Design and Installation
Arc Touch Mouse is made of a flexible rubbery material with a wonderful grippy finish. When you open the package, you would find the mouse which resembles a slab of plastic and nothing like a typical mouse you know of. At the back, you would find a nano-transceiver which is magnetically attached to the mouse. You would need to take out the nano-transceiver and attach it to your preferred USB port. Once you have done this, just snap back the flattened mouse to its curvy shape and that would power it on.
On turning on the mouse, you will see a green light on top which indicates the battery level (it turns amber when the battery is low). You will also see the BlueTrack light at the bottom. The BlueTrack technology ensures that you can use the arc touch mouse virtually on any kind of surface. Having my PC sent for repair, meant testing the Arc Touch Mouse on my iMac! No, Microsoft doesn’t support Arc Touch Mouse on Mac, but Parallels Desktop came to the rescue. The installation was simple and straightforward. There were no drivers to be installed on top of Windows 7. The mouse was instantly recognized and sprung into action.
The Mouse has all the standard buttons as you would expect including the left and right click buttons. In addition to these, it comes with a unique strip which handles your scrolling operations. The touch-sensitive strip has vibration feedback and accelerated scrolling features, which will surely appeal to most of the users.
Usage
Not many would love the Microsoft Arc Touch mouse, the very first time they use it. Not because it lacks the features, it is because of the design. Microsoft has ergonomically designed the Arc Touch mouse ensuring that it is bigger than the usual mice. But it will take a lot of time to get used to. Once you get used to it, you will realize that the mouse fits into your palm and helps to fight the Carpal Tunnel Syndrome. It is true that there are bigger and better mice like the Microsoft Explorer series, but Arc Touch is a better choice if you travel often. Once flattened, it can fit into your bag or even your pocket, unlike those bulky mice. I have seen many who have tried Arc Touch mouse for a while whining about how badly designed it is and they are not comfortable working with it for a long time. I agree to an extent. But many ergonomic designs don’t appeal for the first time. You have to use it a lot to get used to it. This is precisely why I say “It is not something you want, but something you need“.
Final Take
This mouse isn’t for you if you don’t travel often. It takes a while to get used to the design of Arc Touch Mouse, but it has lot of adorable features which makes me suggest to frequent travelers. Arc Touch or not, it is very important that you buy a mouse which is ergonomically designed. Pros:
Unique flexible design Great for frequent travelers Ergonomically designed BlueTrack technology ensures slick usage on any surface Touch based scrip for scrolling
Cons:
Pricey – costs around $55 (or Rs 3425) Takes time to get used to Dependency on USB transceiver Dirt Magnet
Note: Unit received for Review
