Easy on the Wrist, Easy to Set up, and Elegant
Written: Dec 05 '00 (Updated Jan 08 '01)
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Product Rating:
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Pros: Easy on the wrist, easy to setup, reliable
Cons: "Mouse people" will call you a right-brained contrarian
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| Lagavulin's Full Review: Cirque Smart Cat Touchpad |
I have been using a Cirque touchpad for about four years, and I have enjoyed several benefits:
One, most vitally, I have suffered much less wrist and hand soreness using it than I did when using a mouse. I first tried a trackball as an alternative, and while it caused less soreness than the mouse, the touchpad has been far better. I believe the best prevention of RSI is to keep your body movements as natural as possible, and pointing with your finger is simply a smaller, more natural body movement than pushing a mouse around, or rolling a ball. Also, rather than reach for the left mouse button, you can just tap the pointing surface to left-click - again, a small, natural movement.
In this vein, I would not recommend the style of touchpad that is built into a keyboard, as you want to be able to be able to place your hand in the most natural location on your desk.
Two, touchpads are more compatible with my messy desk than a mouse. My touch pad consumes maybe 25% of the surface area that a mouse pad does, leaving more room for my stuff to accumulate around it!
Three, with nearly no moving parts, the touchpad has been more reliable than any mouse or trackball that I have ever owned.
Four, over the years, I have used my touchpad in several versions of Win95 through Windows ME. Getting it to work has never been a problem. Win95 recognizes it as a standard mouse, and it just works. While Cirque has released specialized drivers from time to time that add nice-to-have functionality, the point here is that it works in Win95-ville regardless.
It may take a little getting used to, but if you give it a day or two, you may find that you prefer it. I even use mine when playing wickedly high speed first-person online shooter games like Quake and Unreal Tournament.
Recommended:
Yes
Amount Paid (US$): 50
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Epinions.com ID:
Lagavulin
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Location: Ontario, Canada
Reviews written: 24
Trusted by: 24 members
About Me:
"The world is made for people who aren't cursed with self-awareness." - Annie, 'Bull Durham'
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