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The Bottom Line
The Navigator 905 is one of the newest notebook mice from Genius. It incorporates a high precision BlueEye tracking system that you can set to 800, 1200 or 1600 DPI. The Navigator 905 is a wireless mouse that uses 2.4 GHz technology. It comes with a very small USB transceiver that can be attached to the mouse when traveling, or left installed in most notebooks.
Overall, I was pleased with the mouse’s performance.
It would be a good choice for Mac professionals who travel often or even occasionally.
Pros
- Small and easily portable.
- BlueEye tracking system worked on all surfaces I tested.
- Small 2.4 GHz USB transceiver can stay installed in most notebooks.
- Power saving system puts mouse to sleep if you forget to turn its power off.
- Supports 800, 1200, and 1600 DPI tracking resolution.
Cons
- No indicator of which resolution is in use at any one time.
- Limited transceiver range.
- No obvious replacement source for Stick-N-Go pads.
Description
- BlueEye laser tracking system
- 2.4 GHz wireless mouse
- Works with Mac OS X and Windows
- No software needed
- High precision tracking (up to 1600 DPI)
- Easily portable
Guide Review - Navigator 905 Review – Genius Wireless Notebook Mouse Review
The Genius Navigator 905 is a small mouse meant for portable use with a notebook. As such, it must be able to meet the daily needs of mobile professionals who want a comfortable mouse, but who also need something small and easily stowed in a bag for travel.
The Navigator meets those needs nicely. Although small, I found it fit my large hands easily, with a comfortable side grip (held between thumb and pinky) that left my three remaining fingers resting on the mouse surface. This grip let me easily maneuver the mouse as well as use the right and left mouse buttons and the scroll wheel.
The Navigator 905 mouse uses what Genius calls a BlueEye tracking system. This is a blue LED/laser light source that worked quite well on the various surfaces I tested it on, including a mouse pad, vinyl desktop, wood desktop, and the back of a glossy magazine.
Tracking resolution can be set to one of three increments: 800, 1200, and 1600 DPI. Instead of using software to configure the tracking resolution, Genius chose to use a combination of mouse buttons. Holding the left and right mouse buttons down for three seconds causes the tracking resolution to advance to the next value. The mouse is set to 1200 at the factory, so it will first advance to 1600 DPI. Hold the two mouse buttons down again and it will roll over to 800 DPI resolution. Do it once more and you’re back to the 1200 DPI default setting.
The wireless transceiver included with the Navigator 905 is quite small, and can be left in most notebooks, even while traveling. If you do remove the transceiver, a handy docking clip on the underside of the mouse will keep it safe and secure. You can use the same docking clip to attach a 3M Stick-N-Go pad that will securely hold the mouse to your notebook while traveling. The mouse comes with two Stick-N-Go pads that can be reused multiple times.
Overall, I was pleased with this small, portable mouse, but I was disappointed by the range of the wireless transceiver. Some of my testing involved a desktop Mac located under my desk. The mouse, which was just four feet from the transceiver, would intermittently freeze when the connection was lost. Of course, with a notebook, the mouse and the transceiver would be very close to each other; in that setup, I saw no loss of connection at any time. Nevertheless, it’s worth noting that the transceiver isn’t the high power model seen in some desktop wireless mice.
If you prefer a mouse over a trackpad, the Navigator 905 may be just the portable mouse to pair with your notebook.