Wow-Pen: The Mouse That Acts Like A Pen

This past week and a half has been very busy for me, which is why I haven’t had much time blogging. One of the things that has kept me busy is the laptop I purchased. I’ve been spending time configuring it and getting it “just so”.

Since I plan on using this laptop a lot, I wanted to get a good mouse because I don’t like the track pad — as neat as they are, they’ll never replace the mouse for me. I finally decided on buying the Wow-Pen ECO.

Actually, I didn’t have any idea this the Wow-Pen existed until I saw it on the shelf. Its unique shape caught my eye. As I looked over this optically driven mouse I thought I’d give it a try. I was, after all, looking for something different like a vertical mouse anyway.

As you can see, it’s meant to be held like a pen. If you were to lay it on its back, it would be about the same length as a regular mouse.

It has left- and right-click buttons that are placed vertically. To the right of these buttons is the scroll wheel. Of all its other features, if it didn’t have this, I would not have bought it. I gotta have my scroll wheel!

What I like about it:

• It keeps me from having to rest my wrist on the table like I would if I were to use a mouse.
• It feels pretty comfortable in my hand (more on this later).
• The scroll wheel.
• Stores easily.
• It’s optical.

What I dislike about it:

• It’s too light. It takes some getting used to, but I think adding some weight to it while keeping its size would definitely improve the overall user experience. For the first few days I used it, I kept having to focus controlling with my hands what could have been controlled by weight, if that makes sense. In other words, if you’ve ever driven a car with very sensitive power-steering, you’d know you have to compensate with smaller movements. It’s the same with this thing except without the power-steering.
• I mentioned the comfort above. It doesn’t fit my hand exactly the way I’d like it to, but it’s something I’ve worked around.
• I wish it were wireless.
• The buttons are just a little shy of giving you that solid “click” feel.

It comes in four different colors and can be used on Mac and PC. At a cost of $40, it averages out to what most other mice cost. After you train your hand that this is just a different type of mouse, you’ll get the hang of it.

They have another model that’s wireless and rechargeable. Plus, its RF receiver doubles as a flash drive. That’s a pretty neat combination.