Friday, March 02, 2012

Logitech MX500 mouse replacement: Logitech G400

Quite a while back, circa 2005, I purchased a Logitech MX500 mouse.  It served me very well for many years at my primary mouse, both at home and at work.  I first used the MX500 at home, then later decided to bring it into work; I purchased a Logitech MX518 mouse, the successor to the MX500, for use at home.

Finally, this past week, after 7+ years of quality service, my MX500 flaked out: When holding down the left mouse button to drag something, the mouse button would randomly start “releasing", even though I was firmly holding down the physical button.  This quickly started causing me lots of problems when selecting blocks of text, reordering items in lists, and performing other operations. I decided I needed to replace the mouse.

Now, in 2012, the model MX500 has been discontinued; its successor, the MX518, has also been discontinued.  The modern successor to the MX500, as I found after doing some research, is the Logitech G400 mouse

MX500 MX518 G400 mice

As you can see, the MX500, the MX518, and the G400 all have the same-shaped chassis.  Despite the G400 being marketed as a “gaming mouse,” I’ve found that it’s perfectly suitable for office use, and is a seamless replacement for my MX500.  Having used the new G400 for most of this week, I don’t even notice any difference while using the new mouse between it and my old MX500. 

So if you’re in the same position I am, and your Logitech MX500 (or MX518) has recently died, and you’re looking to replace it with something that works and feels the same, I can recommend the G400 as a solid replacement.