June 7th, 2000
Perfit Mouse USB Introduction Contour Design's Perfit Mouse is more than just a 3-button ergonomic pointing device that comes with Mac-programmable software. It's an entire system that includes mice in a wide variety of sizes, with variants for left-handed and right-handed users. Needless to say, there are also several flavors: the iMac colors and a graphite version.
Before You Buy! Just as if you were buying gloves or shoes, you measure your hand with a special scale to find the mouse which perfectly matches your hand's size. Respecting the scale is a key to take full advantage of the ergonomics of the mouse.
Installation First, plug the mouse into the USB card. USB-native Mac users, plug it in the same port as your default USB mouse. Then, install the Contour Overdrive software, which lets you program the mouse for extensive customization. Restart, and everything is ready to go.
This is where the strength of this device becomes apparent. At first, its shape seems awkward since everybody is now used to those round and very small mice we like to refer to as the iPuck. The Perfit Mouse is huge and its shape is unique, as you can see from the photo. Using it for a few weeks convinced us that this is a good thing, though. Its curves adapt to your fingers, to the deepest parts of your palm and to the overall shape of your hand. The thumb rest is more than nice. As the mouse is big and adapted to your hand, you should place it in a position of rest when you handle the mouse, as if you had placed your hand around your knee. No need to clutch the hand to grab the mouse, just cover it with your fingers and palm. You move the device by using your wrist instead of your fingers. After a while, you will notice that the usual pain virtually disappears. The reason is that most mice are too small, forcing your fingers to take an unnatural position and making ritual clicks a slow pain-inflicting process. With the Perfit Mouse, clicking is pushing down lightly when your hand is in a position of rest, thus preventing sore arms.
Software The main feature of the Contour Overdrive software (see screen shot) is to program the mouse. You can adjust its global settings and also application-specific settings. The three buttons can use a variety of clicking and keyboard operations combined such as double click, click lock, control-click, shift-click, scrolling, KeyQuencer Macros, etc.
Another handy feature allows you to adjust the pointing speed with 16 options. It might seem useless at first, but if designing in Photoshop requires you to slow it down, you can do it. You should note that since the mouse is bigger than most competing products, pointing can seem slower because it takes a slightly bigger effort to move the pointer as fast as with the Apple USB Mouse. We adjusted the mouse speed to "Medium 80", which proved a perfect setting for our needs.
Strengths
Weaknesses
Mouse surface companion Many users pick the UniTray to go along with the Perfit Mouse since both have matching colored plastics. Basically, its surface doesn't pick up dust, which allows you to use your mouse for months without cleaning the rollers, and its wrist rest is made with a gel that makes it comfortable. Moreover, you can roll the mouse over the wrist rest until the ball gets over it. Contour Design sells it for US$19.95
Conclusion This mouse is a little pricey but worth every penny, chiefly because its ergonomics reduce the pain related by extensive use of the computer. This combined with its features makes me think that professionals who use their Macs as work stations and want the highest degree of comfort will want the Perfit Mouse.
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Ergonomics
