My website utilises affiliate links when you click my 'Shop the best deal' buttons. If you buy something through one of these links, I may earn a little commission, at no extra cost to you.
Author: P. I.
Rating: 5
Review: I got this ergonomic mouse to try out as it is unique among such devices. The first thing to note is how intuitive it is to use - the top button is a rocker that does left and right click. At the back is a large button for the fingertips, holding this down and moving the mouse backwards or forwards on the desk scrolls the page (there is no scroll wheel). The base forms a rest for the hand and the whole thing is moved around on the desk as opposed to a "joystick" action. This works very well as long as the desk and seat heights match correctly, meaning the forearm has to be level to avoid discomfort. This is in line with official H & S guidelines. At first I thought not having a scroll wheel would be a problem but in practice the button and move the mouse solution has turned out to be less of a bind than expected. I used this with Microsoft Office applications and also tried it with a diagramming tool - it works well in both these use cases. This does come in two sizes so be sure to check which one you need before ordering and my advice would be don't pay too much for it - while it is very good I do not believe it to be worth the money 3M are asking for it at full price!
Author: Jodi W
Rating: 2
Review: I'm a power user, using PC's for 14+ hours a day. This is generally a good mouse, sturdy (though you can see the laser through the joins in the stick plastic, which isn't ideal), and the right thing if you have wrist strain. I bought it because I had a twitchy left mouse button finger, and my finger is better, but it's still not right after 2 weeks - it would probably have recovered quicker if I just used my other hand for a while. This is because at the top of the stick it juts out like a trigger, and so my index finger cannot rest naturally. I find the lack of wheel mouse annoying, and despite it saying there's a third button for scrolling, this is misleading as it is actually mouse button 3, which for some applications (e.g. firefox) that support it will work but not for others (pretty much the same on linux and winXP - it's paste for most linux apps). The only way it could is if there was specific support provided by a driver, but there's no driver (this could just be my set up as noted below I use several mice on my machines and swap them frequently). And it can be very easy to hit this button, depending on how you grip it. This can force your hand to be in positions that aren't always comfortable or able to get fine precision control over movement. Beware if you intend to use it as a 2nd mouse because you can't set different settings for it from your other mice (known limitation of winXP - linux you may be able to if you know the ins and outs of Xorg configs) - so I tend to find that it needs more acceleration than my other mice, meaning I have to pick it up and set down again. This can be pretty bad for games like Empire Total War on 1920x1200. This issue also makes it hard to do fine movements - so I tend to find it actually more strain to do these. The feet that raise it off the mouse mat are a little sharp on the edges and so can dig into your mouse mat (I use canvas-faced mats), and collect crud which cause bad tracking. And if given the choice, I would've waited for a wireless version, again because I use numerous mice, though this could be a trade-off with weight/bulk that might not work for this mouse design. I chose this because it is a lightweight mouse - I thought the Microsoft vertical mice would force you to keep using your index finger for left-clicking and would be a heavier mouse (it seems very large), though this is speculative opinion, I have no actual experience of any other vertical mouse than the 3M.
