Customer Reviews

Evoluent VM3R2-RSB Vertical Mouse 3

5 star:		(89)
4 star:		(45)
3 star:		(15)
2 star:		(11)
1 star:		(20)

 

 

In terms of my experience with this product, I have assisted several thousand workers with mouse-related injuries over the past 13 years, working for 10 years as a rehabilitation ergonomist under contract to the UK's Department for Work and Pensions. I have recommended the Evoluent literally thousands of times and have found it to be highly effective in the rehabilitation of upper-limb disorders, when used correctly.

In terms of training/qualification, I have an MSc (with distinction) in Health Ergonomics, from the European Institute for Health and Medical Sciences (EIHMS), Surrey University, UK. EIHMS is a World Health Organization designated 'Centre of Excellence' in the field of work-related musculoskeletal disorders. My thesis was on 'The Influence of Workstation Layout on Working Postures.' I have taught many professional courses on computer ergonomics. I am currently (2008) engaged in my PhD at Purdue University, USA. I have been a full member of the Human Factors and Ergonomics Society since 2004.

Let me say at the outset that I take mouse injuries very seriously; they are far more prevalent than keyboard injuries, and may be far more disabling. I am 'independent,' by which I mean I do not sell any products, neither am I paid to endorse any products. As a professional ergonomist, I strongly believe paid endorsements are unethical. I am paid by my clients to give impartial, effective advice, that's all.

However, I felt moved to lend my backing to the Evoluent Vertical Mouse, now shipping in its third incarnation.

Ever since Evoluent launched the first version of VM, I have had tremendous success with injured workers switching form standard mice and trackballs to this device.

Mouse design has changed little since Douglas Engelbart's "X-Y Position Indicator For A Display System" was accepted by the US patent office in 1970. The mouse that ships with most computer systems is shaped to be cupped in the hand, palm facing downward (i.e., pronated) during mouse actuation.

This hand/forearm position is of concern to ergonomists; with the elbow flexed, as is generally the case when operating the mouse, hand pronation is achieved by the contraction of the pronator quadratus and pronator teres muscles, whose capacity for work is inversely proportional to the duration of contraction.

The ergonomist thus aims to reduce pronation.
The `neutral' posture of the forearm (if the elbow is flexed) is illustrated by the `handshake' posture, in which the thumb is uppermost and the palm is open, but relaxed.

This posture is readily achieved using `vertical' mice, such as the Evoluent Vertical Mouse. Joystick mouse designs, like the Anir, reduce pronation, but require the operator to adopt a `closed hand' posture in which the flexor tendons are constantly contracted. Joystick mice often require thumb use to click buttons, which is another risk factor, (De Quervain's tenosynovitis).

Touchpads, like the Cirque, SmartCat, generally operate by heat, not pressure, require no grip and COULD be operated vertically, but are generally used horizontally, with the hand pronated. A drawback of touchpads is that they are not optimized for tasks such as copying and pasting or dragging and dropping, being less efficient for such tasks, compared with the Evoluent, which works in exactly the way we are accustomed to mice working. An additional issue is that touchpads tend to have small screens, so that hand-centric movements are likely, which represents an additional risk factor for tendon injury, particularly tennis elbow or forearm extensor tendon injury.

The light clicking action on the Evoluent means that the thumb may be rested on the device, rather than being used to 'squeeze' or pinch when the buttons are clicked - this is important, because a relaxed thumb is essential to well-being in prolonged mouse use.

Getting the most benefit out of the Evoluent requires attention to other aspects of ergonomics.

1) I never advocate the use of wrist rests, particularly in front of a mouse, because wrist pads on mouse mats increase risk of lateral epicondylitis. If you have a mouse mat with a wrist pad built in, dump it, or turn it around so tha pad doesn't touch your wrist! Just use a plain, 90-cent mouse mat - these are the best solution by far (and also the cheapest).
2) Get your seat height correctly adjusted - when sitting relaxed in your chair, the underside of your elbows should be level with the mouse so that, as you take hold of the Evoluent, your forearm is horizontal. Make sure your feet arent't dangling - use a footrest or some telephone directories if your feet are dangling when your elbows are at the right working height!
3) Rest the weight of your arms on the correctly adjusted armrests of your task chair - the armrests should be close to your side, and padded, so that they support the fleshy part of your forearms just below the elbow. This relaxes your shoulders, reducing muscular tension and optimizing blood flow to and from the hands/wrists/arms.
4) Use arm-centric movements, not hand-centric movements! This is VERY important. Move the mouse using the muscles of your upper arm, not by bending your wrist - this is easy once your forearm is supported at the correct height; don't try to rest your wrist on anything, as this will reduce the benefits of using an Evoluent.
5) Even with a great mouse like the Evoluent, unless you are actually moving and clicking with the mouse, remember to let go of it...frequently relaxing your hand and arm is important. Research shows that if you are working under a lot of pressure, you will grip the mouse harder and click with unnecessarily high force - both of which increase risk of injury. The Evoluent requires only a gently, resting action to stabilize it against clicking actions, because the buttons operate using very low force.
6) I suggest 30-second breaks for the hand after at most 15 minutes of sustained mouse use. This will happen automatically if you are switching between keyboard and mouse constantly, but if you are doing intensive mouse work (like drawing or some forms of web browsing), you can easily end up fixing your hand postures for 30 minutes or more, which is not healthy.
7) Just because a new device feels comfortable at first, doesn't mean it will stay that way - it just uses different muscles and tendons compared with your old device. So be careful not to judge a device as a success after only a few days of use - after all, how long did it take before your standard mouse injured you?

The Evoluent is an excellent 'preventive' device, if properly used and if you take reasonable breaks as described above.

Hope this helps any injured users out there. As I say, the Evoluent is a great solution and in my professional opinion, it should become 'standard issue.' Robert Stuthridge B.Sc. (Hons), M.Sc (Health Ergonomics).

The concept is phenomenal. I felt the difference immediately once I started using it - my arm is sooo much more natural resting that direction.

The cons: it is definitely not made for small hands. I would venture a guess that it is sized for the average 6' white male - which means the hands are huge compared to a more petite woman like myself. It's not terrible to use, it's just not completely natural. Slimmer, with the thumb rest a little lower, and the buttons a little narrower would make it much more comfortable for me.

Also for whatever reason it's much more challenging to hit precision targets - I think that's a problem with their optical technology. I have to go really slowly and deliberately, and sometimes have to to make several passes, in order to hit things like check boxes and pull-down arrows.

Overall an awesome idea...maybe one or two more iterations it'll be perfect. Definitely don't hesitate to buy one - but beware that there are caveats.

This is quite a "duh" -- gripping the mouse vertically prevents the need to twist your lower arm (which puts strain on the hand's nerves and tendons). I have fairly nasty RSI problems, and find this mouse to be downright "comfortable" -- a stark contrast to normal mice, which make my index and middle finger ache and burn.

The design is aesthetically pleasant, and the motions similar enough to traditional mousing to transition seamlessly. The mouse is substantial in your hand ("satisfying" would be a good description), and has a small lip to prevent the pinky from dragging. It is precise and accurate, and even lets you change the laser DPI on the fly (that being the feature new to the "rev 2"). I especially love the thumb button -- I mapped it to be a second Primary ("left") click, which takes load off my index finger.

Two niggles --
1) the "action" on the wheel-press button is a little stiff. I programmed the ring-finger button to duplicate its functionality and use that instead.
2) Mac users will need to download a 3rd-party driver if they want to use the thumb and ring/pinky buttons (it is called "USB Overdrive" and works perfectly). If money is tight it can be used for free as nagware, but otherwise -- it's cheap.


If you are in pain, you should also look into the Zero Tension mouse, the Quill mouse, the Microsoft Natural 6000/7000, the Logitech marble mouse (trackball), and the Wacom tablets. The Evoluent came out solidly as my favorite, but I recommend all of them highly. Pair them with a Kinesis Advantage keyboard and you'll be a very happy camper.

In an effort to avoid carpal tunnel in this computer-oriented world I have tried trackpads, balls and optical mice. By far, the Vertical Mouse is my favorite.
I used the Version 1 VM for years, when it got fried with a jolt of static. I delayed ordering a new one; trying my various options from my graveyard of mice - then finally went back to this one.
Somewhat expensive, I realize especially because your computer probably came with a free (aka cheap) one - I like this mouse better than a wireless one I've tried.
If you're into graphics AT ALL and aren't using a tablet; this is the mouse for you!

I was beginning to notice symptoms of numbness and tingling in my right hand as a result of mousing all day long. After using this product for just a few days, that completely resolved, which alone is worth the price. In addition, this mouse lets you customize each of the 5 different buttons to perform a different function in each application on your computer! Any function you can perform on the keyboard can be programmed into the buttons; it even allows you to record keystrokes to create your own specific function. I highly recommend this product!

This product is not as comfortable to use as I expected. I had to hold my hand and fingers slightly up, with nothing to rest the side of my hand on... the only portion of my hand resting on the table top is my wrist. The small "lump" bone on outer side of my wrist became very sore, as it was pressing/resting against the desk surface. Unlike the downward motion of left or right-clicking a standard mouse (with the table/desk surface creating resistance) there is no resistance when left or right-clicking and the mouse is always moving slightly when clicked... you have to constantly re-position it. After trying to get used to this for almost 10 days, I went back to my old standard mouse.

I spend a lot of time at the computer for work. Despite the price, I ordered this mouse due to pain in my right wrist and arm.

The mouse is definitely more pleasant to use than a normal flat one. Less tension in my arm. Good button "feel" and very accurate sensor. The software (I downloaded latest from Evoluent site) is straightforward and easy to install and configure.

It takes a few hours to get used to the mouse. It's fairly natural to use but it's easy to mistakenly click the bottom right button, or the button near the thumb, when grabbing or releasing the mouse. However, that's just leftover from a standard mouse and it's already happening less often.

My right hand does not drag, even though the "pinky lip" is very slim. A normal-sized mouse pad is big enough. The mouse is hefty and substantial-feeling and seems very well made. Your hand will not be quite vertical; it will still be slightly bent in, but much less than with a normal mouse.

Overall, if you can afford it, this mouse isn't just for people with arm/wrist pain. It seems a perfectly capable replacement for a normal mouse, with full-featured buttons, software, and switchable resolution.

This is by far the most comfortable mouse I've ever used. When my wrists started hurting from long days at the computer, this was one of the first things I did to help improve my ergonomics.

I have these at home and at the office. I've gotten a half-dozen friends to buy these as well and they all love them.

I do a lot of design work and spreadsheet work; this mouse is much more accurate and easier to handle, especially after a long day of mousing.

While it may seem odd for the first couple of uses, you'll come to love it!

I have been having some minor wrist discomfort in my mousing wrist and so I did a lot of research into different solutions for ergonomic pointing devices. I have talked to people that used a trackball for gaming, and heard a similar story that the trackball takes a lot of getting used too at first, and folks would hae a sore thumb for about a month or so before they got used to it. I looked at a few different designs for an true "ergonomic" (neutral wrist position) mouse, and settled on this one both because of price, and similarity in button layout to regular mice.

It only took me about a day to get "used" to using this mouse. I have been using my VerticalMouse 3 regularly for the last 2 months and my hand and wrist just feel so much more natural now when using it. I use it for gaming both on my PC and my MacBook, and the extra couple configurable buttons (use USB Overdrive on the Mac) are a useful bonus feature for my gaming needs. (I'm a casual gamer, so I can't speak for the needs of hard core gamers--take my opinion for what it's worth).

I'd definitely recommend this mouse as a great ergonomic preventative measure, or for anyone experiencing wrist discomfort using their mouse.

I love the feel of it. My wrist is better positioned, it's easy to hold and move, easy to program using their drivers. Seemed a bit buggy when I first plugged it in (Windows XP) - this seems to have left once I installed their latest drivers (rather than default Windows drivers). So make sure you can install their drivers before buying. I'm pleased with it, used to use Intellimouse but it's just to painful working all day with my wrist in that position. If Intellimouse put out a version that was verticle I'd probably try it, but I'll be sticking with this in the meantime, I am happy.