Swiftpoint mouse review
By Joanna Stern 
posted August 12th 2010 2:24PM
posted August 12th 2010 2:24PM
Hardware
That's all very interesting, but how does it actually feel in hand? Well, there's no doubt that the first few minutes of gripping the mouse with three fingers is awkward, but after awhile it became natural for us to take our right hand off the keyboard and automatically assume the pen-grip position. (We should mention here that Swiftpoint is planning to release a mouse for southpaws, but for now it's righties only.) It's not as comfortable as sprawling your hands out on a large Logitech or Microsoft mouse for long periods of usage, but the red rubber groove for your thumb and black one for your middle finger do feel soft and quite homey. The core mouse controls are fairly straightforward – the left mouse button is on the front, the right mouse button right in back of it and the scroll wheel lives on the right side.
The mouse comes with a small USB receiver that's adorned with a magnetic piece that attaches to the bottom for charging purposes. We like the convenience of just affixing the mouse to the dongle, but depending on the laptop you're using, it can end up blocking other ports. Still, the beauty of the little guy is that it doesn't have to sit on there too long to charge – our mouse came topped off with juice, so we haven't had to charge it in the last five days of use. Unfortunately, or actually fortunately, that means we haven't been able to test the RapidCharge (30-second charge / 1 hour of juice) promise, but once it dies we'll let you know how that works out.
Setup and everyday use
As we mentioned, the mouse became fairly comfortable to use over the past few days, but Swiftpoint claims that it's 30 to 40 percent more efficient than a touchpad. We take a bit of issue with that claim since we're assuming we all have varying degrees of efficiency with a touchpad, especially depending on what sort of pad you're used to. For example, we happen to be extremely adept with our MacBook Pro's touchpad, so in the case of using the mouse with that laptop we wouldn't say we were more efficient by any standard. However, that's not to say we weren't productive with the little guy. With our MacBook Pro on our lap, we put the mouse on the right palmrest and navigated the desktop smoothly. We had a similar experience when using the HP Envy 14 and Sony VAIO Y laptop. On a desk the mouse was just as capable, but we found ourselves having to give it more of a push than larger mice to move across the desktop, especially when using an external monitor. By far our favorite feature is the tilt to scroll. You can simply use your index finger on the scroll wheel, or you can tilt the mouse to the right so the wheel is resting on the palmrest or table and drag it up and down. There's something about all the movements that remind us of flying some sort of futuristic vehicle.
There are some other neat tricks hiding within the Swiftpoint, though we can't say we really utilized them much. The first is that you can lock the mouse so it won't move the cursor while you're typing or doing something else. Actually, included in the box is a small adhesive pad with a magnetic area that can keep the mouse in place, but you can also activate a touch sensor, or what they call SmartTouch. Holding down the right and left button and scrolling upward, we didn't have a problem locking the cursor in place, but it oddly wouldn't unlock by repeating the same command. We're told that our unit does have early software, so that could be the issue, but even if we did get it working correctly we're not all that sure we'd use the feature. It seems like too many steps to just disable the mouse. Heck, just move the thing out of the way!
You can also customize the mouse's "up direction" by holding down the right and left buttons and dragging the mouse upwards. The idea is that you may change the direction of the mouse when working in certain in environments, but that just doesn't happen to us all that frequently and we'd like the top of the mouse to send the cursor upwards no matter what.
The tricks that have been packed into the mini-mouse are impressive, however, it goes without saying it's lacking in functionality compared to some other laptop mice. For instance, it only has two buttons, so configuring shortcuts is really a no-go. As we mentioned before, we do wish there was a way to customize some of the commands to do other things.
Wrap-up
I'll stick with my Magic Mouse.
On another note - Ambidextrous mice? I'm a left hander, but having a mouse on the left side or with reversed buttons just feels weird to me. I guess I've just gotten used to the 'normal' way.
Have just received mine in the mail! Yes slightly expensive but WOW. Looks great, feels great, behaves like it said it would. I am impressed. Only thing I can fault at the moment is with the parking sheet in place the mouse does generate a small amount of noise as it slides, but that is also due to my Mactop. So far 91/2 out of 10
Long time reader, first time commenter ;)
I just receive my Swiftpoint after seeing it on Engadget and pre-ordering. So far, it's a very impressive piece of kit. However, the reviewer didn't quite understand the Smart Touch. As per this bit:
"It seems like too many steps to just disable the mouse."
I've just enabled it on mine and it's actually a sensor that stops the mouse from moving unless you have a finger on the black rubber side of the mouse. I.e. it's something you leave enabled at all times. It means that when you move your mouse out of the way with a nudge the pointer doesn't move, it's only when you are holding it correctly that the pointer responds. I have only used it since reading this review, but it seems an invaluable feature to me.
Time will tell if the mouse was worth the money - truth be told I mainly bought it as I was excited that a New Zealand company was doing something so innovative (I'm from Aus).
not so user friendly from my point of view -.-;;
The mouse is exceptionally comfortable to use. I was a little sceptical when I first saw it as well, but couldn't resist trying it out. So for people who HAVEN'T used one please don't make a comment on how uncomfortable it is. It is light and very responsive. The SmartTouch, as a previous commenter pointed out, was reviewed wrongly. The process described is to activate or de-activate a feature - which activates the mouse when you middle finger touches the right side. However, I found that I had to change my grip/finger position to activate the mouse which was a little awkward compared to what I'm used to.
Overall, it's expensive but is extremely handy when you have very little room, like on your lap or in an airplane. Also there are a tonne pf people who can't stand touch pads!
Why does it have to look like something you;d buy for a chick on Valentine's Day???
Wow! I just received mine in the mail (pre-ordered to get the sale price). And I must say... What a piece of shit!
In all my years of computing, I have rarely come across such an awful product. Please do yourselves a favor and stay away from this ill-conceived dud.
First of all, the sucker doesn't even work! I plugged the receiver into the USB port of my MacBook and the first thing it did was mis-identify itself as a keyboard that (of course) my MacBook couldn't recognize. I dismissed the message, and that was it. Nothing. Mouse doesn't work. At all. period. So I tried the other USB port. Still nothing. Flashing LEDs tell me the mouse is charging when I connect it to the dock, but nothing at all.
Second, you cannot use a second USB device with this thing plugged into your computer. Why not? Because the design configuration makes it so you can't dock the mouse and have ANYTHING else plugged into the USB port next to it. This was really ill-thought out.
I want my $70 back! Jeez!
@CDNSushi
Hi, Swiftpoint here. A clarification on your points. The device is compatible with Macs, PCs and Linux. If you do need additional USB ports, it is best addressed with an inexpensive USB extension cable. We are sorry that you are having issues with your new mouse and we will contact you directly to resolve your issue.
I have ordered mine for a week now and I have not received any order status. :( I even send them an email three days ago with no response. This does not make me very comfortable especially when they don't respond to the support emails.