April 20, 2005

Logitech mx518 Mouse Review by Arogan


- $50
- Currently it is available early exclusively at Best Buy. They had the same deal when the mx510 was first introduced.
- this is an incremental upgrade over the mx510. The big differences are: 16bit data path vs 12bit. fixed 800dpi vs On the fly adjustable dpi from 400 up to 1600.
- Even at the default 800dpi it just feels smoother.
- new software. They have ditched mouseware. Now it's called setpoint. It's a new interface and has some very flexible features. You can pretty much adjust and customize everything: buttons, acceleration, dpi settings, etc. These profiles can be applied to a specific mouse, desktop vs gaming (dx or opengl or both), a specific game, etc. You can set up to 5 different dpi settings as small as 50dpi increments. You use the cruise buttons to step up/down the dpi during a game. So lets say you use 800 dpi typically but then maybe drop down to 600 dpi for sniping.
- still uses led. WHY NO LASER??!!??
- I really don't like the look. the swirl pattern when it was red/blue with the mx510 looked fine, sort of like a bowling ball. The monochrome grey of the mx518 creates shadow effects so it just looks more like pits and a wrinkled piece of paper.

At $50 it's a bit pricey. I'm sure it will drop to $30 quickly. I really wished they took the laser tech from the mx1000 and stuck it into their gaming line of mice.

It's definitely better than the mx510 but I'm not sure it's quite worth the price premium right now. [Discuss]