thumb lever on the left for skipping between applications, forward and back keys on a ridge, a search button on the top, and a 'Micro Gear' scroll wheel that rolls smoothly when viewing web pages but gets stiffer and more controllable when you're working in Word or Excel.

The price of all this luxury is 100 quid, and for that we'd expect perfection. The Revolution doesn't quite deliver it. The keys are of the quiet, cushioned type; you have to press them firmly, and typing long documents made our fingers tired. We didn't like the grabby rubberised texture of the wrist rest and mouse grip, either.

This chunky set may appeal to gadget lovers and gamers who want something that will take a lot of abuse. For typing, though, the much simpler and cheaper Cherry Marlin Smart wins out, and we reckon it looks better too.

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