Building a better mouse

March 28, 2006 (Computerworld) Occasionally, I get a tingling feeling sitting in front of a computer, but it's not from excitement about the hardware. My hands, wrists and shoulders start to ache when I've been at it too long, a sign that a repetitive stress injury could be on the horizon.

While ergonomic keyboards, wrist supports and taking occasional breaks are among recommended measures that can help cut down on the risk, another option worth a look is Contour Design Inc.'s RollerMouse Pro, which sells for $199.

Essentially, it's a wrist support with mouse controls built in. The theory is that if you're not constantly forced to reach over and grip a mouse for hours on end, there will be less wear and tear on the body.

I recently test-drove a RollerMouse Pro and concluded that Contour has indeed built a better mouse, although initially it's a little tricky to use.

Like other wrist supports, the RollerMouse Pro slips underneath your keyboard. There's a cutout in the gel pad that contains buttons and a scroll wheel, as well as a scroll bar along the top edge that controls the cursor. It's designed to work with straight-edge keyboards; the split curved styles won't properly snug up against the wrist support.

The RollerMouse Pro from Contour Design Inc. slips underneath your keyboard.

Setup literally took less than two minutes. You snap the two halves of the RollerMouse together, slip it under a keyboard and plug it in to a Universal Serial Bus or PS2 port (adapter included). Windows XP Pro automatically installed the device on my machine, and it was ready to go.

The RollerMouse Pro works with Windows ME or higher, or Mac OS 8.6 or higher. (Note that the PS2 connection may require a driver download to fully function.)

A skimpy user guide included in the box covers the basics. The main thing it's lacking is any kind of diagram or advice about how to position your hands over the RollerMouse and keyboard.

See the company's Web site for an animation covering this important detail, because there's definitely a learning curve involved. Initially, I did quite a bit of flailing around because I wasn't sure which fingers to use to control the RollerMouse's unusual scroll bar and five buttons.

The buttons can be configured to work in one of three modes (Standard, Internet, Driver) via a dip switch on the bottom of the device. I left it at the default Internet setting, which enables two buttons to function as back and forward and is great for Web browsing. Three other oversize buttons handle left and right click and auto-scroll. The RollerMouse Pro can be operated with either hand.

The oversized buttons handle left and right clicks and auto-scroll.

Once I got the hang of the scroll bar, I had to give it two thumbs up for one-handed control of the cursor. It quickly and smoothly rolled up and down as well as left and right. Depressing slightly on the bar produces a left click. A tension-control knob located under the unit adjusts the amount of pressure needed to click.

Using a feature called "end detection," you can easily reposition the cursor by simply pushing the bar left or right until it clicks. While you can change the cursor speed using your operating system's mouse control panel, I didn't find it was necessary.

Web browsing with the RollerMouse Pro was zippy, but typing was another matter. Even though there's no reaching for a mouse and your hands remain close to the keyboard, I still found myself slowed down. While I could control the scroll bar with my thumbs when I was typing, I still had to move a hand off the keyboard to click or use the scroll wheel, albeit a shorter distance.

There's also the mental effort of trying to remember not to reach over for a mouse or deciding which hand or fingers to use on the RollerMouse. To speed up the adjustment, I eventually had to go cold turkey and hide my Bluetooth mouse to keep from grabbing it when the RollerMouse felt difficult or slow to use.

To test the RollerMouse Pro's "fine motor skills" I fired up an image-editing program and touched up a few photos. It performed better than I expected, on par with a "regular" mouse.

Ironically, I didn't find the gel pads on the RollerMouse Pro particularly comfortable. The company does sell an add-on called the RollerWave ($39.95) that expands the wrist rest surface, but after paying $200 for the RollerMouse, that seems a bit like adding insult to injury.

That said, it certainly doesn't pay to be a cheapskate if using your computer is literally a pain. The RollerMouse Pro gets high marks for an innovative design. The withdrawal from your old mouse may be painful, but it's short-lived and worth it if it can help to prevent long-term injury.

Michelle Johnson is a freelance writer in Boston. Her e-mail address is mijohn@mail-me.com.