Smartfish Technologies Whirl Laser Mouse Review

Today we are going to look at a new laser mouse designed by Smartfish Technologies. This is no ordinary mouse however because it is specifically designed with ergonomics in mind. Smartfish Technologies feel that this new ground breaking mouse will change how people use a mouse, forever. The Whirl uses ErgoMotion, their patented pivot motion design that adjusts to your hand and wrist positions. Features 800 DPI Laser Mouse 2.4 GHz Wireless Ambidextrous design Snap-In Nano Transceiver 4 way Scroll Wheel Extended Battery life-- up to 10 months depending on usage PC and Mac compatible Wireless USB connection 2 AA Batteries included RoHS Compliant First, a little background history: HSS and Smartfish Collaboration The collaboration between Smartfish and New York’s Hospital for Special Surgery (HSS) developed through a mutual goal to prevent injuries and discomfort commonly caused by everyday computing. Smartfish partnered with HSS to study the effects motion would have on a user while computing. It was the collaboration with HSS that helped to develop the breakthrough ErgoMotion technology. By applying motion to computer peripherals, ErgoMotion makes subtle, incremental changes to a user’s hand and wrist positions that help increase blood flow and reduce inflammation, which actually eliminates the risk of RSI. ErgoMotion — A Technology Movement ErgoMotion is a revolutionary technology that applies motion to experiences, a solution that actually reduces the risks of Repetitive Stress Injury (RSI). The ErgoMotion Laser Mouse challenges other “fixed position” mice by utilizing a patented pivot base that adapts to your natural hand and wrist movements. The mouse conforms to your unique positions, alleviating discomfort and encouraging productivity while you work. ErgoMotion is a breakthrough technology that has been designed in collaboration with the Hospital for Special Surgery (HSS) in New York — the #1 rated Orthopedics Hospital. How it works: The mouse will swivel and pivot during usage allowing free motion of your hand and wrist. The Whirl pivots laterally as well as forward and backward providing a wide a range of motion which we believe is a good thing. Only time will tell if this mouse can provide the relief they say it does so let's continue on with our look at the Smartfish Whirl and find out for ourselves. The Smartfish Whirl laser mouse arrived in a simple white cardboard package with no product information of any type on the exterior. Inside the box is a product manual, 2 AA batteries and the Smartfish Whirl laser mouse. The 2 batteries fit into the base of the mouse body after removing the small protective plastic cover. Once the batteries are installed the Whirl is ready for use. If we look at the bottom of the unit there is a switch to power the mouse on and off, the laser sensor and six small round raised areas which reduce friction allowing the mouse to glide on pretty much any surface. There is also the small adapter that detaches and plugs into an available USB port to provide wireless connectivity. The design of the Smartfish Whirl is very simplistic consisting of only 3 buttons. There are the left and right side buttons and the scroll wheel also functions as a button. What makes this product interesting is the multiple direction pivoting stand that the mouse body sits on. The pivoting design is made to reduce the stress placed on the hand and wrist during everyday operation. The pivoting stand provides effortless movement and an anti-gravity feeling that makes you hand feel like it is floating over the desktop. The Whirl did not ship with any software so we went to the Smartfish website and grabbed the appropriate driver there. The driver includes the basics like switching the primary and secondary mouse buttons, double click speed and choosing various mouse pointers. The new driver enabled 4 way scrolling and selectable DPI settings. The DPI settings are 400, 800, 1200 and 1600 DPI. This is much better then originally being limited to 800 DPI. These features made a noticeable improvement over the default windows settings without the driver. Use of a mouse accounts for 30-80 percent of all time spent working at a computer and Prolonged use of a computer mouse has been linked to disorders that include carpal tunnel syndrome and tendonitis. Using a mouse places the hand in a position of prolonged and extreme ulnar deviation and wrist extension. Over the last decade various mouse designs have emerged to address this problem. These include trackball designs, joysticks, vertically oriented mice, and touch control devices. The Smartfish Technologies Whirl laser mouse is an interesting approach to ergonomic mouse design. The pivoting stand that supports the body of this mouse adjusts itself as you use it. This concept should reduce repetitive stress injuries on the hand and wrist caused by the movements when using a standard mouse. The pivoting stand provides a level of comfort not obtainable using a standard mouse and provides the feeling that your hand is 'floating'. The laser optics allow this mouse to function on pretty much any surface; with or without a mouse pad. After spending close to a week with the Smartfish Whirl we had no problems getting used to the feel. As we mentioned earlier, our review sample did not ship with any driver disc, but we recommend Windows users snag the updated drivers from the website. We would like to see more time spent on the the drivers package, because although they did suffice for standard daily computing tasks such as emails and web browsing they have no advanced adjustments available. Other than the option to change DPI settings and 4 way scrolling you are stuck with Windows default options. The 4 way scrolling feature came in handy when working on an image that required horizontal scrolling. We don't think that gamers are considered as a major part of this target market but we had to give it a shot anyway. We tested the mouse using the single player campaign of Call of Duty World at War to gauge performance. We tried all 4 DPI settings and couldn't really find a sweet spot. That's not say the mouse fails at gaming, but there are many better options available on the market today from companies such as Logitech, Microsoft, Razer and Steelseries. If you are looking for a more ergonomic design or suffer from a sore wrist/hand then we think the $50 price point is reasonable, and the Smartfish Whirl is a product worth considering. Keep in mind that in order to experience the full potential of the Whirl laser mouse your entire workspace should be configured with ergonomics in mind. The pivoting stand does a good job of allowing your wrist free movement but if your arm and elbow are not properly aligned you may not experience the full effect of this design. Pros: Clean and appealing appearance Ergonomic design to help prevent Repetitive Strain Injuries Plug and Play Comfortable even after extended use Not that expensive at $49.95 USD Cons: Limited features to choose from Needs buttons for better integration with the Web not ideal for gamers KitGuru says: A specialist design and it works well but it is far from ideal for gamers.