The first time I saw the promotional materials for the Whirl Mini Notebook Laser Mouse before we had one in the office, I assumed it would be a gimmick where you control your computer's cursor by tilting your wrist. In reality, you use this product the same way you would any other mouse, and the raised design and tilting action of the base are only there to add comfort. This works well, but the product has a few shortcomings that temper our enthusiasm.

It's like a cushion for your hand

To use the mouse, simply place your hand over it. The swiveling base and higher design naturally adjust themselves to fit your hand, and it bends slightly back and forth as you work. It's hard to describe, but in practice it's almost startlingly comfortable; my wife and I both found ourselves using it with our laptops very quickly. The mouse is wireless, and it uses a micro transceiver that unobtrusively plugs into one of your system's USB ports. We tested the mouse on both PCs and Macs, and it worked great on both.

There are some smart design decisions here. The USB transceiver fits tightly into a cavity inside the mouse, between the two AAA batteries, so you can throw the mouse in your bag when you travel and have everything you need. The marketing materials say the batteries will work for up to 10 months. I certainly don't have the time to test that, but we haven't had to change the batteries in the past few weeks. The mouse is designed to fit well in the hands of both right-handed users and lefties, and the scroll wheel also clicks to the left and right to give you the option to scroll in four directions.

Now for the bad parts. The mouse has only three buttons: the right and left buttons, and the click down on the mouse wheel. Some users demand more buttons in their mice, but that's a matter of taste, and this is designed to be used with laptops, so it's already a nice alternative to most touchpads. There is also the issue of sensitivity: the mouse features a 800dpi sensor, and I'll admit to being something of a spoiled brat in terms of sensitivity—I like something a little more precise.

The mouse comes in a variety of colors and retails for $50, so it's not a cheap alternative. Despite the relatively low sensitivity of the mouse, this is a great peripheral for your laptop, and you can also find a larger model for your desktop PC. It may look goofy, but the higher design and the pivoting base is noticeably more comfortable than a standard mouse. I took this with me to the Game Developers Conference, and after a full day of meetings and demos where even a little bit more comfort when writing is welcomed, this made a big difference.