Rytech Wireless Optical Mouse Review
By: Michael Phrakaysone
Edited By: Steve M. Silver

 

The computer mouse industry has taken great leaps in technology in the past couple of years. We have come from ball mice that suffered when they were caught getting dirty to the optical mice of today. The sensors in these devices have improved notably during the years and wireless technology has improved also. Rytech has a wireless optical mouse combo that I will be reviewing today. It is on sale, so I had the chance to check one out.

About Rytech (From their self description)

“Rytech Inc is a family business and is 100% Canadian owned and operated. We are located in Calgary, Alberta, Canada." “Rytech has been in operation since 1996, serving clients all over Canada and the USA. Our primary focus is on client care and quality products and service. We believe a client should not have to be overloaded with extraneous information and should be able to express their needs and be provided with options that are tailored to their specific needs. Clients should not have to purchase something that is not right for them. By providing this client-specific care, our clients return again and again. That is the Rytech difference.”

Specifications

  • Radio wireless design to extend your work distance
  • Precise Optical Technology, detective motion on all surfaces with 800dpi resolutions
  • USB interface radio receiver with mouse charger build-in, easily lay on and charge
  • 256 re-programmable link secure IDs, free of interference
  • Smart power management for power saving
  • 2x rechargeable Ni-MH AAA sized batteries come with in the box
  • Programmable buttons and wheel
  • Windows 98/Me/2000/XP, Plug and Play

The wireless optical mouse that I am reviewing today is a one without any name brand. It comes in a nice box predominately displaying the product involved. What you are getting in return when shelling out $26.99CDN is the optical mouse, receiver (with built-in recharger), 2 AAA NiMH 600 mAH batteries, driver diskette with software and a small manual.

Removing everything and looking at the mouse is quite revealing. It is made of plastic, quite lightweight and looks pretty darn nice. The recharger/receiver base is also made of plastic but this one feels flimsy when held. It is powered via USB connector and there is no AC/DC power adaptor (remember this for later on in the review). The length of the USB cable is about 4 feet and was long enough for me.

The mouse feels ergonomic and comfortable for the most part. However, I would have liked a more curved-in groove on the left side of the mouse; left-handed users may have it more comfortable than us righties. The stock grooves feel too plastic and have very little rubber for a good grip after long use. The mouse size is smaller than that of a Logitech MX700 mouse and that could be a problem for some. The scroll wheel on this mouse is very quiet and will not cause a rattle. The clicking sound, on the other hand, is quite loud and I found the noise distracting.

At the bottom of the mouse lies a red LED, a connect button, and four plastic feet so the mouse can swivel freely on any flat surface. I don’t think the four plastic feet are leveled because it tilts very slightly to one side. The battery compartment has a cover and this is where you insert the included batteries (nice addition BTW).

The base charger/receiver looks very Logitech-ish with some minor differences. The middle portion of the frontal portion features a big “Connect” button along with integrated bright blue LED that reacts to the movement of the mice – this appeared to serve little purpose and was annoyingly distracting. The other lights are red in color. The recharging contacts that this base charger/receiver utilizes are silver colored and feel very thin. They do not feel of high quality.

Testing

How does it perform? – To use this mouse is very simple. All you really need to do is connect the batteries to the mouse, plug the base charger/receiver USB connector in your PC, and, for the first time, recharge the batteries for 12 hours (the next time you recharge is for 6 hours). These are long charge times because the charger is very slow. After the batteries are charged, you need to hit the “connect” buttons of both the base charger/receiver and the mouse itself. Windows XP will begin to auto detect the mouse and you are ready to use the mouse.

The movement of this wireless optical mouse feels quick but, at the same time, does not have the smoothness of tracking provided by other, similar mice, such as the MX700 by Logitech. This may be due to either (or both) an inefficient RF wireless signal or the RF wireless signal chip cannot receive high amounts of data every second.

The mouse tracked very well on all the mouse pads that I reviewed thus far on ModSynergy.

Remember when I was talking about the lack of an AC/DC adaptor? Well, this mouse could use one because the only way you are able to recharge the batteries is when your computer is on and it is resting in its cradle. Six to twelve hours is an awfully long time and is a waste of electricity unless you leave your computer on 24/7. To provide a contrast, the Logitech MX700 is able to recharge even when the computer is shut off because it powered from AC/DC household plug.

Software

The software included with this mouse is not that advertised in the manual. What is provided is the “Unitek HotKey Driver,” which really adds nothing since Windows XP handles everything. It would be nice if the software advertised on the manual were in fact the one that was included on the diskette. However, the lack of driver could affect users of Windows 98, as they would most likely require drivers for this mouse to operate properly.

Conclusion

The wireless optical mouse which Rytech sells looks like a 3rd party solution and feels like a 2nd tier quality product. It is not worth the investment. As the saying goes, “You get what you pay for.”

Pros and Cons

+ Looks nice
+ Fair performance
+ NiMH batteries included
+ Recharger and receiver in one
- Doesn’t perform as fluidly as mice from Logitech and Microsoft
- Blue LED in the base reacts to movement of mouse which is annoying
- Tracking is not superfine (I.e. Logitech)
- No AC/DC powered base charger/receiver poses recharging madness
- Long charge times
- Mouse click sound is loud
- Flimsy feel to the charger/receiver base

Alternative Pricing

 

fb

Custom Search