Once again let us remind you, each one
of these mice have one thing in common: They were designed
for people that want to take care of themselves, for people
that work at computers all day and/or people that already
suffer from RSI.
Simplicity is usually an important
factor for many people when they are choosing
technology-related products. The easiest mouse to adjust to
is the VerticalMouse 2 from Evoluent (obviously the Perific
mouse when in standard mode does not count). The 3M
Ergonomic mouse will take more time because you will have to
re-train yourself to properly use it.
Although it is obvious that these mice
weren't designed for gaming, precision is still something to
consider. The mice from Evoluent and Perific were easily
able to do some minor Photoshop work and brief video
gaming. The 3M mouse was not able to do these tasks very
well.
It is obvious that many of you probably
use an operating system other than Windows, so we should
mention what kind of support and problems you may run into
with these mice. The mice from 3M and Perific will
both work with Windows and Mac. Mac users may want to
stay away from the Evoluent mouse because you'll need to
spend $20 for a USB
Overdrive to program all of the
buttons. It was possible for me to get the mice from
Perific and 3M to work with different versions of Linux, but
results may be limited.
Finally, cost may be a concern to some
of you on a budget. The Perific Wireless Dual mouse is going
to set you for a $130 expense, at least if you are in the
US, with the possibility of taking a larger discount if
bought in Europe. The reason for this is Perific HQ is
located in Sweden, and they only have distributors in some
European countries, and none official in the US. The 3M
Ergonomic mouse can be found at several retail shops where
office products are sold, $50-60 a piece. The Evoluent
VerticalMouse 2 can be bought directly from the
manufacturer’s website, and is sold for $75 for the
right-handed, and $105 for the left-handed version.
Newegg
seems to be selling the right-handed version for slightly
less, too.
We have reviewed what I believe are
three great mice for users looking towards an ergonomic
choice. Overall, I would say each mouse was able to reduce
the stress on my right hand/wrist. Because of the
seriousness of RSI, we certainly recommend readers go see a
doctor if you suffer from any pain in your mousing hand.
Last but not least, if you ever have the
opportunity to locate ergonomic products locally (which
might be hard all at the same place, unfortunately), so you
can get first hand experience, and get a better idea on what
to expect when you use the mouse in the long run.
