MoGo Mouse BT review

Many laptop users work perfectly well with the navigation system that's built into their computers, but others prefer to use a mouse. But a mouse is yet another item to carry in your bag, and there's often an inconvenient wire. The MoGo Mouse BT addresses these issues by connecting to your laptop via Bluetooth and living (and charging up) in your system's PC Card slot when it's not in use.

Design
When not in use, the MoGo Mouse BT is a thin, flat object that's precisely the right size to fit into a Type II PC Card slot. At 41g, it won't add much weight to your bag, and its metal and plastic finish is visually appealing.

When you're ready to use the mouse, you flip open its kickstand, which lies flush to the back of the casing. This elevates it around 20 degrees or so from a flat position on your desk. With the mouse placed so that its raised end is furthest from your fingertips, grooves sit neatly under the ends of your index and second fingers. There's a noticeable sound when either groove is depressed to make mouse clicks.

The MoGo neatly fits in your laptop's PC Card slot like so

The MoGo Mouse BT is perfectly symmetrical, so left-handers should find it as easy to use as right handers. It felt comfortable enough to use to us righties.

Features and performance
The MoGo Mouse BT uses an optical sensor with 500dpi resolution and functions within Bluetooth 1.2's range of up to 10ms. This is a handy feature as it allows you to sit much further from your laptop than you could with a wired mouse. For example, you could plug your laptop into a TV and control it from the sofa.

The mouse works with both PCs and Macs. We tested it on our regular laptop, a Fujitsu Siemens model with Bluetooth built in. Connecting to your laptop is straightforward: turn the mouse on, and then press an area marked 'Connect' on the underside of the mouse, which activates Bluetooth ready for connection. We found this to be rather unresponsive and resorted to prodding a small recessed button in the Connect area with a paperclip. Subsequent connections can be made automatically by lifting the kickstand and pressing one of the mouse buttons.

The mouse can only be paired with one laptop at a time. However, it's easy to break a pairing by pressing the same Connect button used to create one, after which you can go through the pairing process again with another laptop.

During testing, cursor movement around the laptop's screen was at times a little more jerky than we're used to with a tethered mouse. For example, while Web pages were loading into the browser, cursor movement was jerky, but when they were fully loaded it was smooth.

The MoGo Mouse BT's ability to recharge while stowed in your laptop's PC Card slot means you don't have to worry about replacing the batteries, as you do with other cordless mice.

Clearly, if your laptop lacks either Bluetooth or a PC Card slot then this product is not for you. You can add Bluetooth to a laptop cheaply and easily if a USB port is available for a dongle, although that then becomes another travel bag item. MoGo even has a Bluetooth adaptor styled to look like the mouse. The absence of a PC Card slot is not so easily remedied.

Conclusion
We like the concept of the MoGo Mouse BT, and found it ergonomic enough to use. However, its performance was erratic at times, and during these periods it was frustrating to use. It's also somewhat expensive -- we found several wireless mice for over £10 less, while corded laptop mice can be had for less than £20.

Edited by Charles McLellan
Additional editing by Nick Hide