Possibly could have been eric. TBH I didnt really pay that much attention, just knew they were available. The reason why I discounted them was because of the size of the attatchment that would come out of the side of the usb port.
I think the main thing to remember (or for me at least) is that the usb port is on the right hand side of the laptop. Anything you stick in there is going to get in your way (or it does for me) when you use the mouse.. or just in general.
The reason why Ive gone through a few mice is that the wire where it joins the usb plug has got damaged.
(This has happened on 1 M$ mouse and 2 logitechs in just one year).
Bearing in mind that cable is flexible and will bend at this point.. I'd hate to think what it would be like if I kept a usb stick or anything bigger in that port all the time.
If you use your lappy on a desk or table then you probably wont notice this.. but as you know I relied on the lappy quite a lot last year, and if you use it on your knees whilst sat on the sofa then its much more likely to become a problem.
The ports on your lappy may not be in the same place as mine (also an Acer) - but try sticking a usb pen drive in the port to see if it could become a PITA if you need to plug something in there for the cordless receiver. It may be ok on yours, but if you start to knock the pen drive whilst moving the mouse around you may have the same problems that I did.
As astral says, a short lead would be the best solution, but I dont think Ive ever seen one of those