Stuff Geeks Want

The Arc mouse is suspiciously cool for a product designed by Microsoft. But rather than ponder this anomaly, we’ll just tell you about it.

This wireless mouse features a folding design that enables it to feel like a full-size mouse in hand, but only takes up as much space in your bag as a portable mouse would.

It’s no slouch on features, either, with precise laser tracking, 4 buttons, a scroll wheel, and a tiny USB transmitter that is stored in the mouse when not in use. They even throw in a carrying case for good measure.

Pick your poison in suspiciously strange red (ahh, that’s the Microsoft we know and love) or black for $48.24 from Amazon with free shipping, it’s the lowest price around.

Logitech’s VX Revolution mouse isn’t the latest in portable mice, but it’s certainly one of the best.

Despite its diminutive shape—complete with tiny 2.4GHz digital receiver—the wireless mouse packs several buttons, a scroll wheel that can roll freely and quickly if desired, and a laser for superb tracking.

Even more superb, is the price: it retails for $69.99, but you can pick one up for $47.94 from Amazon. Still, you’d be foolish not to get one instead from NewEgg for just $9.99 after rebate, shipped.

That’s right—a penny under 10 bucks for a first-rate portable wireless mouse. Sold!

Mitch Joel wrote an article called “10 Things You Need for Your Computer“.

His #10 was the Logitech Presenter:

The Logitech Presenter will be your secret weapon. There are other presenter devices available, but this one takes the cake. It has a built in count down timer that gives you a silent vibrate to let you know when you have five minutes left and another one when your selected time is up (never go over your allotted time again). The grip feels great and the USB receiver slides into the top of the device, making it extremely compact. You no longer have to stand at a podium and be tethered to your laptop clicking the spacebar for the next slide. The Logitech Presenter will turn the power and attention of your presentation back to where it matters most - you. The Logitech Presenter is $89 and is the only piece of hardware on this list for a reason.

Get it from Amazon for around $60.

Graphics tablets have always been rather niche, despite Wacom’s best efforts over the years to mass market them.

The Bamboo is the latest attempt to sell graphics tablets to non-graphics professionals. It’s small, basic, and cheap. The latter being the most important factor going for it, if you ask us.

The Bamboo tablet features a 5.8″x3.7″ active area and includes a stylus with 512 levels of pressure sensitivity. Which is about 510 more than a crayon.

If you have kids in the house or want to play with your photos, the Bamboo is a no brainer for around $63 shipped from Amazon (retail is $79).

If you’d like a mouse and some software included, the Bamboo Fun has you covered for about $93 shipped. We think it’s a waste, though: the software consists of older versions of popular applications and you already have a perfectly good mouse.

If you want a bigger area, though, the Bamboo Fun does come in a Medium size with an 8.5″x5.3″ active area. But it will also set you back almost $180. Watch out for bamboo splinters!

One half of the StuffGeeksWant team recently moved from Virginia to Texas (now you know why there was that lull in posts!).

The move went smoothly, except that one of the feet on the bottom of a Logitech MX1000 mouse (one of the best, albeit now-discontinued, mice of all time) decided to stay in Virginia.

But no worries: losing a mouse foot is the perfect excuse to splurge on a set of Mouse Skates from Hyperglide.

Mouse Skates are crafted from 100% pure untextured teflon, improving the smoothness and consistency with which your mouse glides atop a surface. They’re also 0.5 to 0.8mm thick, which Hyperglide says gives it an edge in durability compared to other aftermarket mouse feet.

Because they’re designed primarily with gamers in mind, Mouse Skates are only available for certain mice from Microsoft, Logitech, and Razer—although with a bit of cutting they could fit more mice, presumably.

Pick up a set for around $10 plus shipping from Buy.com (search for Hyperglide) or FrozenCPU.com. They come 8 to a set, so enough for two mice (or two applications on the same mouse, if you wear the bejesus out of them).

Remember how cool scroll wheels were when they started popping up on mice about 10 years ago? Suddenly, you didn’t need to point the cursor at little arrows to navigate up and down.

A few years ago, Apple asked the question “Why only up-and-down?” They answered with the Mighty Mouse, which replaced the scroll wheel with a tiny ball that could roll in any direction. We loved the idea but liked the mouse less so, primarily due to its mostly uncomfortable shape.

Kensington’s SlimBlade Trackball Mouse takes the scroll wheel idea to the next level, replacing it with a free moving scroll ball like the Mighty Mouse, but adding the option of using the scroll ball like a trackball, so when your hands get tired of moving the cursor around, they can dump that duty on your fingertips. It’s also handy when you’re right on desk space.

The SlimBlade also packs two buttons, Bluetooth connectivity, and comes in a sleek graphite finish. Unfortunately, it doesn’t look much more comfortable than Apple’s Mighty Mouse.

Its $99 suggested retail price is also higher than the Bluetooth Mighty Mouse ($69), although Amazon is currently offering the SlimBlade for $63.99 after $15 mail-in rebate (expires today). Still, we have to give Kensington some props for a clever idea.

Silence is golden, they say. Too bad it’s impossible to find in any room with a computer.

While the ambient noise is mostly due to the fans needed to cool the equipment, even if you’re working from a quiet laptop or Mac mini there’s one sound you can’t escape from:

click-click… click… click… click-click…

Cut out that clicking sound with the Buffalo USB Silent Mouse. This sleek, optical mouse features special two buttons that emit virtually no sound when clicked. You still get tactile feedback, you just don’t get the noise that normally comes with it.

The mouse is available in silver or black for $38.92 from GeekStuff4U or $45.99 from AC Gears.

If you don’t like the styling of the Buffalo mouse or want a couple more buttons, you can always pick up the Thanko Silent Mouse for $44.99 from Best Buy. Like the Buffalo, it features a scroll wheel and optical sensor.

Using a computer as a media center is great, since it can put more media at your fingertips than anything else and can double as a regular computer for when you want to show off some YouTube videos or photos to friends.

The only problem is the input device, since Bluetooth and RF devices are limited to a maximum of 30-feet or so and, in reality, start hiccuping at beyond 10-feet.

The solution is Gyration’s Go Pro Air Mouse and Compact Keyboard Suite, which is good for up to 100-feet.

The keyboard is nice and compact, meaning it stores away easily on that shelf under your coffee table, while the air mouse uses gyroscopes to track the movement of the cursor without needing to be on any surface. Couch potatoes, this mouse is for you.

The luxrury of controlling your computer from such a distance doesn’t come cheap, however, with the suite carrying a $299 price tag (but you can pick it up for $244.99 through Amazon, or $239.99 from NewEgg). It’s compatible with Mac and Windows (it includes a USB receiver dongle).

MoGo manufacturers three Bluetooth mice unlike anything you’ve seen before: the mouse folds flat and stays tucked away when unused in your laptop’s ExpressCard/54 or PC-card expansion slot. The slot not only provides convenient storage, it also charges the battery.

MoGo’s original Mouse BT debuted a little more than a year ago. It features two buttons and a scroll pad (not wheel) and is compatible with both Windows and Mac OS X, although only Apple’s older PowerBooks have the necessary PC-card expansion slot to support it.

More recently, the company released the Media Mouse X54, which adds media player controls allowing the mouse to serve double-duty as a remote, and the Presenter Mouse X54, which features extra controls specifically tailored for presentations and a built-in laser pointer. While MoGo says both mice support Windows and Mac OS X, no Mac has an ExpressCard/54 slot (the MacBook Pro uses the narrower ExpressCard/34), meaning you’ll have to use MoGo’s X54 Charging Cable ($19.99 currently out of stock).

Looking to buy? NewEgg carries the MoGo Mouse BT for $39.99 after $20 rebate, the lowest price around.

Buy.com serves up the Media Mouse x54 for $70.24, or you can pick one up bundled with MoGo’s tiny USB Bluetooth adapter for $72.99 from OnSale.

The Media Mouse (bundled with Bluetooth adapter) also sells for $72.99 at OnSale.