Gear: Series 7 Slate, Penclic R2.
The Penclic R2 is a mouse alternative which is shaped a bit like a pen. The focus is on being a bit more "ergonomic" than the traditional mouse.
Ergonomics
A traditional mouse uses your fingers, wrist, and arm to manipulate. Using a mouse over long periods of time can create a good amount of stress, which may become painful. The Penclic attempts to just use fingers and a bit of the wrist, which should reduce stress on the arm and wrist. The Penclic makers recommend resting the arm completely on the table.
Box Contents:
- Penclic unit
- USB receiver
- Spec User Guide
- Quick User Guide
- Pouch
- Rechargeable battery
- USB cable
Penclic Features:
- 5 buttons
- Left, right, middle clicks
- Browser back and forward buttons
- Scroll wheel
- LED light
- Tracking laser
- On/Off switch
- Battery compartment (up to 3 month lifespan)
- USB port
- DPI
- 800, 1200 (default), 1600, 2400
- Press and hold left and right click buttons for three seconds to change.
The first time I saw images of the Penclic I assumed it was a joystick. Well it's not a joystick, it's a PC mouse.
Sleep
The Penclic will "go to sleep" after a period of time. Pressing the left and right click buttons will wake it up. (forgot to mention it on the video).
Change Button Layout
The default buttons may not necessarily fit your needs. With a program called AutoHotkey you can remap the buttons to other more useful functions. AutoHotkey example.
XButton1::MButton
XButton2::Browser_Back
MButton::Send ^!{tab}
The positives:
- Comfortable
- DPI settings
- Long battery life
- Great for people with a lot of mouse functions (like editing)
The negatives:
- The base could be a bit heavier for more stability.
- Switching the right hand from keyboard to Penclic can be a bit problematic.
Conclusion
Overall I think the Penclic is a good mouse alternative for desktop computing. Obviously it's not going to be a mouse for gaming. This is one of the most interesting wireless mouse on the market and will do fine for most PC users. I have spent a few days with the Penclic and have used it for tasks like browsing the internet, editing images and videos, and writing posts. It works better than I expected.
Images:
Compared to a graphics tablet (bamboo, intuos) how does this feel? The base looks a bit unwieldy.
ReplyDeleteIt does take a bit of time to get used to the Penclic. By now my hand has gotten used to it.
ReplyDeleteI'm not sure how it would compare to the Wacom graphics tablets because I haven't owned these devices. It's certainly NOT going to function as a smooth digitizer because it wasn't made for that. It was made as a mouse alternative.
The base could be a bit heavier to keep it on the surface a bit better. This of course depends on how you manipulate the Penclic.
Agree with your assessment. The location of the wheel is TERRIBLE. I also changed the function of both buttons near the thumb to act as the middle-click for scrolling. So far, holding a pen all day instead of a mouse is just making different parts of my hand hurt, not eliminating pain.
ReplyDeleteUsing a mouse develops certain muscles and joints, when you change the mouse then your body has to adjust to the new system. This process does bring new pains.
DeleteThe one issue that did bother me about was the transitioning between keyboard and Penclic. If you don't move your arm correctly you can tip over the Penclic, and then it becomes more work to use it. After a while you can kind of get used to it, but you have to admit the classic mouse is very intuitive in it's design.
Lately I have used the Penclic as a wireless mouse for when I'm watching videos at a distance from my computer.
(-6m)