Laptops come with a built-in mechanism for controlling on-screen cursor movement. Usually this comprises a touch-sensitive pad that sits below the keyboard and buttons that replicate the functions of left and right mouse buttons. Your laptop may even have an additional rocker that duplicates the functions of a mouse's scroll wheel. But these devices can be pesky to use, and you have to be right on top of the laptop to use them, which makes it difficult to share your screen when giving a presentation or collaborating with colleagues.

A regular mouse can overcome these issues, but its relatively large size and the fact that you have to carry both it and its cable connector around can become irksome. Belkin has addressed both these issues with the MiniWireless Optical Mouse, a wireless device that communicates with your laptop using radio technology (RF).

Other wireless mice are available that use Bluetooth, but you might want to keep that channel free for other purposes, so RF is ideal. The MiniWireless Optical Mouse is small, too, and is about a third of the size (87x48mm) of a standard mouse. It's powered by two AAA batteries and there is power switch on its underside which you can use to help preserve battery power. The mouse connects to your laptop via the matching USB RF receiver.

Getting the mouse to work is straightforward. There's driver software to install, but the instruction booklet intuitively walks you through this process. After installing the driver and restarting your laptop, the MiniWireless Optical Mouse should be operational. The range is quoted as 91cm, and reception faded as soon as we exceeded that limit. This isn't a huge distance by any means, and the location of the USB port into which the RF receiver slots may affect how far from your laptop you can travel, but Belkin provides a 120cm extension cable for the USB wireless receiver to help extend the range further.

The optical sensor on the mouse reads movement by bouncing data back from all but the most reflective surfaces (glass included), which means that unlike a ball mouse it doesn't need a mat - great news for frequent flyers. Left and right buttons are complemented by a tiny scroll wheel.

Once set up and operational, the MiniWireless Optical Mouse performs effortlessly. The only thing that counts against it is, ironically, its diminutive size, which you might find a little uncomfortable if you've got relatively large hands.

BIOS, Aug 20, 03 | Print | Send | Comments (0) | Posted In Input device