Kurt Shintaku's Blog

Yes, I’m writing about… a mouse.  Normally, I’m of the opinion that one computer mouse is just like any other.  One mouse, wireless or not, is just another human interface device for my computer.

This is a different kind of mouse.  It really is.  First of all, it’s got that "laser" technology that we’ve been heralding.  Now, admitted until this point, I’d never actually used a mouse with this "laser" technology.  Most of the mice I’ve used are those optical mice that have red image cameras under them that we introduced a few years back that revolutionized the mouse industry. 

THE RISE OF THE OPTICAL MOUSE
With the introduction of the optical mouse, the mouse all of a sudden didn’t get "dirty" and you didn’t have to "clean the mouse ball" with acetone or anything anymore.  The other benefit of the optical mouse was that it took 400 snapshots of what was under the mouse at any given time making it fairly accurate and precise.

The problem was that a) you couldn’t use the mouse on any relatively reflective surface making it useless against glossy surfaces (creating a cottage industry for mouse pads) and b) the mouse really wasn’t THAT precise.  It was an improvement over the mouse ball however it had the tendency to subtlely frustrate people without them even knowing it.  The optical mouse isn’t as precise as you’d like to believe it is… it tends to be a little difficult to point precisely to exact locations on the screen.  For example, if you need to place your mouse right between two characters in a word – have you ever noticed that it’s something of a chore?

INTRODUCING LASER TECHNOLOGY BASED MICE
But now they have this new laser technology that takes 1000 snapshots of what is under the mouse.  This creates precision that really does make it easier to point "precisely" at things.  Being able to position your mouse between those two characters is a piece of cake now.

And to compliment the precision of the laser camera, the scroll wheel is silky smooth with exacting precision as well.  Unlike many mice which "rumble click" each time you roll it, this scroll wheel smoothly glides along as you scroll it and it does so with amazing exacting precision on the screen.  It’s hard to explain until you actually try it.

And of course the mouse has the standard notebook features:

• Bluetooth integration (the device doesn’t have a pairing key)
• Bluetooth USB transciever
• Secondary left & right mouse buttons
• AAA-battery powered
• On & off switch

BUT THE PRESENTER PART?
But mouse also has Powerpoint clickers under neath it along with a laser pointer built into it.  Yep, you can walk around with the mouse in front of a crowd and click through the slides remotely. 

If you look at the top of the mouse, you can see a tiny button right below the scroll wheel.  This switches the mode of the mouse from "laptop mouse" to "remote presentation tool" and disables either the "left/right click" buttons on the top of the mouse or disables the "Powerpoint" buttons under the mouse.

Once you’re in "Powerpoint" mode, you have the opportunity use any of the buttons under the mouse and they include:

• Next slide
• Previous slide
• Volume up
• Volume down
• Blank/Hide Powerpoint screen
• Laser pointer

…and meanwhile, the buttons atop the mouse are disabled so you don’t have to worry about their impact on the desktop.

The mouse is available for about $80 which makes it pricey but for once, I have to admit, it was worth every penny I paid for it.  (And yes, I had to pay for mine)  If there are customer’s of mine that present Powerpoint decks a lot that would be interested in trying one of these out, let me know:  I’m not BS’ing you – this is really quite a revolutionary device for notebook users.