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A Pistol Mouse for Your Fragging Pleasure

Posted by timothy on from the fragging-sharks-with-fragging-lasers dept.

ErgoSeating writes "In my search for an ergonomic mouse I stumbled upon something called the PistolMouse. This mouse is shaped like a pistol and uses a trigger as the left button but tracks with an optical sensor on the bottom, not the sight or barrel. In a twist of irony, the mouse is ergonomically shaped because the pistol grip alleviates stress on your carpal tunnel-ridden wrist. Its Linux compatible and looks like it could be just the thing to brighten up my desk. Here is a review of the item with some good pictures." Not sure how it's ironic -- the modern handgun reflects hundreds of years of user testing -- but it looks fun, and a hoot to travel with by air.

11 of 278 comments (clear)

  1. All that testing... by Amiga+Lover · · Score: 5, Funny

    Not sure how it's ironic -- the modern handgun reflects hundreds of years of user testing

    And it's one button. Apple must be onto something...

    1. Re:All that testing... by winkydink · · Score: 5, Funny

      A pansy with all his toes, Hopalong.

      --

      "I'd rather be a lightning rod than a seismometer." -Ken Kesey

  2. ThinkGeek by LukeTurner · · Score: 5, Informative

    Been on Think Geek for ages... http://www.thinkgeek.com/computing/input/6e04/

  3. faster than a speeding bullet by Rooked_One · · Score: 5, Funny

    not this new mouse... the slashdot effect. I was really wanting to see those images also.

  4. Firearms the original point and click interface by arete · · Score: 5, Funny

    Firearms: the original point and click interface.

    Apparently that's all I have to say, but amazingly it's on topic in this story.

    --
    Looking for freelance Actionscript (Flash/Flex) or ColdFusion work and/or freelance developers. Email me, put Slashdot
  5. they are ok by ImTheDarkcyde · · Score: 5, Informative

    i myself purchased one of these pistolmouses around christmas for 40 bucks, it is a very neat design, but i caution those with little desk space, as its about 2 inches longer than the standard mouse

    it is also a very sensitive mouse, you'll find yourself turning down mouse sensitivity in some games (max payne, most noticibly)

    my game performance hasnt increased at all, but there are a few games i just cannot play with it, games that rely on alot of scroll wheel usage

    which brings me to the final point, the scroll wheel, if you use firefox (of course you do) chances are you are constantly middle clicking, well doing it horizontally lets you mess up and scroll/click instead at the same time, it gets annoying, but its not a big turn off

    9/10

  6. Precision by HoaryCripple · · Score: 5, Interesting

    As a "fast twitch" player who's been playing first person shooters for longer than I care to admit, I highly doubt I would ever use this product. It forces you to use the much less precise muscles of the shoulder and upper arm as opposed to the muscles of the forearm. I'll take my carpal tunnel syndrome thank you.

  7. Hundreds of Years? by serutan · · Score: 5, Funny

    the modern handgun reflects hundreds of years of user testing

    Obviously more than the Federation did when they came up with the "dust buster" phasers.

  8. Used one, didn't like it by Matimus · · Score: 5, Informative
    The company that makes these pistol mice sponsored PDXLAN 5.05 in March, which I attended. At first they seemed kind of neat, but everyone pretty much figured out that they they were only nice to look at after only a few minutes. For starters the lever arm on the trigger to 'click' the mouse is big, every time you want to 'click' you are moving your index finger nearly 1 cm. 1 cm doesn't seem like much, untill you figure that a regular mouse only takes about 1mm (or less). Also your wrist rests on the table in a strange position and you end up rubbing the bone on your wrist against the table, and it becomes very uncomfortable. Third, you can elevate your arm above the table so as not to rub your wrist, but then you are actually putting quite a bit of work into your arm, which is definitely not ergonomic. Lastly, most of the fine control that you do with your mouse is via your finger tips, with this mouse all of the control is done via your whole arm. Needless to say, by the end of PDXLAN they were giving these away as raffle prizes, and some of the winners wouldn't even come up to claim their prize!

    Oh, and remember what I said about them being nice to look at, that is only the first time you see it, after about a minute the novelty wears off and you realize how dumb looking it really is.

    --
    GENERATION 25: The first time you see this, copy it into your sig on any forum and add 1 to the generation. Social exper
  9. Re:Not new by Mr.Zong · · Score: 5, Funny

    Like everything in life, it has to do with the muscle composition of your average geek.

    Holding a 1.5 lbs light gun up for 20 minute intervals makes girly arms tired.

  10. I'll wait until the next version... by Karl+Tacheron · · Score: 5, Funny

    I hear that's when they implement the sideways "gangsta grip" feature.