If you take your computer and its usage seriously most of know that a good mouse and keyboard are a necessity. Having a good mouse makes all the difference if you are a heavy gamer or into design/CAD. The budding designers will know how much harder their work can be if mouse resolution or sensitivity is below par.

In the last few months we have had the chance to review the Razer Viper Gaming Mouse and Terratecs Mamba/Boomslang. Following on from these high end gaming mice, today we are looking at Logitechs Mx510 "Performance Mouse". Logitech have a great history of making the highest quality input devices and their sales reflect this.

"This revolutionary 800-dpi sensor now captures an incredible 5.8 megapixels every second and is able to track up to 15 G's of acceleration. So you get instant response to your fastest movements, with no lag. Plus, a collection of advanced features will streamline frequent tasks like scrolling through long documents, switching between applications, and navigating the web. And with a beautiful holographic blue finish, you'll enjoy the MX510's looks almost as much as its performance."

Technical Specifications

-Image Processing: 5.8 megapixels/sec
-Resolution: 800 dpi
-Acceleration: 15g Speed: 40 inches/sec

System Requirements for PC

-IBM®-compatible PC
-Windows® 95, 98, NT® 4.0, 2000, Me, XP
-USB or PS/2 port (USB requires Windows® 98, 2000, Me, or XP)
-CD-ROM drive

System Requirements for Macintosh

-Macintosh® OS X
-USB port
-CD-ROM drive

Product Features

• Award-winning Logitech® MX™ Optical Engine
• The Logitech MX optical engine is now even better. High resolution is combined with high frame rates to deliver superior performance. This revolutionary 800-dpi sensor now captures an incredible 5.8 megapixels every second. Able to track up to 15 G's of acceleration, you get instant response to your fastest movements.
• A total of eight pre-programmed button functions You can also customize the buttons yourself.
• Gaming-tuned software drivers Logitech MouseWare® software puts you in control of all eight buttons.
• A game detection setting enables button programming in games.
• Quick Switch™ program selector At the touch of a button you can switch views between active programs and documents.
• Fast Net navigation Two thumb buttons let you easily move forward or back through pages on the Internet.
• High-precision scrolling Never use scroll bars again.
• Improve your searching speed by using the scroll wheel to quickly move through documents.
• Cruise Control™ scrolling system Two Cruise Control buttons provide continuous scrolling (up and down) through long -documents or web sites.
• Right-hand control grip Designed by experts to combine form and function.
• The result is maximum comfort and complete control.
• Reflex finish Holographic effect provides a stunning color depth and random effect. Every mouse is unique.
• Three-year warranty.

The mice comes in two flavours, red and blue. Like most Logitech products its aesthetically pleasing as well as being functional. I have always liked Logitech mice due to the design and the shape, its very comfortable for those with medium to large sized hands, this was a minor issue I had with the otherwise superb Mamba that I reviewed a while ago, the mouse was better suited to smaller hand shapes and was quite light in operation.

The picture above shows the MX510 along with two of my many "test" mice to give you a rough indication of the size, not quite as large in circumference as Microsofts Bluetooth but larger than the Mamba. The perfect size really for most people. I will be using the Icemat2 glass mat and a Terratec rough edged mat during the testing.

Now we have had a look at the mice and the specification, lets take a look at Logitech's controversial Mouseware software.

Next: Installation