Microsoft Touch Mouse

Having struggled along with a Logitech M620 for quite a while and got increasingly annoyed with a wheel that had a mind of it's own and would scroll at the drop of a pin, I decided to try the Microsoft Touch Mouse, as it seemed to promise all the benefits of a touch pad with the advantage of being able to physically move the cursor plus a few added features "to make life simpler". But it's a real let-down.

The bad points:
1. The mouse does not feel comfortable in the hand. It feels quite small in the hand, yet too long for my fingers to reach the front. As this seems to be where it is most responsive to touch, this is a problem for me, although I do have relatively short fingers.
2. I have played around with the settings and cannot find a setting that allows me to make a movement and position the cursor where I want it first time. Accuracy is such a problem that the mouse becomes unusable for certain things. For example, finding the corner of a cell in a spreadsheet and dragging it down to copy is almost impossible at normal size. Positioning the cursor whilst writing this review has been a trial.
3. The mouse will not move smoothly across the desktop, feeling like it has been dipped in jam. I cannot use it with my mouse mat and it is only slightly better on a wooden surface.
4. Judgement of the pressure needed on the mouse to get the basic scrolling function to work properly is very difficult and varies across applications.
5. The extra touch functions are similarly difficult to master and I quite often find myself closing windows, snapping etc. by accident and at inappropriate times.
6. Useless for any sort of applications or games requiring precision.
7. The basic left and right click functions are heavy in comparison with any other mouse I have ever owned, probably because the whole mouse dips rather than just the left or right click button. Double-clicking at a consistent speed is impossible and the right-click function often does not work first time - perhaps my fingers are too short on that side of the mouse.
8. The battery life is nothing like as good as is claimed - after less than three weeks use the batteries supplied were running low.

The good points:
1. It comes with an extension cable that allows you to position the receiver on the desktop.
2. The receiver can be stored in the mouse when in transit.

I got a pretty good deal on this mouse, but wish I had never bought it. I'd give it 0 stars if I could. If I'd paid the prices I see some places asking for it I would have been really annoyed. Based on my experience it won't be long before you are being paid to buy one (the prices are already starting to come down...)

Update 25/12/2011: I have a Logitech diNovoEdge keyboard and have just discovered that the touch features of the Microsoft mouse are also added to the touchpad mouse on the keyboard - which makes it impossible to use when the mouse is turned on. Anyway, I have gone back to an old wired Logitech mouse for those things where I need precision, even though it is so old that the left-click is a bit unreliable. It's a shame that this line has been discontinued; I might have ordered a new one of these....

If you are a frequent Windows 7 user, i would recommend this mouse. If you have Windows 7, but only use it occasionaly, you would probably be better off getting a cheaper mouse. I bought this mouse from amazon, and it arrived 3 days later... at first it didn't work, so i sent it back for a replacement as i thought there was something wrong with the mouse itself. Turns out you need to download some software to get it working with your computer.
Go to the microsoft hardware website, find the touch mouse and under 'support' tab, download the software and drivers file.
The mouse is a good weight, because when you do one of the sweeping gestures, you don't accidently drag it across the desk. If you've ever used an Apple touch mouse, you'll have an idea of what to expect, except for a textured plastic finish instead.
I've given it 4 stars because the scrolling isn't that fluid - a bit like the scrolling on a traditional mouse - but perhaps that'll just take some getting used to.
The best feature is the three-finger gesture, to quickly see all the windows you currently have open. It also has BlueTrack technology, which means you can use it on any surface, perhaps if you're away from your desk, say, on the roof?
I would recommend buying this directly from amazon, because if you really can't use it you could always return it, for free.
Comment if you have any questions
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
UPDATE
Sent the mouse back because I didn't get used to the Right-Click and Scrolling: For right-clicking you have to press harder, for slighlty longer, and scrolling isn't fluent enough - you either scroll a tiny bit down the page, or you find yourself near the bottom of the page... Have bought a Microsoft Arc Mouse to replace it, for my laptop, I will update with my firt impressions of it.

I was pretty excited when I heard that Microsoft were releasing a mouse to rival Apple's Mighty Mouse.

I should have known that it was too good to be true.

The mouse is ridiculously touch sensitive. That should be great, but there's no way to turn down the sensitivity of gestures.

I found documents 'jumping' down and zooming in/out with the slightest of touches. I tried re-calibrating it to no effect and continued to have problems until I finally decided to cut my losses and buy a Sharkoon mouse instead.

My advice is that you shouldn't buy this mouse just because it says Microsoft on it. Generally, Microsoft make great peripheral hardware, and this is for all intents and purposes, an aberration.