HP Wifi Mobile Mouse

The HP Wi-Fi Mobile Mouse is a cordless mouse which, as its name suggests, uses your Wifi network to connect to a PC. This means that, unlike many other cordless mice, there's no wireless receiver that needs to be plugged into a USB port.

Rechargeable batteries aren't included, but HP claims nine months usage can be expected from a pair of AA batteries. This is roughly double that of many Bluetooth mice.

The mouse can be used comfortably by either right or left handed users and it's small enough to fit easily into a laptop carry case. It has two programmable buttons and a clickable scroll wheel which can also pan left and right through large documents or images.

Installation is a simple case of installing the Windows 7-only software which guides the user through pairing the mouse with your computer. Once this is done, the mouse is detected automatically every time Windows starts

To test the reliability of the cordless connection, we used it in a variety of locations in relation to our test laptop and it held its connection throughout. Happily, it did not interfere with our laptop's wireless internet signal. However, when we placed our laptop in standby mode then woke it, the mouse took nearly 10 seconds to reconnect. After being left still for an extended period of time, the mouse also required waking up by moving it around to make the pointer respond. This made the mouse feel sluggish to use, but it also likely helps conserve battery power.

Its pointer motion did not seem as smooth as other wireless mice and changing the sensitivity setting in the supplied software did not improve this. Nor was it as effective on as many surfaces. For example, while some mice work well on a sofa cushion, the Mobile Mouse doesn't. The buttons also felt spongy when clicked. All of this meant that the mouse was not as pleasant to use as we would have liked.

The Mobile Mouse may be unique in using Wi-fi and is easy to set up, but it has too many shortcomings to make it a good buy.