OK, since nobody replied, I decided to be your guinea pig!
I've purchased lots of NOS mice from the Amazon/eBay seller "Cheapees" before, so I gave them another shot for the blue Logitech iFeel mouse. There is also a grey version available.

I chose the blue one because several other folks had commented positively about the irridescent sheen on this one. While not quite as nice as the limited-edition red M-BJ58 mice, it does reflect more colors. You can see green, yellow, and purple hues depending on the light in the room. It's a nice touch.

Here's the box as it arrived, still sealed NOS:

You'll notice that there's a small red LED at the bottom left of the box. This was a store-shelf attention-grabber that Logitech used on several models of their mice circa 2001-2002. I've also got some old M-BJ58 mice that had this. On those mice, the batteries had long ago leaked and corroded. I had better luck with this one.

Here you can see the batteries that long-ago powered the red LED. I yanked 'em and chucked 'em so I could save the box.

Here are the docs that came in the box:

Here's the rodent itself, freshly released from captivity:

Unfortunately, you can't see the cool irridescent sheen effect in this picture.

The body of the mouse is superficially identical to the M-BJ58 mice. However, this mouse is USB-only whereas the M-BJ58 models came with a PS2 adapter. I was hoping that I could swap the shell of a white M-BJ58 onto this iFeel mouse so that it would match the beige/white of my IBM NetVista and E74 monitor. Sadly, the guts of the mouse are quite different and I was unable to change its "clothes". At least the irridescent blue color sort-of matches the IBM-Blue of the logos on the computer case.

This mouse works on 32-bit operating systems ONLY!!!
Supposedly, it will even work on Windows 7 32-bit, but I haven't tried that.
Here are all the details. Read more info here.
NOTE: This is a newer combined installer for 32-bit XP/Vista/7. Personally, I used the older Win98/WinME/Win2K/WinXP install procedure that I detail below.

So far, I've tried this mouse on both Win98SE and WinXP on my IBM NetVista A40 with USB v1.1. It works fine. You need at least two software packages to make it all work correctly:
1 - Logitech MouseWare v9.80 (English)
(Other languages are available here)
2 - Immersion's iFeel TouchWare Desktop v2.9
3 - (Optional) - If you're running Office 2000 or maybe 2003, you can try Immersion's iFeel TouchWare Business v1.0

All of the downloads and stuff can be found here.
There are also these instructions, but I didn't need to reinstall Logitech MouseWare as indicated in the 7th step listed there.

So what do I think?
If you're a fan of Logitech's M-BJ58 mice, you'll love this mouse. It's almost the same damn thing, just a bit heavier.
You trade the PS2 compatibility for the Immersion iFeel "force feedback" gimmick. Still, it's a pretty cool and nifty gimmick if you're running a legacy machine. As I mentioned previously, Dan from this review summed things up quite well. I'm still quite happy with the mouse. It is definitely a conversation-starter and I intend to keep it connected to my "public display" legacy IBM NetVista in my living room.

There were only a few games that were designed to work with this mouse, listed here. I've got Black & White, Half-Life, and Shogo. When I get a chance, I'll write back to report how these games work with the mouse.

Edit: PhotoBucket has been threatening to delete my photos for years now. I finally got around to saving them and I've uploaded them here as an attachment, just in case they ever actually make good on their threats. I would have uploaded the photos to Google Drive and replaced the PhotoBucket links, but I can't seem to make it work. Uploading directly to VOGONS won't work since they limit five attachments per post and my original post here has more than five pictures.

Very interesting; didn't even know such a thing existed. At first I thought it was just another M-BT58 (I'm using one right now actually), but the review + etc clarified that. Reminds me amBX - with the force feedback wrist wrest. How is it in games? I'm assuming the clicking/tracking/etc is very similar to the BT58 otherwise.

Now that I think about it. I'm surprised this has not caught on more with the PC gaming mouse crowd. Seems like an obvious fit.

OTOH, it could end up being annoying in first person shooters having your mouse wiggle every time you shoot.

obobskivich wrote:

Very interesting; didn't even know such a thing existed. At first I thought it was just another M-BT58 (I'm using one right now actually), but the review + etc clarified that. Reminds me amBX - with the force feedback wrist wrest. How is it in games? I'm assuming the clicking/tracking/etc is very similar to the BT58 otherwise.

I looked up the M-BT58 mice and they seem identical to the M-BJ58 models. The only difference I can discern is that the buttons match the color of the body on the M-BT58 mice, whereas the buttons on the M-BJ58 mice are grey with either a red, blue, white, or black body.

Aside from all the clicking/thumping/buzzing/whirring, the iFeel mouse performs exactly the same as my M-BJ58 mice. Without the force-feedback effects enabled, I can't tell any difference at all. However, the iFeel mouse is slightly heavier, which I actually prefer.

laxdragon wrote:

Now that I think about it. I'm surprised this has not caught on more with the PC gaming mouse crowd. Seems like an obvious fit.
OTOH, it could end up being annoying in first person shooters having your mouse wiggle every time you shoot.

I tried it out with Half-Life. I only went through the Hazard Course, so I didn't get to do any shooting or battles. You can "feel" Gordon's footsteps as he moves around. You can also "feel" when he lands after jumping or falling. Maybe later I'll try the proper game and see if I can "feel" anything during the meltdown scene.

Hello KT7AGuy - I stumbled on a couple of these new and boxed as with yours for £10 each on an amazon marketplace store - I never saw these in the UK at the time of production, either that or they were VERY poorly published. I think the packaging had a lot to do with that. I can tell you that Half Life and Unreal Tournament (99/2004) are awesome - Black & White is probably the most "special features" optimized game, Battlezone II the most recently patched to support touchsense, and ArmA: Armed Assault (or ArmA I) from 2007 the most recent game I have yet found to directly support the iFeel mouse (if you find any others let me know). I have also created a page about my findings with this mouse at: https://msrepurpose.wordpress.com/featured-one/home/about/ - and I am trying to compile a CD image which has all of the relevant software and games. A contact at Immersion has allowed me to include the full version of TouchWare Gaming in the image.

Wow I had never heard of this before but it looks interesting. looks like I can get them for 15 USD shipped.

betamax80,

Thanks for all your hard work! I'm downloading your disc image now. I wasn't aware that there is a "full" Immersion Software package. I had no idea that the stuff I've been running was a "lite" version. I'll have to try out the package on your disc when it finishes downloading.

Also, I read your comments regarding these mice being 800dpi with some confusion. However, the confusion is to be expected since Logitech was very misleading with both these M-UN58 iFeel mice and the standard M-BJ58 optical mice. AFAIK, they are all 400dpi. Many of the boxes for my M-BJ58 mice have "2X Optical", "Twice as fast", "Twice as accurate", labeled on the front of the box. I think this is where the confusion regarding the sensors on these mice originates. Also, many sites listing specs for these mice state "2x optical sensor up to 800 dpi". So, is that really 800dpi or is it just marketing bullshit from Logitech? All I know for sure is that they feel like 400dpi mice to me.

If you can find something that definitively proves 400dpi or 800dpi, I would be very interested to know.

Rhuwyn,

The same guy I bought mine from still has more for sale, but they're cheaper now: $10 shipped. Also, only the grey one is available now:

http://www.amazon.com/Logitech-930525-0403-iF … e/dp/B00005ASFK

They're very good mice and the seller is legit. Without the special drivers and software, they work just like standard M-BJ58 mice.

Wow, I'd totally forgotten about the iFeel Mouse!

I have its identical looking cousin, the BD58, sitting right here next to me, connected to my retro-tester PC. Its my first optical mouse and I've owned it since ~2000. Still works great!

I replaced the left mouse button (the actual electronic component, not the plastic button) with one a stole out of a brand new Dell ball mouse about 10 years ago. 😀

This August 2001 Logitech press release is the source of my confusion. I don't know how you can tell one from the other etc - and to be honest mine came with the really old 9.21F software CD so I don't know what was going on. I agree it sometimes feels low-resolution. http://www.logitech.com/en-us/press/press-releases/1448.