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Review - RadTech BT600 Bluetooth Mouse

by , 4:30 PM EDT, September 26th, 2006

Taste in computer pointing devices is like vegetables: Everyone likes something different. And although my tastes run more towards track balls than mice, RadTech's new BT600 bluetooth mouse turned out to be a flavor I like.

The BT600 is an 800dpi five-button optical mouse: two buttons on top, two on the left side, and a scroll wheel that acts as a button, too. The package includes the mouse, rechargeable batteries, and a standard USB to mini USB cable for charging. Since the mouse charges via USB, you don't have to carry an extra power adapter when traveling. If you should forget the cable, however, you can always swap out the rechargeables for standard AAA batteries.


The BT600 includes a USB charging port on the front.

After an initial overnight charge, the BT600 worked for over two weeks without recharging. Just to be clear: After two weeks, the mouse still didn't need a charge, but I didn't want to wait any longer to write my review.

Initially I was concerned because the power button is located top-and-center on the BT600. After extended experimentation, I found that it's very difficult to accidentally turn the mouse off. In fact, I wasn't able to push the power button down far enough with the palm of my hand to switch it off.


The power button is on top, but difficult to accidentally press.

RadTech's RadMouse Preference Pane lets you program each mouse button to perform exactly the task you want. You can assign standard mouse clicks, special key combinations, open files and folders, or disable the buttons you don't want to use. You can also control how fast the pointer moves, along with how quickly or slowly it accelerates. Since I'm left handed, I reprogrammed the buttons to work for me, which really screwed up the righties I showed the mouse to.

The biggest problem I found is that the BT600 is clearly a right handed mouse. The top slopes slightly to the right, but not so much as to make it uncomfortable for lefties, The buttons on the left, however, which are designed to be pressed with your thumb, were in my way. Since I kept accidentally clicking the side buttons with my fingers, I used the RadMouse Preference Pane to disable them.

The Bottom Line
Although most distinctly right handed mice turn out to be like broccoli to me (yuck!), RadTech's BT600 was like carrots (yum!). If you prefer a traditional mouse, or are looking for a mouse to supplement your trackball or graphic tablet, RadTech's new BT600 Bluetooth mouse is worth a look.

Digg!


Product: BT600 Bluetooth Mouse

Company: RadTech

List Price: $59.95

4 out of 5 stars

Pros: Versatile, comfortable, and long battery life.
Cons: Lefties may have to disable some buttons.

Observer Comments

Show: Subjects Only | Full Comments
Close Name:Biff Posts: 1479 Joined: 08 Apr 2004
Subject:

Sounds pretty good. Especially for the price. Too bad its so ugly.

Close Name:codebowl Posts: 10 Joined: 28 Aug 2006
Subject: Wish i knew sooner

I just purchased the wireless bluetooth mighty mouse and am waiting for it to arrive. I wish i had known about this sooner i may have bought this one instead.

Close Name:WetcoastBob Posts: 78 Joined: 17 Aug 2006
Subject: Wireless Mighty Mouse.

Do not feel bad codebowl. I have been using a wireless mighty mouse for about 4 weeks (approx 8hrs/day) and I love it. It is still on it's first set of batteries because it shuts itself down when not in use. It is programmable for what you want the various buttons to do and it has a scroll ball which is great when working on images that do not fit on the screen. If it is within 30 ft of the mac when I power up it is automatically activated. This is also a lazer mouse and works even on the keyboard of my MacBook Pro: No mouse pad needed.
No cords, no recharging: it just works, and that is what macs are about.
Cheers:
Bob

View Name:Guest
Subject: Tracking?
View Name:Guest
Subject: too big for my laptop, time to MoGo Mouse
View Name:Guest
Subject:
View Name:Guest
Subject: BT 600
View Name:Guest
Subject: DO NOT BUY the BT600
View Name:Guest
Subject:
View Name:Guest
Subject: Great product, great support
View Name:Guest
Subject: re: DO NOT BUY the BT600
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