New Mouse - Rocket Mouse

[winwintoo]

Hi all - I saw this new mouse reviewed in the newspaper when I was in Houston last month and was very intrigued with it. Couldn't find in the the stores - turns out it's not yet available in stores - but I got an email ad about it this morning and thought some of you might be interested.

I ordered one to use with my laptop - when it arrives, I'll let you know how it works.

http://www.rocketmouse.com/

Take care, Margaret

[Stephen M]

Margaret, I have reservations about this device - but if you are not going to do much work with it then it may be OK.

I think your thumb will get tired very quickly with any serious GUI usage of this device.

[turn your current non optical mouse upside down and give your thumb some exercise with the ball...do you like it? Then answer that after a full day of work]

I have had the unfortunate experience to use a desktop trackball that was thumb driven and the rest of the fingers of the same hand were for the buttons. This was for a CD burning computer sitting on top of a filing cabinet (so space was limited for mousing)...it lasted a couple of weeks before a regular mouse was put back in place, even if the area is cramped at least everyone is happy now and no more sore thumbs!

Anyway - I hope you like this device, it has just been my limited experience that many do not like thumb driven input, even for short periods of time.

Stephen Marsh.

[winwintoo]

Thanks for the information Stephen - I had wondered about thumb fatigue too, but I will only be using it when I'm sitting in my easy chair in front of the tv and surfing the net at the same time LOL My son does lots of presentations using his laptop too so he may find it useful for that.

For anything serious, I have my Graphire tablet and a couple of other really good ergonomic mouses (mice??) that I use on my desktop machine and I've found it beneficial to change off periodically as each one has a slightly different feel.

Mostly, I can't resist a new gadget - it will likely end up in the back of the storage room with all the other useless (but had to have) junk....

Take care,
Margaret

[winwintoo]

Rocket Mouse Update

This morning I picked up my new Rocket Mouse and thought I'd update you all.

First off is the price - I got an email offering the thing to me for $29.99 USD, but I was charged $39.99 plus $8.95 shipping and handling. Convert that to Canadian dollars, and it's closer to $80. Then I paid $14 duty at the post office. Now I have a brand new $100 mouse, but the packaged didn't contain anything except the mouse - no cd, no instructions - nada.

The good news is that it doesn't need any drivers - plug it in and it works.

Well "works" is optimistic. When you roll the ball, the pointer does move and when you click the "left mouse button" which is located on the inside curve of the devise, you get the expected left mouse button operation.

On the top of the mouse there are two more buttons - one seems to be the "right mouse button" but I can't find anything to tell me what the other button is for but it doesn't seem to do anything.

So if it works, what am I complaining about? Well it's easy to hold on to when you're just rolling the ball - you're supposed to stick your index finger into the middle of it - so far so good. The problem arises when you try to hold the left mouse button and move the ball at the same time - click and drag. The thing is so small there is nothing to get a grip on to do this two-fingered operation.

By trial and error I found that if I put my "saluting finger" in the opening instead of my index finger it's a bit easier to hang on to.

On the plus side, it's not a bad idea if you're doing presentations etc. or using your laptop on your lap as opposed to on a table or desk - you hold it in your hand so it doesn't need a flat surface to operate on.

Maybe I can sell it on eBay

Take care, Margaret

[G. Couch]

Margaret - I would be more than a little angry if I were you...$100 and it has no CD or instructions!? Can you send it back?...the website does say - "The RocketMouse comes with a 30-day money-back satisfaction guarantee!"

If you get a chance post a review in our new review's section.

[chris h]

Either that or put it in a glass case on the mantlepiece M!!!

[winwintoo]

I don't want to be reminded of my mistakes so it won't be going on the mantle - it will end up in the back of the storage room with the 1200 BAUD modem that I paid $300 for and the black only printer that I paid $700 for and the Mac Classic computer that cost me $2400.

The more I use this thing, the more I learn about it. I find that I can use it better with my left hand (I'm right handed).

Take care, Margaret

[DJ Dubovsky]

Thanks for passing on your costly experience Margaret. I does look like it would be a nice mouse but I too have found out that looks good doesn't always mean works good. We had bought the track ball a long while back and couldn't control that thing for the life of us. Yet I know of people who love track balls but it went back to the store 2 days after we got it. If I were you, I would call the company for Return Authorization number and ship that silly thing back. You could at least get some of your money back. At any rate you may have saved others from a costly mistake by taking the time to share your experience with us.
DJ

[BigAl]

Using a trackball takes a lot of practice. I'm reasonably adept at using it as there's one on my wife's PC (which has the CD-writer and the film scanner attached). She uses it to play games by holding it on her lap and using her left thumb (she's a lefty) to roll the ball and her right thumb to click. In the lab at work I have trackball keyboards (more difficult to steal than mice). Those work with the right index finger to roll the ball and the left index finger to click (the buttons are below the left Alt-key on a PC keyboard and the ball where the arrow keys are on a normal keyboard). In my experience, this keyboard trackball is far more accurate than a mouse.

I'd go with everyone else's comments though: if you're uncomfortable with a trackball, send it back.

[LactoBeeZor]

I have been using one of these devices on my laptop for about 6 mnts now. The one I use is almost exactly like the rocket atcept for color and is mades by "Fellowes" and purchased at "Staples".

It does take a little bit of time to get used to using but is much better than the touch pad mouse on my laptop. Doesn't bother my thumb a bit and I am 42 yrs of age.

My 2cents;

[winwintoo]

In fairness to the people that make the RocketMouse, I have to chime in again to say that I'm learning how to use it and the more I use it the better I like it!

The only disappointment now is that I found out the mystery button (that doesn't do anything for me) is supposed to turn the trackball into a scroll wheel. It doesn't work on my Macintosh, and I haven't heard from them yet if I have a faulty device or if it just doesn't work on Mac.

Thanks BigAl for telling me that using a trackball takes practice. I was thinking that maybe I was just too uncoordinated to make it work but you're right, the more I use it, the easier it is.

Take care, Margaret