Customer Reviews

Gyration Rechargeable Wireless Air Mouse Elite (GYM5600NA)

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(10)
3 star:		(8)
2 star:		(4)
1 star:		(5)

 

 

A couple of years ago I received a Logitech MX Air Rechargeable Cordless Air Mouse which I really liked. I've since suggested it to teacher friends, one of whom has put it to marvelous use in his juvenile hall classroom, helping to get students involved in multimedia instruction. He says it has been an amazing, transforming tool. I gave it five stars because of how it worked, how it felt, even though there were a few things I would have liked in addition.

So, I've long kept my eyes and ears open for another air mouse that would have both the functioning of the logitech mouse while adding a greater amount of flexibility.

This Gyration air mouse certainly seemed to have the potential of meeting this hope, and for the most part it did, albeit with its own frustrations.

First off, the mouse works great as an air mouse. I admittedly have not used it a great deal as a standard mouse, given my primary computer is a laptop. I played with it to get to know it for a little while, then put it to the test when I guest-lectured for two graduate level classes last week. Had a powerpoint presentation, and was curious to see how much I could walk around while still being able to control not only the slide progression but all aspects of the computer.

What I liked:
* It does work and is responsive. Like the Logitech learning to adapt to the distinct differences between a handheld mouse or touchpad takes a bit of time. I wasn't particularly finely tuned myself at this task during the class sessions, however, as time went on I definitely got a bit better. Another wee problem I had was I couldn't get the cursor to move at all in the air at first. Took a bit of looking at the manual (only provided on the cd) to realize I had to hold down the trigger button at the same time. This latter extra bit might become more of a negative over time, as it adds extra hassle to what should be an automatic function of a mouse.

* What really helps the Gyration stand out is that it has programmable buttons. Three buttons in the middle of the mouse can be programmed for different functioning not only in a single set way, but programmed so as to have different reactions in different kinds of software. Very nice. And this works as well.

* Not only can these buttons be used for standard operations, but the included software gives the mouse wonderful additional functionality beyond what the computer already has. This includes, but is not limited to, a simulated "laser" pointer (a roundish, flexibly sized dot on the screen), a "highlighter" that can highlight anything on the screen. The list can go on and on so is worth checking out.

* There are also, by using the provided software, gestures that can be programmed to do different tasks. For instance, I programmed the mouse to start the slide presentation with an upstroke and close it with a downstroke. Like with the mouse movement in general, getting these gestures to work easy takes a bit of time. The mouse is pretty sensitive and it's really easy to feel like I'm doing a gesture right, while the mouse just gets confused what a slightly diagonally upswing is supposed to indicate.

A slight caveat with this latter. The software feels a bit slow at times rather than working smoothly. It is loaded in the back ground and tends to want to pop up over the other software. Rather than being seamless, it's a bit intrusive. But, this may be me continuing to need to improve my own skills with this mouse.

What I don't like:

* the design of the mouse itself. It looks and feels like a regular mouse. With a trigger button on the bottom, and three buttons surrounding a small round button in the top middle. There's the two standard click buttons with a scroll wheel in between. That sounds all well and good. However, to use this as an air mouse requires a different way of holding it. The trigger button (which I've already complained about) requires the mouse being held on the side, with the click buttons, and other buttons on top, being manipulated with the thumb rather than the forefinger. However, with a standard mouse design, this mouse feels rather uncomfortable and awkward being held in this way. This is the one place the Logitech mouse really stands out. They designed it to work with both hand positions in a comfortable way. The buttons on the middle top are especially awkward to use with the thumb, as they become really close to the hand. And, of course, these buttons are just about impossible to use easily holding the mouse in the standard way.

* The charger. It is a USB charger. I hate tapping even more of my laptop battery or taking up one of my few usb ports to slowly charge up this mouse. I understand it is convenient in some ways, but having an adapter which could be charged USB or in the wall would have been immensely more welcomed. The battery does seem to hold a charge pretty well, though I've not put it through long enough paces to see if this is another problem. The logitech air mouse has an amazing battery life that is hard to beat. Added to this, there doesn't seem to be a way of turning the mouse off. It's always blinking blue at me. Which makes me think that it loses more power than it should because I can't shut it down.

* The charger design. It's terrible. The mouse sits loosely and uncomfortably on the cradle, with some fiddling to make sure the mouse is connected and charging. The mouse can be easily--like with a small breeze--knocked off the charger, resulting in a charging session that ends up not providing any charge.

Over all, I feel like there's a lot of great hardware and software pluses with this mouse, but they really skimped on the design process. It feels they put a lot of great stuff into a really not thought out package. I'm not someone who usually is attentive to design issues, however, this mouse kept bringing them to my attention.

And yet, if I was asked to recommend this or the Logitech as a useful air mouse in an educational setting, I would almost certainly recommend this one, because of its flexible programmable buttons and helpful software. Though as I do it I would feel a tinge of sadness as the Logitech just is so much a better fit in the hand and overall look.

My HTPC setup is very simple: a Win Vista PC connected to a 52" LCD TV via a HDMI cable. The input device I have been using is a Logitech diNovo Mini, which has a less-than stellar touch pad/directional pad combo design in lieu of a mouse. So when I received the Gyration Air Mouse Elite In-Air mouse, I desperately wanted this mouse to work well and fill the missing mouse void left by my Logitech diNovo Mini all-in-one. The setup was relatively simply: install the drivers/configuration app from the included CD, plug in diminutive USB Bluetooth receiver, connect the charger to any standard powered USB port, and you're pretty much ready to go. The mouse does work out of the box. Although with my setup, when using the air-mode, the cursor was moving too slowly at first. So I had to go to the mouse properties and amp up the cursor motion speed. Personally, I find the mouse to be poorly designed. When using the in-air mode, a trigger needs to be depressed all the time while moving in motion. While pressing the trigger, I find it awkward to use the left click/right click/scroll wheel on top without resulting in slight hand jitter and missing the on-screen target. I found it difficult to focus on small on-screen targets and buttons without jitters, and that's a huge deal to me. I tried different settings (like the check box in mouse properties to increase accuracy) and tweak the motion speeds, and none helped much. I asked my wife to tried it, just it make sure it's not the anatomy of my hands. She had the same impression after a few minutes of use. I wanted a motion mouse that's intuitive and natural, almost like an extension of my moving hand in air. This mouse, unfortunately, failed to deliver for me. There are additional buttons that can be configured for different common invoked actions, like minimizing a page. But nothing to write home about and they certainly don't make up for the lukewarm motion control.

I was excited to try this mouse that uses Wii technology. I use a mouse alot every day and my hands and wrists are chronically fatigued. The promise to hold a mouse in the air and navigate web pages and documents seemed too good to be true. It was.

What frustrates me is that it is so close to working as promised. The concept is sound and at times it is a delight to use. My hand can be at a comfortable position in my lap or by my side and a small movement of my hand causes the curser to move effortlessly and with precision across the screen. If I choose to use it on a flat surface it works as well as any other mouse. But here is the problem: the Air Mouse uses a little window on the bottom to detect if it is on a flat surface. If not the curser freezes in place. The user must double click a button to convert the mouse into an air device. There is almost no way to hold the mouse without having a finger cover the little window and the mouse believes it is on a flat surface so the curser freezes. Thus starts a frustrating repetitive loop; double click,finger over the window, cursor freeze, double click, etc. What baffles me is that sometimes it works perfectly for minutes on end. I am in mouse user Nervana. Then inexplicably it goes into the loop sequence and I slip into mouse rage.

Another disappointment is the software. There are four programmable buttons on top of the Air Mouse. A window on your computer screen shows each of the buttons and the user clicks on a button and then selects from a list of actions available to that button. That part is as user friendly for programming as could be asked for, however, there are commonly used commands that are missing.

The most obvious to me is the double click. One of the most difficult tasks for this mouse is to hold the mouse still over a small spot on the screen and not move off it for the duration of a double click. Having one button on top be programmed for a double click would be so nice.

A second software feature missing is page down scrolling. Here is why it is important. When I move my thumb forward to reach the scroll wheel a finger underneath almost always covers that little window discussed previously and the curser freezes and back into the loop sequence. More mouse rage.

Design-wise, this device is so close to being a device users would brag about to friends. As I said, when it works I marvel at the ease of use. I wish the company would invite me to sit with their engineers for a day. I have put thought into modifications and have concrete, simple suggestions. This puppy would hum. My fee; replace my current mouse with a new improved version when it comes out so I could brag to my friends.

I liked the concept of this gadget, and it works fine as a wireless mouse, but the problem begins when it's in the "air" mode. It was very hard to get the cursor to stay still and point where I wanted it to point. The trigger feature is such that whenever I would pull it most time it would move off the desired location and not work (or I would end up clicking somewhere else). Then there were the times it lost contact with the computer...yikes.

The build quality is OK; it's shiny black and chrome and feels light in the hand. It's a shame it doesn't perform the way it looks like it should; it has the appearance an advanced piece of technology when it's really not. The technology should adapt to the user input and correct for errors (like anti-shake technology in cameras), instead of demanding that the user adapt to the technology's shortcomings.

Conclusion: it works OK as a wireless mouse, but leaves lots to be desired once it leaves the desk

So I had seen my friends using his gyration for doing presentations etc. He has a much older model. I've borrowed and used it for my own presentations, so I know how an air mouse works, and am comfortable with it.

But this thing is garbage. It's construction feels flimsy. It uses a proprietary battery, that can't be replaced. If you want to use it for a laptop on the go, it's about the worst option possible for a road warrior. A single proprietary battery, and I can't find a replacement out there. Second, it REQUIRES the cradle to charge, and finally there is no built in storage for the dongle. So this is about the least travel friendly mouse I've ever owned. Oh and it's big, but I was already expecting that.

Second, I've had it for one day - it's going back tomorrow - and it has "frozen up the mouse" on two separate computers running different versions of windows. Both my work and my home pc got hosed and I had to hold both ctrl, alts, and shifts to reset the mouse to get it to work again.

Finally, the motiontools software is very buggy. It's already stopped working properly and won't let me change the gestures. Also the presentation items do NOT work with powerpoint viewer, only powerpoint. That matters to me.

And if you make the mistake of buying one of their products, I wouldn't waste time waiting for tech support. The website itself has very little useful information and the product manual has even less. I tried calling and after telling me I could leave a message or stay on the line, it eventually hung up on me. Then calling the number for a faster response puts me on hold for two minutes before transfering me to VOICEMAIL. Talk about adding insult to injury. I just tried calling both tech support and sales again with the same hang up on me, then put me on hold for voicemail. It's when I decided I'm definitely returning this and never buying anything else from gyration.

So an expensive mouse that is not very well made, backed by badly written software

I have to give quite a few powerpoint presentations, and I'm also the type that tends to walk around while I'm doing it.

Several years ago, I considered using a small remote device that had forward and backward buttons on it to advance the powerpoint slides. I decided against it because it was fairly high-priced for what it was, had only one very specific use, and the range wasn't very good.

So, imagine my surprise when this product arrived in the mail. Unlike the uni-purpose "clicker" I was looking at, this one will do everything a mouse can do, and can even be used as a mouse replacement (though that is not where its special gifts are most appreciated!). I was able to walk around the room without losing my connection, so for me the range is perfect.

The ability to use it as a real mouse without going back to my laptop is a great feature. It feels good in my hand, and has just the right amount of grip on the bottom to keep it from going sailing during a particularly strong point (okay, so I walk around and gesture a lot - at least my audience is generally awake, if only because they are worried I might fling something at them!).

Finally, the price is right, especially given that it can substitute for a standard mouse in a pinch. If I set up a media center, this is what I'm going to use to point with. I've never been a fan of touchpads, which seems to be the primary alternative in a media center, so it is great to have another choice.

I like this, and think it is a great solution for active presenters.

Sean P. Logue, 2009

This is the first time I have even seen an air mouse. When I frist tried it I was literally laughing out loud! Very very cool device! The mouse is very precise both on and off the table, I love the trigger function to enable the mouse mode, its lightweight but doesn't feel insignificant in the hand and it fits right in. I also love the little docking station it comes in, the suspended in air look is even embraced when it's charging.

The computer mouse has started off as a basic design and progressed into something pretty cool; I love this one and can't wait what else the creative geniuses behind this one will come up with.

- Kasia S.

UPDATE: After using this in a classroom to present the course material to students (mainly Powerpoint presentations), I now consider the Air Mouse to be indispensable. If you are a teacher, this thing is a must. Being able to move the cursor around without actually being in front of your PC allows for an uninterrupted presentation flow. Highly recommended!

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As a remote controller and presentation tool this thing is amazing. Cursor movement is very natural. You press a well placed button under the mouse and the Air Mouse starts broadcasting data. You simply tilt your hand in the desired direction and the on-screen cursor moves accordingly. When you are finished moving the cursor, simply release the button (to prevent unwanted movement), though if you prefer a double click of the movement button leaves the mouse in "on" state until you double click again. It's very well designed.

You can assign a range of functions to "gestures" (directional movements made while holding down the gesture button; total of 8) and 3 physical buttons. These functions are context sensitive, which means that pressing a button can perform different tasks depending on whether you are using PowerPoint or Media Player (or any other program). You can, of course, make these functions universal if you like. For example, I universally assigned "previous track" and "next track" to left and right gestures. And "volume down", "play/pause", and "volume up" to left, middle, and right shortcut buttons. This allows me to control Windows Media Player while playing Counter-Strike without leaving the game.

It's ergonomically shaped, where you use your index finger to control cursor status, and thumb for everything else (reminds me of Star Trek TNG phasers actually, and you hold it as such).

Using the Air Mouse as a traditional optical mouse, however, was horrible. Maybe I received a bad part, but optical tracking was quite poor. I only managed to achieve acceptable tracking on wood surfaces, while on other surfaces it was completely unusable. I had to switch back to air control every time (which thankfully works great).

Overall I am very pleased with this controller. :)

Lots of buttons, nice shiny black plastic (fingerprint magnet), blue and amber lights, and chrome. Normally that would attract me, like a moth to a flame. But on a mouse, tough call, I'm sort of attracted to this thing (oh the simple days of a Macintosh mouse that was rectangular and had one big button). It more or less does what it claims; it's just plain strange to use. I think teachers will love this mouse, see the November 6, 2009 update a few paragraphs down.

This is a strange device. As a mouse, well it works just fine. Lay it down on an appropriate surface and it works like any other wireless mouse (but with pretty amazing range). Right and left click, pretty standard stuff. Scroll wheel, has subtle light detents while scrolling, check. But then a weird chrome ring of buttons, three rings and one center button. The three ring buttons, assignable to do something windows - run your email program, run internet explorer, etc. Kind of unintuitive, unless you do those things many times a day. The center button - does nothing when this thing is on a surface like a regular mouse.

OK, lift this baby up, afterall it's supposed to be a gyro mouse you wave around in the air. Well, amazingly, that works pretty well. The mouse pointer on your screen only moves whenever you pull back on a trigger under the mouse. Double click the trigger and your mouse pointer moves all the time. Double click again, and the mouse only moves when you hold down the trigger. The trigger is nicely located. Now for the center silver button use - well that's the one you press to activate 'gestures.' Depending on the running program, these gestures do different things. Hold the button and wave your wrist to the right, and a powerpoint presentation page moves forward. Hold that button and flick to the left and you go back one page in the presentation. Hold down the button and a big ginormous help screen appears. The ring of small buttons do different things too. In powerpoint the left button starts up the highligher pen. The center bottom one is the 'laser pointer' - really a red dot on your screen. The right one activates these massive arrow / pointer things.

November 6, 2009 Update - This mouse found a home in a high school classroom, where it is used every single day, around 10 minutes at a strech for five classes. The mouse has become the talk of the entire school, teachers and students alike. With a short demonstration virtually everyone has learned to use this thing. This may sound a bit odd, but there is actually a bit of reverence around how mysteriously the thing works. For a teacher, this mouse is likely nirvana. They can walk around, speak, monitor students, all the while changing slides, pointing, and emphasizing. Moving backwards and forwards in a presentation is simple and quick. Passing it off to students for presentations works very well. Before this mouse a teacher was anchored to a keyboard or the computer - now there is a huge freedom to move around. In a large high school science laboratory, there have been no problems with the wireless connection.

The not so good stuff.
Until you use this thing for a while, none of these buttons are intuitive at all. I found myself pulling the trigger when I wanted the gesture activation. Or pressing the center button like it is the left mouse button. I have big hands, and I had trouble groping around on this thing to press all the right buttons. The thing can't be turned off - so you will use up the batteries no matter what you do with this thing. The charger is a proprietary cable to a dock station. No choice but to use that dock station (really bad idea). The user interface is really archaic, it looks like 1980's children game icons and text. It's not bad, it just looks old and outdated.
Range is nowhere near the 100 feet advertised, at least in normal circumstances. If there are any obstructions of any kind, people, desks, walls... the range is reduced very rapidly. I was lucky to get 50 feet out of this. And the worst part, as I got farther away, the mouse became less responsive and very jerky. I would not call this a 'go anywhere' wireless mouse. In fact it is probably no better than any other 2.4GHz wireless mouse at range.

The good - you can be a long long ways away from your computer and this thing still works. There's no degredation of response on the screen, all snappy no matter how far away. The device is light weight. The shape is nice, it fit my hand fairly well. It does provide some very cute tools for presentations.

The mediocre - there's no owner's manual. The quick start is a PDF on a CD. The tutorial for how to use the darn thing is a really bad Flash video that moves way too quickly. I barely understood what this thing could do after watching the video.

Installation was not too bad. Install the Motion Tools from the provided CD. This being mostly for business users, some corporations will block the installation of this software. The mouse is pretty useless without Motion Tools. Plug in the fairly large dongle into a USB port. Press connect on both devices and your computer will go nuts installing drivers. The mouse pretty much works at that point.

Charging the first time was a pain in the neck for me. Somehow the stand never wanted to initiate charging, until I pressed the connect button on the mouse. It then flashed bright amber lights to indicate it was charging. All lit up and the charge is full.

I can't say I love this thing, also can't say I hate it. It's a good mouse. It's a strange presentation aide. And it would take a long time to get good with the thing. The buttons are not intuitive.

(By the way - company response to review in comments! - have a look!)

Pro's:

1. Excellent Presentation device - a true "air" mouse
2. Most devices like this are clumsy - this one is very nice
3. Has typical gyration smoothness and functionality
4. Has plenty of tools to present
5. Also serves as a very functional mouse when on the road.
6. Very short learning curve
7. does things other presentation devices only dream of doing
8. Good media center mouse

Con's

1. No "traditional" laser pointer (there is one in the software - see comments by Gyration)
2. has to charge using cradle
3. Doesn't use standard batteries
4. Doesn't use standard batteries
5. Doesn't use standard batteries
6. No timer on device
7. With charger - too much stuff to carry

Summary:

The mouse combo presenter is an excellent presentation device that does things other presentation devices just don't do. It works well as a mouse while you are walking around and not at a desktop or stationary position. Range is fine, and the controls are all excellent and intuitive. The learning curve is very short.

The omission of a laser pointer is forgivable with tools designed to use highlighting etc. BUT - there is just no quick substitute for a quick push and "instant on" for a laser point. Sometimes you don't want to use an "actual" highlighter - you just want to point something out ....

The biggest downside on this device is the lack of normal batteries. This device charges via a cradle. It does charge via USB (which is nice) but just a slot for a couple of AAA batteries would have been a much better choice. The fact that road warriors will arrive at their location without a charged device is just too much of a nightmare to fully trust the device. So if you do buy this mouse / presenter - you will have to make sure you have a fully charged device before beginning.

Personally, I just cannot afford to trust one device like this without batteries. So this resulted in one star deducted from the total.

I tested the device without the software tools. I am on too many different computers to worry about installing software and configuring or making it work - so I tested the device "raw" on an older version of XP and it worked flawlessly right out of the box. Plug in the USB dongle and I was ready to roll. That was nice.

Again - the device is great as a handheld "air" mouse and gyration makes great products. My main gripe is the lack of normal batteries - I would have been much more satisfied with a swappable rechargeable than the cradle idea.

Finally, as a media center mouse - this is also a great option and maybe its best use. With the cradle - it is always charged and has a "place" to be put. It really does a great job as a mouse and it can be used anywhere to control a computer minus a keyboard.