Well, if you'd read the article, it indicates that "the ability to sense when the PC has gone into sleep mode or is shut down..." now "...gives the mouse an expected battery life of three months."
Presumably cordless mice last around a month, and Logitech figures the average user would only have their PC on for 8 hours a day (*cough* *cough*), and so they'll now get 3 months of life out of the same charge.
On another note about other complaints about this mouse being feature ridden, it is important to realize that the features probably came about like such:
1. Logitech wanted to be able to save power by knowing the power status of the PC, so they implented two way communication
2. With 2 way radio in place, some geek figured it would be cool to wire(less) a couple lights on the mouse to be software controllable.
(and of course, 3. Profit!)
In actual fact, it's not really a total waste of effort. There are two lights, one for email, one for Instant Messaging and you can (no doubt limited software support) have them light up when your friends' contact you. IE. You can select who would trigger the lights.
So... you're talking with someone with the screen off to be polite... and you discretely notice your email or IM light is on the mouse... having not drawn the attention of those in attendance by having your screen on or having all hear an email received noise, you can now discretely exit and transform into your superhero clothing. Identity still unknown.
Okay, so maybe the lights at aren't all that useful. But... who cares, maybe something more useful will come out of it, and besides, you know someone will buy the mouse solely for the lights. And... no, it's no reason to upgrade if you already have a laser mouse, as someone mentioned. Logitech never claimed otherwise. But if you had a choice between the two, why not get the one with the kitchen sink^H^H^H^H^H^H^H^H^H^H^H^Hlights.
Slashdot Mirror
Presumably cordless mice last around a month, and Logitech figures the average user would only have their PC on for 8 hours a day (*cough* *cough*), and so they'll now get 3 months of life out of the same charge.
On another note about other complaints about this mouse being feature ridden, it is important to realize that the features probably came about like such:
1. Logitech wanted to be able to save power by knowing the power status of the PC, so they implented two way communication
2. With 2 way radio in place, some geek figured it would be cool to wire(less) a couple lights on the mouse to be software controllable. (and of course, 3. Profit!)
In actual fact, it's not really a total waste of effort. There are two lights, one for email, one for Instant Messaging and you can (no doubt limited software support) have them light up when your friends' contact you. IE. You can select who would trigger the lights.
So... you're talking with someone with the screen off to be polite... and you discretely notice your email or IM light is on the mouse... having not drawn the attention of those in attendance by having your screen on or having all hear an email received noise, you can now discretely exit and transform into your superhero clothing. Identity still unknown.
Okay, so maybe the lights at aren't all that useful. But... who cares, maybe something more useful will come out of it, and besides, you know someone will buy the mouse solely for the lights. And... no, it's no reason to upgrade if you already have a laser mouse, as someone mentioned. Logitech never claimed otherwise. But if you had a choice between the two, why not get the one with the kitchen sink^H^H^H^H^H^H^H^H^H^H^H^Hlights.
PS: Product page http://www.logitech.com/index.cfm/products/details /US/EN,CRID=2135,CONTENTID=10917&ad=hpb_mx610