There was a time when I spent a significant amount of time watching Dragons' Den on BBC America. To watch various products and ideas get pitched to potential investors was always fascinating – the ideas ranged from the supremely fantastic to the utterly ridiculous, but every entrepreneur who went before the Dragons believed in their idea and pitched it to the best of their ability. One of my major disappointments though with the series was that it was based in England and that none of the products or ideas that the Dragons approved were something readily available here. Consequently, when the opportunity came up to get my hands on a Dragons' Den product I was quick to jump at the chance.
The product in question is the Motormouse. Originally developed by an entrepreneur who went on Dragons' Den, the licensing for the product wa.jpg "Motormouse")
s sold to a different company here in the States, and the car-shaped computer mouse is now available for purchase.
With a look "inspired" by the Porsche 911, the mouse is wireless and available in silver, red, and black. It operates with a 2.4GHz wireless USB connection – a small USB connector just pops right into a USB port on the computer, sticking out approximately one-half centimeter from the port. Inside the mouse's "trunk" one live the two AAA batteries required to power the device and a small crevice into which the USB connector can be stored. It has two buttons, a scroll wheel, and a 1200DPI optical sensor. Additionally, rather than containing an on/off switch, the mouse turns itself off after a set (but not apparently user adjustable) period of time and can be turned back on by clicking the left button.
The Motormouse is roughly the size of your average mouse, but lightweight. It comes with a carrying pouch (and a mini-mouse pad) as well, but frankly the plastic used for the trunk as well as the mechanism by which it opens and closes feels rather flimsy, giving the impression that too much travel could easily result in its breaking.
On the plus side, despite the somewhat odd car shape, the mouse is quite comfortable to hold, never feeling quite like a regular mouse, but never being different enough to make using it feel awkward. Though gamers won't find the DPI as high as they require, it is certainly accurate and responsive enough to please the average consumer. The two buttons and the scroll wheel, which is quite wide, all provide satisfying clicks (and movement in the case of the wheel).
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