Microsoft Touch Mouse Review: Mouse with a clever Touch

[siopao1984]

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Microsoft Touch Mouse Review: Mouse with a clever Touch by VR-Zone.com

The Microsoft Touch Mouse was introduced in Singapore, in August this year. The stylish, elegant mouse claims to work with Windows 7 operating system and is capable to handle scrolling, minimizing/maximizing, and docking with finger gestures. VR-Zone managed to get one for this review and see how well the Microsoft Touch Mouse works.



This Microsoft mouse should come with a warning: Swiping is addictive. This is a wireless Mouse with a different Touch — in more ways than one. Peep closely and you can see the notches of the capacitive sensors embedded on top of the device. Our review unit came in a standard retail box with bundled accessories including a USB nano receiver, two AA-size batteries, base cover, USB cable and the product and setup guides.

[siopao1984]

Installation was quick and easy, with barely a snag. Well, truth be told, I had to download and install the drivers when nothing happened the very first time I plugged in the USB Nano transceiver — but it was a smooth ride all the way after that. Thanks to the BlueTrack technology, the Touch Mouse also worked well on different kinds of surfaces, from wooden tabletops to a plastic tablecloth.



The key selling point of the Microsoft Touch Mouse is the handy gesture control, and yes, it delivers the goods for the most part. You can indeed do away with the touchpad if you’re a notebook PC user. (And for desktop users, it’s like having the benefit of an additional touchpad for scrolling and hopping windows without needing to lift your fingers away from the mouse).

The surface works somewhat like a laptop's touch pad, allowing you to scroll up and down Web pages or Microsoft Word documents with one finger. With two fingers, you can pan from whichever window you’re working in to peek at the desktop, and back again. Swipe with three fingers, and you can toggle between all the different windows that are still open. In a nutshell, gestures work well most of the time — kudos to whatever mojo that’s been hidden in Microsoft’s gesture recognition technology. However, do note that the Microsoft Touch Mouse is designed for Windows 7 operating system, and so, if you are using the older Windows OS, it will only work like a normal mouse without the multi-touch functionality.


Three fingers swipe allows you to toggle among the opened windows easily

I admit, I was sceptical at first — after all, a mouse is a mouse, right, so what’s the fuss about touch controls on the mouse? But any notebook user will soon realise the Touch Mouse’s convenience and forget about using the computer’s touchpad — not when swiping the Touch Mouse is fun. Yes, very fun.

In fact, you might have to stop yourself from mindless swiping or gesturing on the Touch Mouse especially if you have trigger-happy fingers. In my case, I had no major issues even when repeatedly clicking the left or right mouse buttons, moving the mouse around in a rough manner — that is, I suffered no accidental actions triggered by the mouse misinterpreting my hand actions.



Read more: Microsoft Touch Mouse Review: Mouse with a clever Touch by VR-Zone.com

[siopao1984]

So performance-wise as a Mouse for navigating documents, switching between active windows or browsing Web pages, there is really nothing you can fault this device for. Compared to the special edition Halo wireless mouse (also from...you’ve guessed it….Microsoft), it is a shade more comfortable to rest your palm on, for hours at a time. Again, the main catch is that it works best when you’re running Windows 7, so folks with older PCs running previous versions of Windows might want to consider upgrading your OS just to play with this Mouse. Also, if you’re the sort who wants to customise the mouse to no end for playing FPS games, for instance, or to automate certain functions, the Touch Mouse is not the droid you are looking for.

But for everyone else willing to forget about DPIs and what not, this is one sleek and sexy Microsoft hardware that has both style and substance. Plus, it really perks up the mundane tasks of everyday computing. This one is a keeper. Just be sure others don’t swipe your Touch Mouse out of jealousy.

Microsoft Touch Mouse
Price: S$99 approx 3,500 pesos
Available at authorised retailrs including Challenger



Pros
- Excellent touch/gesture controls
- Response is fluid and quick
- Truly ergonomic and comfortable to hold, great for using for hours at a stretch


Cons
- Windows 7 is mandatory to enjoy this device
- Not for customisation or gaming

Overall rating:-

[eXpLoDe]

ka w0w sa price. pwede naman e compare sa gaming mouse.

[nekkabhabes]

nice lagi ni.. mura man phantom.. hehehehe nice find sir

[jack_cool]

nindut da mura man sa MAC na mouse

[cointoss]

mura mag bakukang ... i like the idea of using ordinary battery ky sa built-in because aside from its very easy to acquire if ilisan, it adds weight to the mouse.