Path: kernighan.cs.umass.edu!barrett From: msawyer@netcom.com (Matt Sawyer) Newsgroups: comp.sys.amiga.reviews Subject: REVIEW: Wizard 560 Mouse Followup-To: comp.sys.amiga.hardware Date: 27 Jul 1997 23:05:40 GMT Organization: The Amiga Online Review Column - ed. Daniel Barrett Lines: 174 Sender: amiga-reviews@math.uh.edu (comp.sys.amiga.reviews moderator) Distribution: world Message-ID: <5rgk84$cv7@kernighan.cs.umass.edu> Reply-To: msawyer@netcom.com (Matt Sawyer) NNTP-Posting-Host: knots.cs.umass.edu Keywords: hardware, mouse, commercial X-Review-Number: Volume 1997 Number 12 Originator: barrett@knots.cs.umass.edu PRODUCT NAME Wizard 560 Mouse from Wizard Developments BRIEF DESCRIPTION A 560 DPI 3 button mouse. AUTHOR/COMPANY INFORMATION Name: Wizard Developments Address: N/A Telephone: 01322-527-800 (UK Only) +44-1322-527-800 (Outside UK) LIST PRICE Unknown. I paid $29.00 USD. DEMO VERSION None. SPECIAL HARDWARE AND SOFTWARE REQUIREMENTS HARDWARE None. The mouse plugs into the standard mouse/joystick port and will work with all Amiga models. SOFTWARE None. The mouse comes with a disk of Amiga shareware/freeware that makes use of the 3rd button. Also, some commercial software such as Directory Opus 5 makes use of the 3rd button. COPY PROTECTION None. MACHINE USED FOR TESTING Amiga 4000 (Desktop), 2 MB Chip RAM, 80 MB Fast RAM 1 internal 1.76 MB floppy 2 Maxtor 1.6 GB IDE hard drives 1 internal Toshiba 6.7x SCSI-2 CD-ROM drive 1 internal Iomega 1.0 GB SCSI-2 Jaz drive phase5 Cyberstorm MKII 68060 accelerator phase5 Cyberstorm SCSI-2 module phase5 CyberVision64 graphics card Mitsubishi Diamond Pro 17TX Monitor AmigaOS 3.1 (Kickstart 40.68 and Workbench 40.42) CyberGraphX v3 Term v4.7c GP-Fax v2.342 INSTALLATION The mouse is simple to install. Just take it out of the box and plug it into the standard mouse/joystick port on your Amiga. REVIEW This is my 3rd mouse for my A4000. It replaces a PCI 2 button mouse, which in turn replaced the original Amiga 2 button mouse. The Wizard 560 mouse isn't fancy but it works very well. It has a very simple design and doesn't form fit the hand all that well. It does however have an excellent feel & response to it's roll across the mouse pad. Being a 560 DPI mouse, you don't have to move it all over the place either. Now I can throw away that old mouse pad that covers half my desk! The buttons take a day or two to get used to. They aren't quite as easy to press as my previous PCI mouse, but that's not a bad thing. Perhaps they won't wear out as quickly as the PCI mouse did, which lasted only a year. I have not tried any of the included software to take advantage of the 3rd button. You can find all of the included utilities on Aminet so there's nothing special about the disk. Overall, I think the mouse is a good choice for people looking for a higher DPI mouse or just a replacement for their old worn out ones. DOCUMENTATION There was no documentation included in the box. Just the mouse and a floppy disk of utilities. LIKES I like the higher resolution and the feel of the mouse as it rolls across the mouse pad. It's a vast improvement over the PCI mouse I had previously, which in itself was a vast improvement over the original Amiga mouse which came with my A4000. DISLIKES AND SUGGESTIONS It doesn't feel as natural in my hand as I would like, but this is a minor issue to me. COMPARISON TO OTHER SIMILAR PRODUCTS The Wizard 560 excels in the response category. The 560 DPI makes a world of difference over my previous two mouses. I'm sure I'll find good uses for the 3rd button once I start looking. When it comes to overall feel in your hand, I like my old PCI mouse or a Microsoft mouse better. BUGS None. VENDOR SUPPORT The manufacturer recommends that you contact the place you purchased the mouse should you have any problems. They also include a phone number in the readme file on the floppy disk that is included. I haven't made any attempt to contact them though. WARRANTY There is no mention of a warranty of any kind. CONCLUSIONS In conclusion, I am happy with the mouse overall and would give this product 4 out of 5 stars. COPYRIGHT NOTICE Copyright 1997 Matthew Sawyer This review may be Freely Distributed as long as it is only distributed in it's entirety. You may contact the author at: Matthew Sawyer E-Mail: msawyer@netcom.com --- Accepted and posted by Daniel Barrett, comp.sys.amiga.reviews moderator Send reviews to: amiga-reviews-submissions@math.uh.edu Request information: amiga-reviews-requests@math.uh.edu Moderator mail: amiga-reviews@math.uh.edu Anonymous ftp site: math.uh.edu, in /pub/Amiga/comp.sys.amiga.reviews Web site: ftp://math.uh.edu/pub/Amiga/comp.sys.amiga.reviews/index.html