Retailer touts sweat-swatting mouse
Fan-tastic
Sweaty palms afflict us all sometimes, but for office workers constantly plagued by hands that feel like a wet fish then a hand-fan’s ideal. Thankfully, one’s been built into a computer mouse.
OptiWind: it really sucks, and blows
Dubbed OptiWind, the USB mouse has a fan built into its base that sucks air in and that then "blasts" it out through vents in the mouse’s top surface to cool your hand down. Online retailer Brando claims the air flow is 28 cubic feet per minute, thanks to the fan’s 1500rpm rotation speed. It also generates about 25dBA of noise.
The mouse provides an 800 dots per inch (dpi) sensitivity, which is low in comparison to high-end gaming mice, but should do the job for desktop applications. It’s also compatible with Windows - although not the latest version, Vista.
The OptiWind mouse is available now from Brando’s website for $22 (£11/€16). But sweaty-palmed Brits will have to make do with a tissue for the time being, because the mouse hasn’t yet appeared on Brando’s UK website.
COMMENTS
Generic Title
Perhaps this archive digging was prompted by El Reg's new iFan icon?
I like the Hover mouse idea, but perhaps the original idea was a hoover mouse to suck up all those crumbs that get stuck in the ball.. (I know its optical but they get under the teflon pads too!! and when this mouse was invented those many years ago balls were still common)
Shame on el reg for being so out of date/touch on this one, I look forward to the next article on mice with frikken lazer beams.
Doesn't work with Vista?
Much as I hate the Hollywood-paranoia-encumbered bloatware, I have to leap to its defence on this one. I presume the only reason why you say it's not compatible with Vista is because it's an old product which doesn't say Vista on the box because Vista wasn't around at the time. A mouse is a mouse is a mouse - they all work with all OSs, within reason.
Ducted fan
Is there a switch to reverse the fan? I don't have sweaty palms, but I like the idea of a hover-mouse.
