This Mouse Has the Biggest Cheese: The Eclipse Touchmouse
Never in all of all years did we imagine we’d used the word “sexy” to describe a mouse. Sure, we’ve called knives sexy, and toaster ovens, and once a vacuum cleaner, but a mouse? Usually that word is synonymous with cars or LBDs. We have to give accolades to Eclipse for designing their ergonomically shaped mouse complete with a sleek, brushed aluminum finish. This sexy (yes, we said it) mouse has all the bells and whistles, like Bluetooth connectivity and 1600dpi laser technology, and to top it all off it’s powered by a single AA battery!
We knew eventually that Windows users would demand their own touch-sensitive mouse, especially after the Apple Magic Mouse hit the market in 2009. Eclipse heard the cry and the touchmouse soon followed. Mac users can rejoice as well as Windows users, as this mouse currently works with Mac OS 10.5, Windows 7, Vista, and XP.
Just like mom always said, good looks are nice but it’s whats on the inside that counts, right? We tested the touchmouse out on different surfaces to see how it responds to different textures. It did fine on wood but not so well on glass, which is no big surprise, and for the sake of science we also gave it a run on granite and a cardboard box. What we were able to conclude is that as long as the surface is sufficiently opaque the mouse does well.
The touchmouse’s exceptional module grants you the ease of use correlated with a standard horizontal scrolling tilt wheel. It couples with the precision of a notebook track pad. The touchscroll module’s default mode offers four-way on-screen scrolling for discerning navigation, activated by simply moving your finger forward or backward on your choice of web pages. The quicktouch technology provides you with a host of spontaneous accessible commands which are obtained through a combination of mouse button and movements. For instance, we were able to move back and forward through web pages just by pressing and holding the touchscroll module and moving the mouse in one of four directions. (Those who use Opera as their web browser will immediately recognize and love this function.) The touchmouse has a slight learning curve. It is sensitive to the even the lightest touch and it’s easy to accidentally activate the “auto-scroll” device that the mouse is equipped with. With that said, after a week of using, we felt like old pros.
We happily welcome this sexy mouse to be a part of our household. You can purchase online at Amazon for around $42. Not bad considering this mouse doesn’t nibble your food and is compatible with nearly all operating systems.
