J.D. Hodges

Here’s the deal with this entry:

I wondered how the Kensington ‘Mouse-in-a-box’, available for around $7.99 [Amazon], would hold up under serious gaming and productivity scenarios. Who better to test it than Neil from kohlercreated. He does extreme gaming and he also works super hard, a somewhat rare combo ;-). So I had the mouse shipped to him without the price and I asked him to use it and send me his impressions, but to NOT look up any info about the mice. Here’s the result:

JD,

When I got the mouse I was happy to see that the packaging on the mouse was very minimal. I really like this and I think that more companies that are selling online should sell in more minimal environmentally friendly) packaging or at least packaging I can put in the cardboard recycle bin.

Upon initial handling my first impression was that this thing was very lightweight. It couldn’t weigh more than a couple ounces. Plastic quality looked to be of decent quality and it overall looked like it had decent construction. Cord length was good and not too long like many mice these days, but not too short to impede use.

The feel of the mouse in my hand (slightly smaller than most men) was good, if anything it is slightly on the smaller size which would probably suit women’s or children’s hands much better than larger hands.

I first started using this playing some games. The fact that this mouse is so light did not bode well for me in games as I like to have a solid and heavy mouse to ensure precise movements. With this mouse it felt at times like I had less control, especially in fast “twitch” situations like FPS gaming. The lack of any more than two buttons would also turn a lot of people off to this mouse as a gaming mouse. Most games more buttons on your mouse hand come in very handy when your keyboard hand is typically loaded to the max with hot keys and movement buttons.

For casual use and web surfing I found the mouse to do just fine. The tracking/laser was adequate and the lightness of the mouse actually was nice when you aren’t interested in precise speed.

Conclusion

To sum it up I would say that this is a fine mouse for anyone who is looking for a budget friendly (I do not know what this costs but it cant be a whole lot) mouse that just gets the job done. I would buy one of these to toss in my laptop bag so that I know I would always have a corded mouse available if needed. This would also be good for those for children that may be learning how to use a computer for the first time and the parents need a very simple and cheap mouse that they can let them just go crazy on. This mouse is also comparable, if not slightly better than I see most OEMs (DELL, HP, etc) shipping with their budget PCs.

Hopefully that all made sense,

Neil

Thanks for the review Neil, right on

I really appreciate Neil taking the time to test the Kensington Mouse-in-a-box. His conclusion seems apt, this mouse fits the bill for a nice take anywhere mouse that is lightweight and reliable. On the otherhand, if you’re a FPS gamer or really like some heft on your mouse then look elsewhere! 🙂