The Microsoft Arc touch Mouse is the most recent, laptop optimized mouse by Microsoft. It features elegant and innovative design and great portability thanks to its light weight and small size.
The Microsoft Arch Touch Mouse is made of flexible material that bends to create an arc during use and flattens into a straight shape that fits easily into pockets. Furthermore, the scroll wheel has been replaced by a scroll touch surface. Besides the aforementioned innovative features, the Arch Touch Mouse by Microsoft has also many details that make it unique.
The first impression is positive, as the Microsoft Arch Touch Mouse features a sleek package and great quality of materials. The soft material which covers the device gives a nice feel to the touch and seems durable. Also, the USB wireless transceiver is so small and discrete; one can permanently leave it on the laptop, as it hardly protrudes. When not placed on the laptop the USB transceiver attaches magnetically to the mouse itself.
As the Microsoft Arch Touch Mouse is clearly made for laptop users as it does not use energy when in standby mode, and completely turns off when in flat form. When folded the buttons and motion laser immediately switch on. The laser uses BlueTrack Technology that responds to almost every surface. This feature is important for laptop users that will come up with many types of surfaces to use their mouse on. Of course, if you are wondering about glass surfaces, unfortunately its laser won’t work on them.
The scroll touch surface feels weird at first, but one can easily get used to it after a while. The Microsoft Arch Touch Mouse also vibrates when the scroll touch surface is in use. I feel that I like the scroll touch surface better than the traditional scroll wheel, but I also believe it is a matter of personal preference. Additionally, the touch surface features three touch point buttons with programmed functions, two more than a compatible mouse with the click wheel in the middle.
The Microsoft Arc Touch Mouse definitely has its negative points. First, I didn’t like the choice of the shiny material for the buttons. It makes them more slippery than the traditional grained plastic used for other Microsoft mouses and gives me the impression that it is only a matter of time before it fills with scratches. Secondly, the buttons have a shallow “feel” when pressed and released. Lastly, the arc shape is not easy to grab on and moved it fast, a feature which makes it rather inappropriate for gamers.
To sum up, the Arch Touch Mouse by Microsoft is one of the best laptop mouses combining supreme design with portability and a series of features ideal for those that carry their laptop around. I admit, though, that I am a little prejudiced as its thin profile matches my MacBook Air so much that it really feels a natural choice for a mouse.
