Mice

Comfort

It is important to consider how the mouse feels in your hand – mice should be comfortable. After all, you will be using the mouse a lot throughout the day.

When considering ergonomic mice, remember several key points:

– Can you grip the mouse comfortably in your hand?
– Is the mouse a comfortable shape in your hand?
– Is the mouse easy to move around?

These small considerations are important, as many people complain of wrist-based injuries such as repetitive strain injury as a result of uncomfortable mice.

Connectivity

Consider how your mouse is to be connected to your PC or laptop – corded mice are now commonly connected via USB cable, but there are also some mice formats that use different methods of connection, such as PS2 jacks.

Not all modern PCs have these connection formats, so be sure to understand what your home computer is capable of connecting to before purchasing a mouse.

Cordless mice

Cordless mice for example, (such as Logitech Wireless Mice) – use Bluetooth or similar technology to transmit the mouse’s position and information to the PC. Cordless mice are by far more convenient to use, but are limited by their range, price and the fact that some of them are battery operated.

Mouse buttons

Next to consider is the number of buttons your mouse ha. This can range massively, from seemingly no buttons with Apple Mac mice to around ten buttons with specialised gaming or multimedia mice.

Tips

Consider what you are using your mouse for – the average PC user will need only two buttons, a left and right clicker and a scroll wheel. This will cover all of the basics a PC user needs. As mentioned before, however, there are many multimedia or gaming mice which have customisable buttons or extra keys which are optimised for online gaming or Photoshop editing etc.

While almost all new home computer kits come with a basic mouse set up, it is important (especially with prolonged use of the PC) to use the correct mouse to not only increase productivity, but also comfort.

Bear these factors in mind before choosing the correct mouse.