2.4G Wireless Motormouse
Company: Motormouse
Price: $49.95
http://www.motor-mouse.net/
Every once in a while, I see a product that just makes me smile, and this is one of those products. Computer mice have become so boring and predictable, and admit it, they are just not very much fun. Sure, Apple has created some new, novel, and very cool mice, and Microsoft has some great multifunction devices as well, but they are still boring mice in the end.
But Motormouse wants to change all that. Now you can put a sports car on your desk, and while you drive it around your desktop, it drives your mouse pointer around the screen. Motormouse is a well crafted classic sports car design with a lot of excellent detail. When you insert the batteries for example, the front and back lights flash, reminding one of unlocking a car with the remote. The paint finish, which comes in red, black, silver, and blue is a high quality metallic paint, and the chrome wheels add a nice sporty touch as well. This little gadget just looks cool sitting on the desk, and most people will not even know it is a mouse.
To get started, you open the trunk hatch, and insert two AAA batteries (included.) There is also space in the trunk to store the small 2.4 Ghz wireless receiver when not in use. But to use the mouse, just insert that small receiver into any USB port. No software is needed. The hood of the car has right and left mouse buttons, and the extra wide scroll wheel is a third button as well. Simple press the right button to “wake up the mouse” and you are ready to “roll”, so to speak.
OK, I hear you saying it may be cool looking, but just how good of a mouse is it?
Well, surprisingly, it is quite good. I find it fits my hand comfortably, and is easy to move about, and I love not having a wire as well. The wheels are there for show only; the mouse actually slides about your desk on four small shiny little tabs on the bottom. While the tires may be real rubber, they are not actually functional, which is a good thing since it would not move sideways very well if they did roll. Mouse response was typical of any optical mouse, and I had no problems with that at all as it was responsive and accurate. The large scroll wheel (they call it a spare tire) is easy to scroll, and the larger size makes it reach.
Battery life seems fairly good as well, as the mouse “sleeps” when not in use fairly quickly. This means a right click might be needed (which is not passed on to the computer) to wake it up if you have not been using it for a while. I was also impressed that the mouse will not turn on unless the small receiver is connected to the computer, further extending the life of the batteries, especially while in transit. Range on the wireless signal was more than sufficient, even for my desktop computer hiding under my desk.
The only problem I encountered was a small reduction in my 802.11 signal strength when the mouse was connected. The wireless mouse uses the same 2.4 GHz band for its signal, and may be causing some small interference. However, this was only a problem when I was at the far range edge of my 802.11 router. Connecting the mouse at that time caused me to loose connection. However, as I moved closer, the problem seemed to go away.
As I said before, there are LEDs (yellow) in the headlights and taillights, but they only seem to come on when you insert the batteries. Seems odd to add the LEDs but not make them turn on at any other time. But for the life of me, I am stumped on how to do that, if at all. What a waste of LEDs.
Overall though, this is a cool looking toy, works well as a mouse, and confuses people when I grab it and move it around my desk. I guess if I made “varooommmm, varooommmm” sounds when I did that, it might explain some things! Or maybe not.
Pros: Good looking, high quality mouse.
Cons: Seems to interfere with 802.11 at times,
MyMac Rating: 9 out of 10
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Looks like a very fun mouse. Would make a fun holiday gift!