The Logitech Media Play Mouse uses the 2.4ghz RF frequency to allow wireless working, the small USB dongle acts as the transmit / receive unit, this plugs into a free USB port on your PC either directly or via the supplied extension cable if you have one of those inaccessible rear USB sockets.

The mouse itself is a sliver and blue unit which is very well built and ergonomically pleasing, after prolonged use its still fells comfortable and does not place any extra strain on your hands. It has a multitude of buttons, firstly there are the normal navigation buttons, left and right click, a wheel which has the useful sideways tilt feature and extra navigation buttons for forwards and back on internet browsing applications.

The Logitech media play mouse is a highly responsive and accurate device, we had to throttle back the pointer speed when first installed to a more useable response rate, the optical sensor is an invisible one so no red light spilling from the base of the mouse either.

So as a wireless mouse the media play is excellent but that isn't even half of the story, the extra buttons clustered around the mouse wheel tell of the media features, push the media button and having installed the set point software the Logitech media control screen will load.

Media life is the media player/ viewer software supplied by Logitech, while its not the best mp3 playback software or picture viewer it does work well with the mouse, the controls are big and simple which is essential if you are using the mouse from 10ft away. By using the mouse wheel with both horizontal and vertical movement its easy to navigate the menu system and simply pushing the mouse wheel in selects an item, on the downside the keyboard is not used at all so if you have a lot of Mp3's to scroll though you could be there for a few days!

We're sure that after a few days of using Media Life software it will seem a better plan to map the extra mouse buttons to control windows media player or Winamp, the buttons are all customisable so this seems like a good option.

Logitech claim the 2 AA batteries will give some 6 months of constant use which should see even a heavy user getting nearer a year's use.

It does feel a little weird standing on the other side of a room holding a mouse like a remote control but it also feels quite cool, the media buttons glow blue when activated and the whole thing feels well balanced in the hand. With the rise of media centre PC's the Logitech media play mouse is an excellent partner for a PC packed with MP3's pictures and videos and as a wireless mouse this is about the best we've tested to date.

Priced at £40 the media play mouse is excellent value for money and they are selling very fast going in and out of stock on a daily basis, if you are looking for a very competent wireless mouse with media player controls inbuilt the Logitech has to be the one.

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