Average Reviews:
(More customer reviews)I have repetitive stress injury from computer use for more than a dozen years now, and wanted to try this product out from the time I first saw it online several years ago. The concept is a good one and this is a great device that lived up to my expectations. I bought this for home use a couple weeks ago and now hope to get one for work as well (the connection on my Intellimouse explorer just gave out last week - a cable bent too many times?).
The VerticalMouse lets your hand assume a completely neutral, relaxed position. Yes, it can potentially make a dramatic difference if you get hand pain from using a conventional mouse. It is taller than it is wide, however nearly all the weight is at the bottom to keep a low center of gravity and I do not ever feel like it might tip over. Like the Kensington ExpertMouse, they've nailed the button click responsiveness just right. There are three buttons plus a scroll wheel on the right side and a single thumb-click button on the left.
I have tried out many mice and trackballs over the years and this mouse takes it's place alongside the Kensington Expert Mouse and the Kinesis Contoured keyboard as my all-time top choices for ergonomic computer input devices (I have used my other two favs daily for over a dozen years along with trying out the feel of dozens of others). I have used both the Microsoft intellimouse and Logitech trackman marble extensively, however I consider VerticalMouse far better than either of these. Most of the time a computer mouse requires you to turn your hand palm-down, which causes more strain in your hand and forearm than the natural and neutral position your hand takes when it hangs at your side (palm sideways, facing towards your body). I often carve slanted pieces of foam rubber wristrests to tip a trackball or mousepad at an angle which improves this somewhat. For the same reason the Microsoft Intellimouse has some tilt built into it which is an improvement. However the Vertical Mouse tips a full 90 degrees and the result is so much better.
This wireless version uses a quite small USB receiver (barely over 1/2 in wide, 1.5 inches long, and 1/4 in thick) which is small enough it does not block any USB ports right next to it. The receiver flashes a small blue light to indicate when it is receiving signals of hand movement. I have plugged the USB receiver into a Belkin laptop 4-port USB hub (rather than directly into one of the laptop's USB ports) and there are no problems so far with my MacBook recognizing the device at startup or any other time (I have occasionally had problems at work with mouse drivers not recognizing an input device if it is plugged into a USB hub rather than directly into the computer).
It is deceptive that the description for this device says it is compatible with both Mac and PC, because when I opened the packaging I discovered there is no included software for the Mac. One of two shareware products are available online which allow Macs to program the buttons. This needs to be clearly described when I purchase the product that unlike a Windows PC owner, a Mac user may have to pay another $20 for shareware product on top of paying $110 for the hardware. I downloaded USB Overdrive and it has worked great.
What's more, the included software for the PC is on a mini-CD, and if your computer does not handle these size of discs then you may have difficulty reading the included software even if you use Windows. I expect the software is available for download from the manufacturer's website if this is a problem. The CD drive on my MacBook does not have a platter that comes out of the computer, and I had to use a plastic zip-tie to safely to carefully prod it back out of my CD drive slot without risk of scratching something in the process.
Aside from the misrepresentation about Mac compatibility and the mini-CD for included software, this is an excellent, innovative piece of design which appears to be well-built. I have the right-handed wireless version. The corded version is also available in a left-hand design - I am not sure whether or not a left-handed option is available for the wireless version. The topmost button must remain programmed to be a single click. Using USB Overdrive I have programmed the top and bottom buttons to both be single clicks (hey - this allows me to trade off fingers), the middle button is a double click, and the thumb button is a click-and-drag.
I will put rechargeable batteries in when the first set wears out. Otherwise a new set every 3 months wastes a lot of batteries. I knew this device ate batteries from the manufacturer's website when I bought it (unlike the shareware issue which was not mentioned anywhere...). However I really liked the idea of being able to remotely control DVD movies played on my MacBook to be displayed on a flatscreen monitor or TV. Because of the blue indicator light on the USB receiver, it should be more obvious when batteries are fading compared with other wireless input devices I've used before with some frustrating experiences.
Bottom line: this one might seem pricey compared to a lot of other input devices out there but like the Kensington expert mouse, it is worth it for the high quality - particularly if you have a repetitive stress injury or any hand-pain that might be the early signs of one developing. The corded version is a more reasonable $60-70 on Amazon. This is a case where you get what you pay for, and given how many hours I spend on a computer every week, I consider the extra $20-60 for a top-notch design and responsive clicks to be a small price compared with the effects of hand pain from extensive computer use.
Click Here to see more reviews about: Evoluent VerticalMouse 3 - Mouse - optical - 5 button(s) - wireless - 2.4 GHz - USB wireless receiver
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