The Packard Bell Optical Mouse is a standard, three button, wired mouse. It comes with a choice of coloured covers for the mouse, which is a nice touch for people who wish to co-ordinate their peripherals.

The mouse itself is a fairly standard fair - it is wired, and the wire is fairly short. If your computer is near your desk and you just drape the wire down the back or over the side you should be fine, but if you need to reach the length of the desk then this is not for you.

The wire is fairly light, but you can sometimes feel it pull or catch on things and it can be rather annoying, especially if you are used to wireless mice.

This mouse is well built for a Packard Bell one - we reviewed the Packard Bell Wireless Optical mouse recently and found that one to be rather poor, but this wired one has restored our faith. It is still rather lightweight, but it is sturdy, and unlike some wired mice we have had no problems with the wires breaking after long term use.

The grooves around the optical hole are rather poorly shaped however - this mouse seems to attract dust and hairs, which cover the sensor and make the mouse pointer twitch. Other mice with smoother holes don’t have that problem.

The Packard Bell Optical Mouse is another standard shaped mouse ideal for both left and right handed people. It is not the most responsive of mice, and does not have the precision of a laser mouse, but it is still a decent model, and is almost half the price of a laser mouse.

I would recommend this for anyone who is not ready to take the plunge into wireless ‘oh no I forgot to charge my mouse’ life yet.

Installation:8/10
Configuration:8/10
Responsiveness:7/10
Ergonomics:8/10

Overall:7/10