Gyration GyroMouse Pro Review

Author : Wayne Date : 18th January 2001

Radeonic would like to thank Gyration, and in particular Marc Harris - Director, Marketing Communications for their invaluable help and generosity in supplying this mouse for review.

Continued:

There's not a whole lot that can be said about the cradle really. It's finished in the same charcoal grey and sports the same sleek, high tech look. As can be seen from the image below, in addition to the three spring loaded charge contacts, a green LED flashes continuously to show proper connection. Proper connection by the way comes by means of a fixed PS/2 cable and plug, and a supplied serial connector for those who's systems have no PS/2 port, but I think we have reached the age where this unit should be fitted with a USB connector and have A PS/2 and serial adapter for that instead. A USB adapter is available separately, but I think this is an unnecessary extra expense and is a feature that should be available out of the box, especially with a high tech product like this. Because the base receives radio signal from the handset as opposed to infra-red, there is no need to keep a line of site between the two, meaning extra freedom for presentations which are projected rather than being on the screen, and with a 40 foot range (60 foot on the more expensive "Presenter" model) most situations are easily catered for. The only requirement for the base is that it be placed at least 12 inches from major sources of electromagnetic radiation such as your monitor.

 

The good news though is that no matter what my gripes may be about its connector, once connected it's ready to go. All the Gyromouse needs to operate is your basic Microsoft, Mac, Logitech or compatible driver, all of which can be found within The OS itself, so there's no need to mess about installing specific mouse drivers to be up and running.

The only other thing worth noting is its relatively small size. For me personally it was just a touch too small, but this is a catch 22 situation for Gyration. Any bigger and it would become a little unwieldy for in-air use, so all in all I think this a fine compromise, and one that Gyration deserve credit for getting right. One other minor gripe is that I'd have liked to see a raised rib along the edge of one of the top buttons to stop your finger wandering onto the wrong side. The two buttons have almost no gap between them, and it's sometimes difficult to be certain which button you're going to end up pressing, especially in the heat of a game.

On the subject of gaming, this is one of the uses Gyration claims would suit the GyroMouse, and for most games it's absolutely fine, but be warned, as is the case with many optical mice, if you move too quickly the cursor simply doesn't respond and stays right where it is. The fact that this happens both on the desk and in the air suggests it's a controller issue rather than a gyro issue. I shouldn't imagine something like Tomb Raider would cause it much of a problem, but for a heated Deathmatch the Gyromouse is really not the way to go.

 

In use the Gyromouse is eerily responsive. The first instinct you may have to fight is that of wanting to point the mouse towards either the screen or the cradle. Because of its radio technology, you can point it anywhere you like and it'll work just the same, and once you've wrapped your brain around this, it becomes a lot more satisfying to be able to slump back in your seat with the mouse on your lap pointing which ever way is comfortable. I have to confess that I did have to wrestle it a little at first until I got used to it, and for people like me who have very high mouse sensitivity set for on desk use it will take longer than would normally be the case. It would have been nice to be able to set on desk and in air sensitivity independently of each other, but like I said, it does get easier with time.

Conclusion:

As a presentation tool the GyroMouse is THE thing to own. It's compact, sleek, easy to hold, responsive, and above all at $99 it won't financially cripple you for life. Combine this with the GyroTools presentation suite and you have a classy combination that will impress your boss or your clients before you've even shown them anything. ATi All-In-Wonder users take note, this may not be the remote control you'd so dearly love, but it's damned close!

As a general use mouse, it also performed admirably. On the desk it was smooth and responsive provided it wasn't swished around too quickly, and while no DPI figure is quoted, it's certainly 400 or above. It feels solid in the hand, and has a look that certainly adds a bit of class to your desktop.

Installation is a breeze. With the 6 foot power cord to the cradle, you have the flexibility to position it where you'd like, and with no drivers to install, this really is plug and play as it was meant to be.

I miss the scroll wheel, there's no getting away from that, but other virtues take away the sting a little, like being able to park the cursor, and being able to change track on my favourite CD without moving from what is often an almost a semi horizontal posture in the chair.

This is a technology that's still very much in the early stages, and that Gyration was able to put together such an accomplished package so soon is credit to the team over there.

In a nutshell, if presentations are your bag, if you want the next best thing to an all purpose PC remote control, if you enjoy putting your feet up on the desk while you operate your favourite MP3 player or if you just like to have cool things sat on your desktop, then maybe you should give the GyroMouse a try.

 

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.

Radeonic: A scroll wheel is now considered essential by many people. Why was the decision made to omit such a feature from the GyroMouse Pro? Will this feature be added to later models?

Gyration: The industrial design team for GyroMouse design a mouse that would fit comfortably in your hand when used on the desktop as well as when you pick it up and use it in-air. With that in mind, there was no place that a scroll wheel could be placed that would satisfy both usage methods. Advanced users find that when using the mouse in the air, it's just as easy to "park" the cursor on the scroll arrow, then left-click to scroll. Parking the cursor is a unique capability of GyroMouse that is not available with any desktop mouse. Simply place the cursor over an icon or button and release the activation trigger and the cursor will stay put while you click.

Radeonic: I understand that a scroll wheel function is available through the purchase of your GyroTools presentation suite at an additional cost. Would it not be possible to bundle a very basic version of this suite, perhaps with only the scroll function, along with the mouse and then charge extra for an upgrade to the full version?

Gyration: The scroll tool in GyroTools is pretty cool, but it's pretty far down the list of favorites for the home entertainment user. More popular for everyday functionality are the multimedia control tools, the Internet Browser tools and the keyboard shortcuts. Keyboard shortcuts are cool because you can initiate play, record, and capture sequences with the click of a button. Then, of course, there are the fun tools like the drawing tool, the zoom tool, and the spotlight tool.

Radeonic: One thing I found was that I really would have liked independent sensitivity settings for on-desk and for in-air use. When I have a mouse on the mat, I like to make as short a range of movements as possible, meaning I have the sensitivity set high. At this high setting however, I found it very difficult to hold my hand steady enough to click small items when used mid-air. Could a simple sensitivity adjustment not be incorporated into the receiver to alter mid-air sensitivity while leaving on-desk sensitivity unchanged?

Gyration: Sensitivity, speed and acceleration is adjusted at the mouse driver level and is not a function of the hardware. One of the real selling points of GyroMouse is that it uses the standard Windows mouse drivers, which means you don't have to load any software or DLLs to get it to work. The latest Microsoft drivers allow for different settings for two independent mice, but do not allow multiple settings for one mouse.

 

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