Building a better mouse

Scroll Mouse The Belkin Washable Mouse, $30, for Windows XP, Vista and Mac, is atough little mouse for messy workplaces. It can take food and drinkspills and is washable under running water and mild soaps. Theinstructions say it takes several hours to dry properly, but I wasable to use it shortly after running water on it from my kitchensink tap. It doesn't like dishwashers. That said, it's not an elegant mouse, but small enough to pack ontrips. The left and right click buttons, under a sealed rubber skin(coincidentally the colour of dirt -- brown) are harder to pressand have a smaller clickable area which doesn't extend all the wayto the tip. I had to curl my fingers back to click away. The centre touch pad works well, replacing the wheel, and canscroll vertically in Windows XP, but also horizontally in Vista.It's very sensitive, works on a variety of surfaces, and having aUSB cord, you never run out of power. For more information go towww.belkin.com Wireless Laser Mouse 7000 Microsoft must be listening to critics, or just got lucky. TheWireless Laser Mouse 7000, $79.95, scores on functionality, designand performance. It comes with an unobtrusive wall plug-in chargebase and rechargeable battery and works across the room from yourcomputer. From my experience, the right-handed 7000 is the smoothestMicrosoft rodent to glide on flat surfaces, finally matching itslaser light accuracy. It has the right height with enough curves tomake most hands feel at home. The smartly designed non-slip sidessport two additional programmable buttons which are now closeenough for your thumb to actually reach. The fast magnifying and3-D flip keys in Vista are handy. The smaller wheel does not clickbut can also be used as a flywheel, scrolling faster through apage. It also scrolls sideways while the left/right click buttons requirethe least pressure and can be clicked with any part of your finger,not just the tips. It doesn't get better than this, Microsoft, so don't change athing! Even if this mouse ran on heavier disposable batteries andno charger, I would still use it. For more information go to:www.microsoft.com If you don't want to be tied to your computer desk, check out theLogitech MX Air, $159, a rechargeable cordless mouse. It's just ashappy sliding on your desktop as it is swinging in the air. Whenairborne, it works like a TV remote, but with left and right clicksand more accuracy as you can control where exactly the mouse cursorgoes on your computer screen. It works using patented technologybased on a combination of MEMS (microelectromechanical systems)sensors, DSP (digital signal processing) technology and RF (radiofrequency) wireless technology. Better known as Freespace motion-control, the MX Air can also letyou use gesture controls. To change the volume, press and hold thevolume button and gesture to the right to increase volume, or tothe left to decrease it. A small circular motion to the rightactivates the skip track command, while a circle to the leftrepeats the song. This lets you access your PC from as far as 10metres.s you access your PC from as far as 10metres.