Of mice and…mice

After a few weeks of using the Arc Touch Mouse I decided it was high time I posted a review. Stephen Williams’ NY Times post that included a review of the Arc Touch alongside the Air Mouse Elite reminded me.

I’m a big fan of the Arc Mouse so was keen to see what was different with the Arc Touch. Quite a lot is the answer. Though it retains the arc shape and is a similar size, the similarities end there. The Arc Touch folds completely flat and is not much thicker than the two AAA batteries that drive it. The design is subtle and thankfully free from intrusive logos (a small Microsoft logo sits at the back of the mouse and is black on black). Most people initially thought the Arc Touch was going head to head with the Apple Magic Mouse and while their prices are similar, they’re different beasts (or rodents). The Magic Mouse has gesture and multitouch features whereas the Arc Touch is focused on providing a mouse that travels well by packing flat but still delivers the essence of a mouse. The scroll wheel is what surprises most people as the small silverish strip between the two buttons has haptic feedback. When you give the mouse to someone and point this out, they typically spend the next 2 or 3 minutes running their finger in an almost erotic way up and down the strip and accompanying with oooh’s and ahhh’s.

Actually the first reaction when you give the Arc Touch to people is they think it’s a phone which probably says more about our fascination with phones than it does the design of the mouse.

Overall, I like the Arc Touch a lot. It takes a little time to get used to the scroll wheel but the feel of the mouse is lovely in the hand. Very comfortable albeit I haven’t used for extended periods – I mainly use a Comfort Mouse 4000 at home. The Arc Touch is light, super responsive thanks to BlueTrack. The nano transceiver snaps to the bottom of the mouse using magnets to keep it in place…which means it’s a little susceptible to being knocked off but given it’s usually in my bag, it just means finding it beneath the dust in the bottom (of the bag). One thing I’d love to see is a small carry case for the mouse…something as simple as an Oakley style sunglass case, which is what I use for it at the moment.

summary of all that, I’m giving the Arc Touch Mouse an 8.5 out of 10.

ps: all the mice noted above knock socks off the new Porsche mouse. uggh