Introducing the Rocketfish Twister Laser Mouse: If you do a lot of work on a laptop, chances are you're a member of one of two schools of thought about touchpads: either you like them well enough to tolerate them, or you think they're a plaything of Satan and should be cast into the fiery pits of hell. If you're of the second school, you've probably come to grips with your hatred and looked to invest in an external mouse that you can take with you and plug in as needed. Now, because the whole point of a laptop is mobility, chances are you want that mouse to be portable, too - and that's where today's review of the Rocketfish Twister Laser Mouse comes in. A 2.4 GHz wireless mouse made for porting around with a laptop for $44.95? Sounds like a pretty good deal...but you should really find out more by clicking on the jump...

Specifications:

• 2.4 MHz wireless optical mouse with four buttons
• Twists flat for easy transport in the included soft carrying case
• Connects via small USB receiver that fits in the mouse
• Powered by two AAA batteries, includes power-save mode
• Compatible with Mac OS and Windows

Pros:

• Storage size is about the size of a pack of cards, perfect for portability in a crowded laptop bag
• Connects instantly in Windows
• Includes most major mouse functions
• Easy to pack and unpack as needed

Cons:

• Mouse's ergonomics are less than optimal; carpal tunnel sufferers should take care
• Another button would be nice

Installation and Configuration: Thanks to the wonders of plug and play technology, installing the Twister mouse is easy: twist around the lower end to raise the unit into "mouse mode," put the batteries into the battery compartment, pop the power switch on the bottom to the On position then take the USB wireless receiver that's just popped out of the mouse's side and plug it in to the nearest available USB port. A few seconds later, your mouse will be up and running on the standard Windows mouse drivers. There's an included driver CD - miniaturized, like the rest of this product - that includes another variation on the mouse software you've installed if you've ever bought a third-party mouse. Not too many surprises here: a button configuration utility, some options for making the cursor do things like highlight a window when you pass over it or lap around the edge of the screen back to the other side, etc.

I played around with the button configuration software for a bit and found that it was pretty flexible: you can assign a number of tasks to any of the four buttons, molding the use of the mouse around your preferred workflow habits. The center button features a sliding pad similar to the clickwheel on the iPod - click on it and it acts as a button; slide your finger up and down it and it acts as a scroll wheel whose sensitivity you can adjust via the software. The fourth button on the side is a good additional option for adding a wildcard action (like the page down button), but these days there isn't much excuse for not having a fifth button and I really missed not being able to set up forward and back buttons for web surfing.

Usage: To test out the Twister mouse, I played around with it for about an hour, doing some of my every day computer tasks: checking email in Outlook, surfing the web in Firefox, chatting via Trillian, etc. Getting used to moving the pointer around took a few minutes - the smaller grasping area makes it a little harder to move the laser in an efficient manner at first, but eventually I learned to self-correct and I happily clicked around without any major usage issues. The mouse's USB receiver never had any problem picking up the Twister's signal and I didn't notice any lag issues. In addition, disabling the mouse is as simple as pulling out the USB stick (no Add/Remove Hardware dialog required) and popping it back into the housing on the side of the Twister, a motion that conveniently shuts down the mouse as well. Once the mouse is off, it fits into a soft foam case about the size of a deck of cards that should protect the mouse from nicks and scratches in your laptop bag.

Why only an hour of testing? Well, that's when my wrist started to get tired. While I don't suffer from carpal tunnel (knock on wood), my wrists are particularly sensitive to mice with lower profiles. While the Twister's twisting lower end certainly raises the mouse up high enough where most users will be comfortable, I found the wrist strain too much after an hour of usage and had to go back to my other (much higher mouse). Carpal tunnel sufferers beware: this mouse is not for you.

Verdict: Besides the potential height problem, the Rockfish Twister Laser Mouse is an great option if you're looking for a mobile wireless mouse, especially if you aren't as picky about extra buttons as I am. The market-friendly price, ease of installation and small, portable package are all strengths and overall, the Rocketfish Twister is an excellent product and highly recommended.

Company Website: http://www.rocketfishproducts.com/