Genius loves messing about with mice and already has an extensive catalogue of models for gamers. The NetScroll G500 is a ‘gaming grade' laser mouse and so enters this market, though its minimalist design paints it as more of an all-round solution.

Laser tracking is certainly more efficient than optical but, aside from the DPI switch, there's nothing particularly fancy about the controls. Standard left and right buttons and a scroll wheel is your lot and considering it is also trying to appeal to gamers, we're disappointed not to see at least a couple of additional buttons on the exterior.

Genius doesn't often introduce a peripheral into a specialist market without at least one or two tricks up its sleeve, though, and the G500 does take a rather innovative approach to adding weight to improve responsiveness and comfort.

Instead of building removable weights into the bottom, the mouse itself is hollow and inside is a spring-loaded support designed to house coins. It's wide and deep enough to handle six two-pence pieces (which would add around 42g) but the device is so light anyway we'd imagine most people would pack these in as standard.

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The aforementioned resolution switch cycles between 2000, 1600 and 800 DPI and uses different colours to indicate the current setting. It also comes with a lengthy 1.8m USB cable so should offer plenty of flexibility.

We were actually quite pleased with the comfort levels and precision in a Windows environment. The buttons and scroll wheel feel solid and responsive and adding weight does make a bit of a difference, depending on whether you prefer a lighter or a heavier mouse.

In a gaming environment it offers smooth movement and obviously the added bonus of adjusting the resolution for sniper-shots/close combat fighting. While the relatively small difference in DPI means that the effect pales in comparison to more dedicated peripherals, there is a noticeable change that does make quick adjustments worthwhile.

Supplied with the mouse is Genius' ioCentre software, though in truth this is mostly redundant for a device of this type. Aside from standard adjustments such as click speed and movement speed, only the middle-click is configurable to any of a range of system functions and, with no other controls available, this doesn't leave a lot of room for customising.

Despite the basic nature of the G500 and relative lack of controls, we were impressed by how comfortable it was to use, the clever way you can add a bit of weight and the fact that there are at least some limited resolution adjustments available. It'd be a good choice for the casual gamer since it also performs well in a Windows environment, and for just £20 it's pretty good value as well.