What is this?
Relying on a tilt wheel for navigational control, the MediaPlay remote mouse has 10 media control buttons such as rewind/fast forward and volume. Don't worry about finding the buttons either – they're backlit! Other notable features include a much smaller keychain-sized Fast RF receiver; a 10 foot range; and compatibility with various applications such as MusicMatch.
Pros: Excellent grip; tilt-wheel; compatible with most media players; good battery life; customizable side buttons; invisible light for optical sensor.
Cons: MediaLife software needs work; not rechargeable; slight wireless lag with occasional glitching; side buttons can't be reached by lefties.
Verdict: The Logitech MediaPlay makes a great cordless mouse with simple ergonomics, tilt-wheel, back/forward buttons and zoom functionality, but the remote control side needs for fine tuning.
Using multiple remotes for the cable box and DVD player is bad enough, so why should such an inconvenience be carried over to the PC? Enter the Logitech MediaPlay, an ingenious hybrid mouse / remote control that succeeds in untangling your multimedia life over ten feet away from the computer.
Package Content - MediaPlay Cordless Mouse
- Wireless mini-receiver
- Desktop USB stand
- Installation CD
- Installation guide
- USB to PS/2 Adapter
- Two AA batteries (Duracell)
MediaPlay Hybrid Body Makes the Grade
The Logitech MediaPlay serves an interesting niche in the mouse market that no other mouse manufacturer has even entered yet, by doubling as both an optical mouse and a wireless remote to add HTPC functionality to your computer. The black body of the mouse in in an elongated hour-glass shape with a high arch to fit comfortably in the palm of your hand, with a rubberized blue trim to highlight the mouse's shape and a silvery blue top that complements our monitor, speakers, and the enhanced function keys of our keyboard.
The hourglass body is also somewhat thin when compared to other mice from Logitech, Dell and Microsoft that allows it to be held like a television remote control, with a small indent on the bottom for your index finger. Unlike most other high-end mice from Logitech, the body of the MediaPlay is also symmetrical, which is great news for left-handed users, although they will be unable to comfortably use the forward and back buttons located on the left side of the mouse.
On the topside of the mouse are backlit media buttons for adjusting the volume, skipping and seeking through tracks, and a play/pause button. A mute button would have also been nice to have as well, although the volume and pause buttons would make it redundant. Under the tilting scroll wheel is a Media button used for launching your favorite media player.
The application of choice can be changed within the SetPoint configuration panel, although a popup menu similar to the Application Switch menus on other mice would have been preferred if you regularly use more than one media player, such as iTunes for music and WinAmp for video. The optical sensor on the underside of the MediaPlay uses an invisible light to track movements so it won't cast a red glow on your screen when being used as a remote.
While the overall weight of the MediaPlay is light for a wireless mouse, the weight is unbalanced by the two AA batteries located towards the rear of the mouse, which can occasionally make the mouse slip when picking it up, although the rubber grips will prevent slipping most of the time. Logitech also made sure that battery life would last by placing a 3 second timer on the backlight and provided an on/off switch for extended periods of inactivity. We've been reviewing this mouse for over a week now, and it still is good on battery life. If only our HP camera were as nice to AA batteries as the MediaPlay. Some may argue that using AA batteries is a hassle when compared to using a custom rechargeable battery, but remember that AAs can be replaced on the road when there's no charger around.
Because the mouse is wireless, it's only logical that there be a wireless receiver to translate the signals being sent by the MediaPlay to something the computer can understand. Rather than deal with the antiquated infrared technology that is still being used in other remotes for reasons beyond us, Logitech chose to go with RF signals, which means you can use the mouse without having to aim at the receiver. The mini-receiver is the size of a flash drive, making it easy to carry around for laptop users. For desktop users, reception can be improved by using the included desktop USB stand that places the receiver away from the rest of your electronics at an angle. Thankfully the MediaPlay can be used without a driver, which comes in handy when setting up a new computer, or for when your Mac buddy needs to borrow a multi-button mouse for World of Warcraft.
HTPC, Almost
As a mouse the Logitech MediaPlay preformed admirably for general browsing and Photoshop usage. Sensitivity was slightly above average, and accuracy was not a problem. Middle-click by default is set to Zoom, which is great if you are hard on eyesight or edit lots of photos, although being avid Firefox users we set it back to generic button for tabbed browsing. This is just a matter of personal choice. Don't bother trying to use the MediaPlay for gaming, there is some lag involved that makes twitch frags harder to pull off in Quake 3, and occasionally the mouse's wireless signals would mess up to the point where my gun would continue firing on its own for a few seconds.
But back to the intended purpose, the remote control functionality of the MediaPlay was somewhat disappointing. The mouse supports basic applications such as Windows Media Player. WinAmp and iTunes, although less common players such as VLC didn't show up in the drop down menu of supported applications. We especially liked being able to skip through our songs across the room. Logitech says on their website that the mouse is also compatible with Windows Media Center Edition, although we were unable to test this.
On the installation disc (and nowhere else, so backup the CD) is Logitech's MediaLife software, a fullscreen media player that allows you to browse through your music, videos, and photos from 10 feet away. Made for Logitech by CyberLink, MediaLife has an intuitive interface that can be navigated by the tilt-wheel in either 4:3 or Widescreen aspect ratios. Unfortunately, the tilt-wheel was oversensitive and moving to the side would often skip over the intended item on the screen. This could not be changed. Another thing, the page up/down buttons are inaccessible by the tilt-wheel, and could only be selected by using the MediaPlay as a mouse.
Music playlists are imported from Windows Media Player, while the videos and photos displayed come from your My Videos / Photos folders, although you can manually browse to specific folders. Video playback was smooth, and the application could open any video file so long as the proper codec was installed. Picture viewing was superb, with options to rotate individual photos and view an entire directory as a slideshow to your choice of music with six different transitions to choose from.
We had a few gripes with the music playback unfortunately. The visualizations are poor, we can't create playlists within MediaLife, aren't able to browse our tunes by cascading categories such as artist then album, and there's hardly any support for internet radio. True, if you use the included MusicMatch player's fee-based radio service you can listen to what the DJs line up, but MediaLife will not support Shoutcast, Live 365, or any other streaming radio stations. Another lack of functionality is the fact that you cannot control TV tuners, but do remember that such a thing would require number buttons on the mouse, which would ruin the ergonomics. Finally, DVD playback can be controlled if you have WinDVD or PowerDVD, the latter of which is also made by CyberLink.
Great Concept, Needs Fine Tuning Overall the Logitech MediaPlay makes a great cordless mouse with simple ergonomics, tilt-wheel, back/forward buttons and zoom functionality. The remote aspect of the mouse is also handy for controlling most media players, although Logitech needs to fine tune their bundled MediaLife player and add support for basic DVD playback and free radio. It may not be a full fledged HTPC remote, but the MediaPlay cordless mouse is a performer none the less.
Scott Clark, Consumer Technology Editor
Where to buy Logitech MediaPlay Cordless Mouse?
User Review(s)
"Great Mouse" I bought this mouse the first day it came out. I think it's a great mouse with issues. I'll give the reasons why but first I will say that I still recommend it to left handed people, people who like movies and music on their computers and gamers. First, I'm ambidextrious and can use the mouse left or right though I primarily use it left (avid fps gamer. The primary review says that you can't reach the buttons on the left side but I can reach them just fine with my ring finger, no problems. The mouse lags in several occasions. Firstly for a desktop you should use the extension cord that comes with the mouse (go figure, a cordless extension cord lol) because the lag sets in on 2 occasions, the first one being when the batteries are low but not low enough for the software to detect it and secondly is if you have the sensor set in a peculiar distance or height (I find that I can have the sensor above the mouse and and away from the mouse about 2 feet is good on new batteries and practically right beside it when the batteries are low to prevent lag) On another note about the lag is that on mine it will just decide to lower the volume all the way or just not respond to anything when too far from the sensor. I highly recommend using rechargable batteries. As I said, I'm an avid fps gamer and bought the mouse to replace the mx 310 that I had for more bindable buttons. That works somewhat, can't bind volume buttons but the rest are good. Batteries do last a long time as well. It has a onoff switch and a reset on the bottom of the mouse if needed or to conserve energy, I never use them personally. I just leave mine on all the time and get a good 2 to 3 weeks out of it before replacing batteries. The mouse feels good whether you use it left or right, and when held like a remote control in your right or left hand it does contour nicely. Being too far away causes lag or non-responsiveness. So no sitting on the couch 10 feet away with this thing...2 to 4 max. If you're a left handed person or would like a remote for many of your musicmovie programs then I highly recommend it, If you're right handed I would still recommend it but since you don't have to have the same ergonomics then you might find one that has a better distance rating than this thing. Either way it is a smart mouse but the signal needs to be increased or the sensor needs to be more sensitive. From Donald, April 29, 2005
We're currently upgrading our user review system; so we won't be accepting new reviews for now. MediaPlay Cordless Mouse Specs
Interface(s)
Original USB
Released date
September 2004
Platforms
Windows 98, Windows 98 SE, Windows ME, Windows 2000, Windows XP
