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Wireless Mouse with no Batteries
GI Joe writes "Hardcoreware.net have posted a review of a mouse with no batteries; it receives its charge through induction from the USB powered mousepad. Of course this means you must use the mouse on this mousepad, taking away some of the big advantages of a wireless mouse. However, they said that the mouse is otherwise very accurate, and has no lag at all since it uses RFID."
Why has no one build a mouse with a optical sensor that ALSO has a old style ball hooked up to a small dynamo.
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Self powered, never needs the batteries changed. And since precision doesnt matter the ball never needs cleaning, so it's not a disadvantage like it is for tracking.
Easily enough power could be generated for the optical system and a low power RF transmitter
Beep beep.
Why in the hell would anyone want a wireless mouse but a wired mousepad? And I dont really like the idea that I cant use it on a metal desk. I'll stick to my wired ball-less 3 button mouse, thanks.
Some hot fucking news!
My Wacom Graphire came with a mouse like that, wireless, but had to be used on the pad only. That was, what, only 10 years ago. Glad to see something just like it finally make the fucking news! Oh, wait, it's not news, it's slashdot...
I'm sure they'll advertise this one as having a "free mouse pad" like its some grand deal. They'll not tell the buyer that the provided mouse pad is an essential part of the system and not a magnanimous offer on their part. I wonder how many people will try to use this mouse with the pad of their choice, get a few days use and then complain when it dies.
It reminds me of those old Sun optical mice with the metal grid-pattern mouse pads. I always like turning coworkers pads 90 degrees and watching the ensuing hilarity.
Two wrongs don't make a right, but three lefts do.
Why is this modded funny? I switched back to a wired mouse for the exact same reason.
(Well, that, and I realized that buying batteries for the thing just to get rid of a cable that doesn't even disturb me was a horrible thing to do to the environment)
My Sig: SEGV
...why not get the power from the movement the human being makes?
Oh, and whilst I think about it:
Normal wireless mouses contain batteries, which add extra weight, which makes them slightly harder to move around. So if you have a wireless mouse without batteries, but which was powered by hand movements, it's possible that it could still be easier to move around!
So why is a USB mousepad any better than a USB mouse? I don't use a mouse pad because none of them provide a large enough mousing surface. When you are gaming you can't pick up your mouse and move it to the other side of the pad or the other guy kills you. This wireless mouse is not much good as it is useless as soon as it leaves the mouse pad.
Saying Java is nice because it works on all OS's is like saying that anal sex is nice because it works on all genders.
This is a neat toy (one I wouldn't mind playing around with myself), but this is not the perfect mouse.
Logitech is definitely onto something with their mouse dock. It's quite easy to slip the mouse into the dock when leaving the PC and take it back out when coming back, but with BT (and IR) mice, I find that there is still a problem: distance. I'm not sure about you, but having three displays on my desktop, the last thing I need is another device that MUST be there. Between my PDA's cradle, my sound system's remote, a satellite speaker, and various crap from ThinkGeek, the real estate on my desk is extremely scarce. My perfect mouse would be one with the design of an Intellimouse Explorer 4.0, based on RF technology to allow for reliable use several feet from the base. The cradle can then be placed somewhere where real estate isn't quite so scarce (a shelf, for example.)
As for my take on the battery-free tech, it's a toy. A cool, definitely nerdy toy, but still a toy. There's no reason anyone should be too lazy to slip a mouse into its cradle once every few days.
Genius may have its limitations, but stupidity is not thus handicapped.