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Posted: Fri Feb 02, 2001 2:55 pm
by FlyingPenguin
Well, okay, maybe I shouldn't say NEVER... no fun if you can't pick on the Retards From Redmond once in a while :)

But I called day before yesterday to ask about warranty replacement of an Explorer Optical mouse. I have one of the very first ones ever made, and the cable is wearing out inside (it's intermittent).

AMAZINGLY I was only on hold for 3 minutes for customer support! No problem, they said, lifetime warranty and they'd send it right out.

Much to my amazement, I got it in the mail 9am this morning! They over-nighted it via Airborne Express!

Brand new Explorer Optical in the retail box, and it's the newer high resolution version.

The newer, kinder Microsoft?

Posted: Fri Feb 02, 2001 3:03 pm
by Splitfire
They did the same thing with me a few weeks back. My Intellimouse was dying so I called them Monday morning and I had a new mouse Tuesday afternoon. :)

Posted: Fri Feb 02, 2001 3:31 pm
by Hipnotic_Tranz
Damn, that's amazing. What did you have to show them to prove that you bought a mouse? Or could I just call up under 100 different names asking for one and have a group sell here in a couple days? :p

Posted: Fri Feb 02, 2001 4:40 pm
by nexus_7
hmm...maby I should tell them my win2k server 200 client cd is wearing out. ;)

Greg

Posted: Fri Feb 02, 2001 4:53 pm
by dadx2mj
I got my Explorer mouse replace the same way. I had problems with a Force Feedback Joystick and they replaced it but it took a lot longer as it was out fo stock. It took about 3 weeks but other than that it was no problem no hassle.

Posted: Fri Feb 02, 2001 6:01 pm
by damien6
Yeah, that's pretty sweet policy. I bought an Explorer off original AGN a while back (at a decent price) and I had similar problem. I contacted their tech support through Hotmail/Passport options and they overnighted me a new one after they walked me through few procedures which didn't lead to any solution. We only exchanged mails three times after which they had me read the Product ID number to them and I was done. They didn't even want the old mouse back.

Posted: Fri Feb 02, 2001 7:29 pm
by LikeLinus
Same with me. The scroll button broke on the inside and wouldnt turn riught. I called...was told it would be 3 weeks because they were out of stock. 2 days later i had a brand new one waiting on me when i got home. All you have to do is give them your Product ID number off the bottom of the mouse and they ship you a new one! They dont even want the old one back.

MS has been this way for awhile. As bad a rap they get, its not all justified.

Posted: Fri Feb 02, 2001 9:38 pm
by Mike89
Hey Penguin, what do you mean newer version with higher resolution? I was not aware that they had done anything like that.

I don't use my Optical for games because of it not being able to handle very quick movements. Is this version any different in that area and where can I find out more about it?

Posted: Fri Feb 02, 2001 10:24 pm
by JMan
Hmm we have a Microsoft Natural Keyboard Pro that's sitting in the closet broken, but we never bothered to RMA it. Maybe that's an idea :)

JMan

Posted: Fri Feb 02, 2001 11:16 pm
by LikeLinus
There is a new Optical in all the newer optical mice line. Explorer and whatnot. I can tell the difference in the new one playing CS. It flows better and has better movement.

Posted: Sat Feb 03, 2001 2:11 am
by Lmandrake
I had one go after about 3 months. Same deal, got the new one the next day after the phone call. Better yet, the old one was easy to fix. The wires frayed inside the cable just outside of the mouse. All I did was shorten the cable and make all the connections again and it worked like a charm.

Posted: Sat Feb 03, 2001 11:55 am
by FlyingPenguin
MIKE69: The reason your optical goes nuts in a first person shooter (or other games) if because you have acceleration enabled. Go to the mouse settings in control panel and disable it.

An extremely high sensitivity will also cause this but normally it's not a problem with accel off.

The latest optical does have a higher resolution & I can tell when using Photoshop. Feels more precise. Not that I ever had a problem with the old one.

Posted: Sat Feb 03, 2001 2:59 pm
by Mike89
Yeah I did have the acceleration enabled but I unchecked it and still had the problems in quick movements. I'll have to hook the mouse back up now and try it again. I had two optical's in two different computers and both did the same thing. I even spent about an hour on the phone with Microsoft tech support over this and they had me try every dam option in the book and nothing changed. I ended up going back to my original Intellmouse because of the continued frustration. My son still uses his but says the problem is still there (even with accelleration disabled). He just has learned to live with it and has adjusted his hand movements to compensate. I never could adjust. I sure was bummed over it because I sure did like the feel of it. In fact I now am using it on my work computer because I don't need those quick movements there. I sure would be interested if this mouse was made better now to cure this problem. Seems the computer just can't keep up with the optical's tracking.

Referring the newer opticals having better resolutions: How come I haven't seen anything written about this? Seems it would be big news because every review I have ever read points out this problem I had, and even Microsoft is well aware of it. After reading this thread, I even went to the Microsoft website and there is no mention of anything newer being done with the opticals. You got any links to this news and better yet anyone done any comparison reviews?







[Edited by Mike89 on 02-03-2001 at 03:15 PM]

Posted: Sat Feb 03, 2001 3:34 pm
by dadx2mj
Mike89 the change to the faster resolution was made a while ago the mice look the same but on the retail box there is a red label that say 33% faster. I use mine in U/T with no problem I would call Micro Soft and tell them that your cord is frayed and the light blinks on and off. They will send you a new one and let you keep your old one. Hopefully the new faster mouse will solve your problem. Call them at 425-352-7123

Posted: Sun Feb 04, 2001 5:06 pm
by Cool J
yep, microsoft has great tech support. I did that with 2 intellimice. they overnighted it to me.