Cirque Cruise Cat Review

Author : Wayne Date : 7th June 2001

3DVelocity would like to thank Cirque and especially Ian Taggart for their help and courtesy in providing this touchpad for review.

Drivers :
Changes to the basic functions of the cat are accessed through the driver pages. Before you go looking for a specific icon, they're all behind the standard mouse driver icon in control panel. Below is the "Options" panel. From here you are able to set rotation which compensates for the angle at which you use the pad. You can also enable or disable the sounds that are played to give an audible confirmation of various click and drag operations. These sounds are played through the PC speaker rather than sound card to avoid the delay you get from loading and playing a *.wav file for each action. The upshot of this is that if you have no PC speaker, or a well insulated case, you're not going to hear these sounds.

Autojump determines where the cursor will appear when a new window is opened. DEFAULT BUTTON will place the cursor over the new window's default button, the one usually highlighted when the window opens. SYSTEM MENU BOX places the cursor where the name suggests and WINDOW CENTER places the cursor in the middle of the window each time.

Finally are the "Motion Extender" options. GLIDE EXTEND is used when dragging an object. If you have locked an object for dragging and your finger reaches the edge of the pad, you have three seconds to lift and reposition your finger before the drag lock is lost. DRAG LOCK will keep an item locked for dragging until you tap the pad surface to deactivate the lock.

The Taps and Buttons panel allows you to set basics such as tap length, double tap speed and so on. From here you can also switch button assignments or programme specific applications to them. The upper right blue zone is also programmed from here.

 

The scrolling panel is fairly self explanatory, allowing you to enable or disable the various scrolling options. In addition to setting the scroll method, you can also set the one or three lines at a time option through the settings button.

 

Finally comes the "gestures" panel, and it's this that really makes the Cruise Cat stand out from the crowd. The gestures feature allows you to "draw" commands onto the pad. In the shot below you can see that a capital "M" has been set to maximise the active window. To use the feature, you simple hit the "gestures" button and a small graphical window opens on top of your application. You then "draw" in your command, and if recognised, the command is performed.
The great thing about gestures is that you can create your own. If you want a circle to open your CD player, then you just click the "create new gestures" button, draw a circle, repeat when asked to and hey presto! Now every time you hit the gestures button followed by drawing a circle with your finger, up pops your CD player. Elegant, simple, and more importantly it seems to work 99% of the time.

The only downside to this is that the time taken for the graphical window to open, then to enter your gesture, then to have it executed means the time savings are not huge, but it is still quicker than a stroll via the start button.

The idea of gestures is an area where touch pads offer a unique ability that simply can't be rivalled by a mouse. I'd like to see more use made of the gestures function and the bundling of security software requiring a certain gesture to be performed prior to loading windows or allowing access to certain files would be a huge plus. Handwriting recognition software could perhaps also be optionally bundled at an extra cost.

 

Conclusion :

PRO's

Solid State, should outlive your mouse by some margin
Lifetime Warranty
Gestures add huge functionality
Keen price
Less risk of RSI or CTS
Easy horizontal scrolling
Needs less desk space
Easy cleaning and maintenance
Looks stylish

CON's
Requires time to master
Drivers not quite 100%
Very sensitive, small finger movements and judders can be interpreted as clicks
Right clicking still not intuitive

 

All in all I enjoyed using the Cruise Cat. It offers fast efficient functionality in a neat, tidy and well constructed package. Impervious to dirt, lint and even moisture, the Cat keeps on going through the heaviest of sessions. Even maintenance is trimmed down to a quick wipe with a damp cloth every once in a while.

At $69, and with a lifetime warranty, the Cat has a hell of a lot going for it, and even those (like myself) who have bad memories of older touchpads should find themselves being won over by Cirque's fifth generation technology. My biggest gripe is with the drivers, and in addition to the SBLive incident, I should point out that Windows ME now refuses to shut down fully, hanging at a black screen and not powering off. This may be a quirk in my particular setup, but it is a problem all the same. Uninstalling the software restores the shutdown to full operability again.

This aside, I think Cirque have an excellent product on their hands and with the right marketing this should prove a big success for them. Although it takes some time to master, the results are generally worth the effort and for anyone concerned about the dangers of RSI, the fact that wrist movement is eliminated should immediately make this a must-have.

A right to reply

This is a new feature we are introducing into all our future reviews. It's easy for us to sit and pick holes in a product, assuming we know why certain things were done the way they were, but it's only fair that the manufacturer gets the chance to defend themselves. In this section, you will see the manufacturer's replies to the points we raise, and decide for yourself if they're valid or not.

 

3DVelocity:The Soundblaster and shutdown issues in Windows ME were the biggest problems we encountered. Is this an issue you're aware of, and is anything being done to rectify this if so?

Cirque: The information in the FAQ to update your sound software was pertinent to a different issue with an earlier version of the software. Utilizing version 1.06 there was an incompatibility, this was resolved with the release of software version 1.08. However, it is the best policy to ensure you have the newest / most compatible software for your Operating System, regardless of issues you may expect. (Typically Updating all drivers for devices that require them is the best policy, video, sound, input devices, printers, scanners, ect.... from all vendors for the applicable hardware in the system.)

(We are aware of the following issues, they have been documented for future development)

Version 2.0 may be installed on Windows ME, however the following issues have been reported. These issues will not be addressed in this release. If a touchpad is connected to the serial port of a Windows ME system before the installation of the Cirque drivers, the system may fail to boot. To remedy the problem, shutdown the computer and disconnect the device and install the 2.0 drivers. You will then be able to connect the device to your serial port. As and alternative the touchpad may be connected to the PS/2 port with the adapter provided by Cirque.

Windows ME shutdown problems.
Cirque Corporation testing has found that Windows ME inherent shutdown problems can be exaggerated by the installation of the touchpad drivers. Unfortunately Cirque Corporation is unable to resolve this issue with this release. If you experience this problem the only solution may be to uninstall the touchpad drivers.

If these issues are apparent, please uninstall the Cirque Software and utilize your touchpad as a standard mouse replacement under this Operating System, using the native drivers provided by the Operating System (Standard PS/2 port mouse is recommended "connection to the PS/2 port is best on Windows ME").

In reference to issues with Windows ME, we do not know when the problem may be resolved. Currently we are seeing some issues with Windows ME that are far different from Windows 95/98/98SE/NT/2000. Microsoft appears to have made changes that are directed towards hardware products. Some of the current problems experienced with our product have also been tested with other manufactures products, with similar results.

Due to these problems, the testing with Windows ME has produced widely varied results and have been difficult to reproduce. These results may vary if this is a fresh install, an upgrade, done with or without the Cirque device attached, or with or without the Windows 98 drivers installed. At this point we can not honestly say, or guess when these problems may be resolved. Also at this point Cirque Corporation is not making any projections as to when a final release for Windows ME may be available.

3DVelocity: It may be just me, but right clicking still feels laboured. Are there other methods that could be used, and do you see it as a problem?

Cirque: With the software installed for both vertical scrolling and forward / back functionality, a portion of the top right tap zone is preempted for these functions. This cuts into the right tap zone, by disabling these features it would expand on the area defined for the tapping (larger touch area to access the right tap zone) if it feels too labored to activate. *other areas of the cruise cat can be defined for a "right click/context menu" for example you may redefine the A, B, or C, buttons (WWW, E-Mail, Media) to activate this feature.

3DVelocity: The gestures feature clearly has huge potential uses for PC data security. Is this an area you hope to develop in the future?

Cirque: Currently Cirque Corporation is in the process of designing, product and software for security features. We have a working security device which is activated by using gesturing which we using for presentations and exhibits.

3DVelocity: Why have you not yet opted for a USB version? Do you have any plans for a wireless version?

Cirque: Cirque Corporation has been in development of a new chipset for the implementation of a USB Cruise cat. When this is developed and available we will be moving forward with production of this unit. At this time we have no plans for a wireless version.

3DVelocity: Is there anything you'd like to add?

Cirque: We have also just release this month our new Pocket Keyboard. A miniature keyboard which connects to Palm OS based PDAs. This is also based on our capacitive GlidePoint technology.

Huge thanks to Cirque for both supplying the review unit, and for their detailed replies to the points we raised. Clearly there may be problems using this device under Windows ME, but in Cirque's defence none of the documentation states that ME is supported. On this basis, I have to accept that the Cat could do what the mouse can only dream of doing and award it a near faultless 9 out of 10!