Logitech V550 vs V450 vs VX Nano Mouse Comparison Review

12/21/08 / Accessories

Review Summary

All three are pretty similar and you would probably be happy with any of them. If you need a middle mouse button then think about the V450 Nano. The most useful feature is the super fast scrolling wheel which is only available on the VX Nano and V550 Nano. If weight is a consideration then the VX Nano is your best bet. If you would like the clip feature then the V550 Nano is for you. I liked the VX Nano the best as it’s the lightest and fits in your palm well. It’s got back and forward buttons but I never use such buttons on a mouse.

Check out the comparison chart for each mouse.

Logitech VX Nano / V450 / V550 Mouse Deals & Coupons see all

(From left: V550, V450, VX with their micro receivers.)

Have you been interested in getting a wireless mouse for your laptop? Have you narrowed your choices down to the VX Nano, V450 Nano and the V550 Nano? (The ones with micro receivers). Can’t decide which one is the best one for you? Well I faced the same issue so I got all three of them and will try to explain the differences for you with pretty pictures.

These are the only wireless laptop mice with a micro receiver (well actually some other Japanese company has one but the receiver is a wee bit bigger).

The three contenders are, in order of price (NewEgg):

Feel & Ergonomics

The VX Nano is a right-handed mouse while the V550 and V450 are ambidextrous mice. Actually the only thing I can see that is oriented to right handers on the VX Nano are the two forward and back buttons; it certainly feels like an ambidextrous mouse.

I like the feel of both the V550 and the VX Nano. The V450 feels and looks a little cheaper than it’s more expensive predecessors but it is the most comfortable and because of it’s higher profile fits the most snuggly into your palm. The VX Nano feels the second best as it has a slight curve and the V550 feels the least comfortable as it doesn’t follow the curvature of the hand at all.

Size & Weight

Weight wise, the VX Nano is the lightest at 99 grams and the V550 and V450 are both 120 grams. While I prefer a heavier mouse for my desktop computer, I prefer a lighter one on the go, because naturally I have to keep picking it up and putting it places. The reason why the VX Nano is the lightest is because it uses two AAA batteries while the other two use two AA batteries.

Here’s a size comparison with a wired Eee PC mouse and a larger Logitech MX620 (from left: MX620, VX, V450, V550, Eee PC Mouse)

And a profile view of the three wireless mice (from left: V550, V450, VX)

Buttons & Functionality

The V450 is the most basic with only two mouse buttons and a scroll wheel.

All three mice have left and right horizontal scrolling. I like to set this to back and forward for web browsing it’s the ultimate in convenience.

The other two, in addition to that have a two setting scroll wheel. One setting is the regular scroll wheel which provides nice tactile feedback with a clicking sound while the other setting is a super fast scroll wheel that will let you scroll from top to bottom of very large webpages in seconds. You spin the wheel as fast as you can and it will keep spinning until gravity slows it down. There is no tactile feedback in this mode. (smooth scrolling with no steps). I couldn’t live without this feature, it’s just so useful.

While the V450 scroll wheel doesn’t have two settings it has retained it’s middle button functionality. Some people live and die by their middle mouse buttons.

Furthermore, the V550 and VX Nano have a task switch button just below the scroll wheel. It’s default setting is to switch between open programs but it is customizable.

Lastly, the VX Nano goes the extra mile and provides two back and forward buttons on the left most side of the left mouse button.

Nothing special on the backs of these mice. A button to easily access the battery compartment and an on/off switch. There is a slot in each battery compartment to store the mini reciever.

V550 Nano Laptop Attachment

The V550 comes with two knobs with adhesive on them that attach to anywhere on your laptop. You can then slide your V550 onto it and it will latch on and then you can easily pick up and carry both the mouse and the laptop with one hand. This is a neat idea but a) having a knob on your lid looks unattractive and b) the adhesive is going to wear off eventually.

Here’s the V550 Nano attached to my HP Mini 1000 below.

Included goodies

All come with micro receivers, batteries (AAA for the VX) and a receiver stand that you can enable by plugging in your micro reciever, this is for desktop use. The VX 550 Nano includes a silver and black clip, some wipes and a tin container and some kind of cover of which neither have I figured out it’s use.

Below, packaging for (from left: VX Nano, V550 and V450)

Battery Life

It’ll be impossible for me to test the battery life out, but the figures stated for each of them (Logitech’s figures) are:

V550 Nano - 18 Months

VX Nano - 6 Months

V450 Nano - 12 Months

Software & Customization

All three mice use the same software shown in the screenshots below. There are five tabs of options.

Mouse Buttons - You can customize most buttons to pretty anything you can think of (there’s a whole list of options).

Cursor Movement - Pretty much the same options available with the standard windows driver in control panel.

Scroll Wheel - Set horizontal and vertical scrolling speed and acceleration. This can be done on a per-program basis.

Game Settings - You can have separate settings for games.

Battery - Shows how many days you have left of battery power.

Gallery

Last of all some pictures of the mice with various netbooks (s101 x 2, HP Mini 1000 x 2, Lenovo IdeaPad S10e):

Reader Comments (9)

Ashkyd 01/14 at 02:37 AM

Thank you very much… Helped me a lot

Lars 03/04 at 06:56 AM

Thank you very much!

Robert Jardin 04/16 at 06:14 PM

Thank you. Most useful review on the VX, V450, and V550 I have seen anywhere—-any the pictures (illustrations) was ‘frosting on the cake’. Thanks again.

Menno 05/10 at 05:27 PM

The “cover” from teh v550 is to remove the clips from your computer. You can fit it over the clip and by turning it, you can remove it. Nice touch from Logitech to include it. Probably not a nessecary feature.

Joanna 06/12 at 07:19 PM

Thanks for the review! I’m lookin for a nano wireless mouse to purchase but my hand experiences comfort problems with different mouse so i’m guna try the v450.. wish me luck!!

matt 10/05 at 09:21 PM

I use the V450 nano with my netbook. I like how you can stick the nano receiver inside of the mouse to store it as well as power it down- this helps you not to lose it because it’s so small. Of course it is small enough to leave it always plugged into your computer as well.

Kamaldeep 02/08 at 03:24 PM

Thanks for the review.. I have been looking for comparision between V450 and V550…. though my inclination is towards V450 :)

Gordon 02/27 at 12:40 PM

I just got my second (took the first one back) V550 to use with my HP mini 311-1033, and while they both worked fine when plugged into the usb port, the netbook will not boot up if I leave it plugged in. I simply get the black HP startup screen frozen. I have to use the power switch to shut down, take it out & start again. Sometimes if I get a flashing startup screen & unplug the receiver it will boot. Too weird! At the store, we tried one on their HP mini and it did the same thing, while it worked fine on a desktop. The guys there think it’s a power issue at startup not giving enough to the receiver, hence locking it up.

Any ideas to correct this as it is a pretty nice mouse.

Gordon 02/27 at 02:32 PM

I should have said that my older V220 mouse with a usb receiver works fine with this mini. It seems to be the new V550 that is a problem. Maybe the “nano” receiver needs something more than the ordinary one??????

Spare a thought...

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