3M Wireless Ergonomic Mouse, Large Size, Black

by 3M

Product Details

• Product Dimensions: 7.2 x 6 x 6 inches ; 8.8 ounces
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Shipping: This item is also available for shipping to select countries outside the U.S.
• ASIN: B001H9UGD4
• Item model number: EM550GPL
• Average Customer Review: 2.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (17 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,788 in Office Products (See Top 100 in Office Products)
• Date first available at Amazon.com: July 19, 2004

Product Description

3M This mouse is clinically proven to alleviate pain and discomfort of repetitive stress injuries in the hand, wrist or arm associated with the use of traditional mice—which can pronate the forearm and wrist and typically presses the wrist and carpal tunnel area against the desk. The 3M Ergonomic Mouse has earned an Ease-of-Use Commendation from the Arthritis Foundation for its patented, vertical grip design that keeps your hand and wrist at a neutral angle, while the mouse works as a regular optical mouse. Grip the handle and rest your hand on the base. Use your thumb to left and right click. Optical sensor, wireless, USB compatible plug and play. Soft-touch painted surfaces for added comfort. For right-handed use. 2 year warranty.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

24 of 24 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars This mouse helped heal my Repetitive Strain Injury, February 25, 2010

By 

Stephen L. Clancy "[e-mail]" (Irvine, CA USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: 3M Wireless Ergonomic Mouse, Large Size, Black (Electronics)

I put off writing this review until I had adequate time to use this mouse in all different situations. I purchased this mouse in October 2009. I had developed a very painful Repetitive Strain Injury (RSI)in my right hand and arm from heavy mouse use; in particular the constant use of the roller wheel and the click-click-clicking of the mouse buttons. I am a medical librarian and use my computer all day for long stretches of time. However, I don't play video games though that require much more clicking than office work.

I considered and tested quite a few "ergonomic" mice. Most of them merely changed the user's hand position, but still required clicking buttons with the index and middle fingers.

I am mostly pleased with the mouse, and I will address specific features, both good and bad, in hopes that this will help someone else with a similar condition.

Comfort - 5 stars - Compared to other ergonomic mice I have tried this one is very comfortable for extended use. Though it looks like a joystick, the handle doesn't move. When grasping the mouse handle the user's hand is at about a 45 degree angle. Left and right button clicking (for Windows users) is accomplished with the user's thumb on a rocker button at the top of the handle. The thumb is much stronger and has more leverage for short movements than the other fingers, and the movement of the thumb is very small. I have only encountered thumb pain after performing tasks that involved constant clicking for over an hour. If the user takes short breaks (which is recommended for ANY repetitive task) then I have had no problems.

Cursor movement is accomplished by moving the mouse with the entire hand and forearm instead of flexing the wrist back and forth. Since much larger muscles are used in this movement they tire less quickly and practically no stain is put on the more vulnerable parts of the fingers, hand and wrist. I was able to use this mouse virtually pain free from the beginning.

Ease of use -- 4 stars - By ease of use I mean how troublesome (or not) is this mouse to use compared with the standard mouse. I have to grade it down a bit here due to several of what I consider to be design flaws.

Most wireless mice that I have used include a small cradle or slot to store the antenna (the small part that plugs into a USB port on your computer) when not using the mouse. Typically this also turns the mouse off. This mouse does not have that feature which can mean (if you're like me) losing the antenna occasionally since there is no convenient place to store it. The USB plug of the antenna does not come with a cap. I finally glued a small piece of Velcro (the fuzzy part) on the top of the thumb side of the base, and two pieces of Velcro (the hooks part) to the underside of the antenna and the cap (which I had to provide). I attach the cap to the Velcro when I am using the mouse. This works fairly well, though it's not pretty.

The only way to turn the mouse off is by an on/off switch on the bottom. If you forget, which I often do, the mouse will stay on and constantly seek a surface which runs down the battery.

There is no roller wheel. Instead there is a large button on the front of the handle where the user's hand wraps around. The button is operated by gently squeezing the button usually with the third and fourth fingers. This activates (again in Windows) the page scroll feature which then allows the user to scroll the screen up and down by moving the mouse back and forth. This is a bit clumsy, but since using a roller wheel partially lead to my RSI, I don't miss it.
It took me a while to get used to this mouse and to develop the same precision I have with a regular mouse.

Battery life -- 5 stars - The unit takes two AAA batteries. So far, even when forgetting to turn it off, I have found the battery life to be as good as, or better than most wireless mice I have used.

Signal strength - 4 stars - I have not had the problem with signal strength that some of the other reviewers have. Normally the mouse and antenna are within 1-2 feet of each other and I have had no problems with an intermittent signal. On a few occasions I have had my laptop on the floor about 4 feet from me while sitting in a chair. I can usually still control the cursor, though clicking sometimes does not work as well. The only time I have had a real problem is when the batteries begin to lose power, and the signal strength lessens until it's obvious that new ones are needed.

Durability -- 5 stars - Again, I have not had the problems other reviewers have had. I have dropped this mouse several times (by accident, not design) from a height or about 3-4 feet on to an uncarpeted floor and have seen no cracks or problems afterward. I have not had the buttons break.

Conclusions - I would purchase this mouse again, but I might consider buying the "wired" version because of the antenna storage issues. I credit this mouse for playing a significant role in helping my RSI to heal. I can immediately tell the difference if I have to use a standard mouse for even a shirt time.

I am happy to answer any questions (leave a comment on this review) that anyone has.

22 of 22 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars would be wonderful if the wireless connection worked, May 15, 2009

By 

a_guy_in_boston "a_guy_in_boston" (Boston, MA USA) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: 3M Wireless Ergonomic Mouse, Large Size, Black (Electronics)

I love my regular 3M wired ergonomic mouse (3M Ergonomic Mouse SMALL/MEDIUM), but because it's a bit of a pain to use a mouse that is tethered to the computer, I bought this wireless version and gave it a whirl. On the positive side, the wireless ergonomic mouse itself is a joy to use -- comfy in the hand, good quality, everything you'd expect from 3M. But the mouse comes with a fatal flaw. The mouse and the computer dongle -- the receiver that plugs into your computer -- just don't communicate very well. Actually, they communicate rather poorly. They keep dropping events, at the rate of several each second. This means that you'll be moving the cursor across the screen, and suddenly the cursor will freeze; or you'll try clicking the mouse button, and nothing will happen. It is truly frustrating to try to use a mouse that works, or doesn't work, essentially at random. I've tried reducing the distance between the mouse and the dongle to just a few inches, but the behavior persists, so I have to assume that it's a problem with the electronics and not with some local radio interference. A real shame because otherwise the mouse is fantastic. But the randomly-works-at-times behavior is sufficiently annoying that I must reluctantly recommend against buying the wireless 3M mouse, and point you instead back to the regular wired mouse, which is a great product.

13 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Great feel but weak parts, April 9, 2009

By 

KattMarl "San Diego PC Medic" (San Diego, CA USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: 3M Wireless Ergonomic Mouse, Large Size, Black (Electronics)

This 3M product is GREAT in concept. The handle is comfortable, the movement crisp, and the reality is - it virtually eliminated my wrist pain from using a mouse all day long. The only 2 problems are - 1. there's no "roller" wheel for scrolling up/down on web pages - a virtual necessity in today's web world. 2. the mouse button on top is built too weakly. I only had the product for a few weeks and I was very gentle with my clicking all day. One day the clicking button broke. There is no way to "fix" it as the tiny little plastic tab holding it in was less than .5mm thick! No wonder it broke! This product is worth the money, but they need to redesign the button and include a roller option for the index finger.