The Packaging

Microsoft have always packaged their mice in very impressive boxes, with a section cut out to reveal the actual mouse through a clear plastic cover. Unfortunately, the Microsoft Wireless Notebook Optical Mouse was packed into a rather simple plastic packaging!

However, the new packaging still looks nice and pretty impressive. It's definitely something that looks good enough for its price. You can instantly see how small the USB wireless receiver is!

The Microsoft Wireless Notebook Optical Mouse

Something surprised me when I purchased the Wireless Notebook Optical Mouse. The box had a barcode and serial number sticker stuck to the back. According to the reseller, Microsoft directed them to cut out that portion and send it directly to the local Microsoft office to be entered into their database!

While such an effort to protect their excellent 3-years limited warranty plan sounds sensible to me, cutting out a part of the package in such an ugly manner is beyond me. Microsoft should come up with a more elegant manner in obtaining the serial number of sold packages. Maybe a perforated portion or a tear-off sticker?

Just take a look at the photos below and see how ugly the end result is! In fact, I was lucky to be carrying my Nikon D70 so I was able to take a shot of the untouched packaging. Phew!

So, if you are planning to purchase the Microsoft Wireless Notebook Optical Mouse as a gift, you'll have to work out a way to keep it nicely packaged. Otherwise, you will end up with a really ugly package, certainly not suitable as a gift. However, this may be true only for Malaysia. Microsoft's methods may differ in your own country. Thus, it's best to check what are their policies are in your country.

Contents

Cutting out the plastic packaging was a breeze. But be careful and make sure you have a sharp scissors. Otherwise, you might just cut yourself in the finger!

The bottom of the box	The inside of the package

Once you open up the package, you'll find a simple cardboard box beneath the mouse and the USB wireless receiver. That contains a Quick Start Manual, installation manual and a single Energizer AA-sized battery.

The manual, battery and installation sheet	See how easy it is to install!

Yup! That's basically all that you will get when you purchase the Notebook Wireless Notebook Optical Mouse. I'm sure you will have noticed by now that there is no Installation CD or diskette supplied with the package. Isn't the CD required to use the mouse? Well, I wished that Microsoft would bundle an installation CD with the latest Microsoft IntelliPoint software as that would allow the user to quickly install the mouse and use it.

However, because the Microsoft Notebook mouse range only sports the standard two buttons, along with a scroll button; there's actually no real need for the IntelliPoint software. We will look into the installation of the mouse at a later part of this review.