Logitech MX Air Wireless: Welcome to the Scroll Panel

We are living the multimedia dream, with high-definition television and Internet radio. In fact, the computer is rapidly evolving into a true multimedia center. Few of the consumers haven't experienced the computer morphing into a television set with help from a TV Tuner. Of course, a keyboard and a mouse are not enough to efficiently control a multimedia center. That's why the remote was invented. But a remote control is an old-fashion way of zapping and switching.

Logitech comes with a wireless solution that would give you a helping hand at fighting the TV stations invasion. It is the optimal blend between the remote control and the wireless mouse that offers the user the opportunity of normally using the mouse without a stable surface. The producer dropped the mouse-like design and adapted it for Home Theater usage. It is hard to say whether this is good or bad: the remote part has gained extra functionality, but as a mouse, the device is crippled by the lack of side buttons for forward and back. Instead, Logitech migrated all the buttons on the center, in order to mimic remote control behavior.

The mouse is able to quickly switch between functional modes. Simply lift it off the surface and it will become a remote control. When on a hard surface, the device would behave like a regular mouse. In remote mode, mouse buttons are illuminated, which gives the user total control over buttons even in the dark, not to mention that it is an important aid in finding the remote control should you have misplaced it during your favorite TV show.

The mouse does not have any mouse wheel anymore, and this may be the feature you would miss the most. The wheel's place is taken by a touch scroll panel, similar to the laptop mouse panel. The sensitive mechanism gives a dim feedback sound each time scroll operations are performed.

Logitech's remote-mouse combination comes bundled with the SetPoint software, which allows the user to define some functional aspects, such as control gestures, remapping of buttons, and sensitivity adjustments available in remote mode.