Tuesday, June 12, 2012

A Comfortable Optical Mouse, The SONY VAIO VGP-UMS1 Optical Mouse Gets The Job Done!


The Good: Easy to use, Light helps makes functioning ability clear, Comfortable grip
The Bad: Uses up a USB port, Requires drivers
The Basics: A stylish optical mouse, the SONY VAIO VGP-UMS1 Optical Mouse is surprisingly durable and easy-to-use!


I hate having to buy a computer mouse. Ever. I think, now that I have found mice that I like, I would like them to be indestructible. For me, the computer mouse is pretty simple. I am happy with two buttons, but I have discovered I have grown entirely dependent upon the scroll wheel for maximum functionality. So, with my actual day job, I was surprised to find that I found a computer mouse I actually like quite a bit. That is the SONY VAIO VGP-UMS1 Optical Mouse. It is a little more stylish than others I have used, but it is pretty cool and having used one now for over six months, I can easily attest to its durability.

My mouse is a stylish basic SONY VAIO VGP-UMS1 Optical Mouse. This is an optical mouse with a tapered top, which is ergonomically nice. The SONY VAIO VGP-UMS1 Optical Mouse is a USB mouse with a six foot cable that ends in a standard USB jack. With over six months of use with my VGP-UMS1 Optical Mouse, and who knows how long it was in service prior to that?!, I am very happy with it.

The VGP-UMS1 Optical Mouse is a basic mouse intended for use on computers using a Windows platform or Mac platform. I am not sure what is different about the configuration of the SONY VAIO style mouse, but it required drivers to download in order to use it on the Windows XP system I run at work.

The SONY VAIO VGP-UMS1 Optical Mouse is 4 1/2" long by 2 3/4” wide and 1 1/2” tall. It has a curved top, like most mice, so it fits in the hand nicely. Also, as a left-handed person, the SONY VAIO VGP-UMS1 Optical Mouse is nice because it is not contoured on its sides in any way, so it is intended for ambidextrous use. The VGP-UMS1 Optical Mouse has a six foot cable which plugs into a USB port. I am pretty used to griping about anything that uses up a USB port, but then I noticed the new laptop my wife got me does not even have a dedicated mouse port! So, the fact that virtually every computer these days has more than two USB ports leaves me thinking that this is not a huge problem.

Like all optical mice, the SONY VAIO VGP-UMS1 Optical Mouse glides along the surface of the desk or wherever one has their PC because of two non-stick pads on the bottom of the mouse (one at the front, one at the back). These help move the mouse effortlessly along the smooth surface of my desk, making a mousepad obsolete.

The VGP-UMS1 Optical Mouse is called an optical mouse because where there used to be a ball on the underside of the mouse, there is now a simple hole with a light emitting diode in it. When the mouse is properly plugged in and working (whenever the power on the PC is on), the diode glows red and tracks movement to allow the cursor on one's screen to move about. Whenever the mouse has failed – which has only happened for me when it is unplugged – the light on the bottom is no longer lit.

Like most mice, the VGP-UMS1 Optical Mouse features two physical buttons at the top of the mouse. The left one is usually used to click and highlight, while the right one is used to access menus – this is something that is configured in the software in Windows, not ingrained into the mouse itself.

The VGP-UMS1 Optical Mouse also features a small scroll wheel between the two physical buttons. In most Windows-based programs, the scroll wheel allows one easy access to moving up and down on pages, as it is designed to serve only that function. This has worked fine on my computer, save very old programs (so, for example, while navigating my ancient PFS Windowworks documents, I have to either use the Page Up/Down keys or move the mouse to the right side of the screen and use the up/down bar there.

When I replace my current mouse (which will be sooner than I wanted, thanks to my cat!) the SONY VAIO VGP-UMS1 Optical Mouse is the one I will pick up!

For other computer mice and equipment, please check out my reviews of:
Gear Head 3 Button Optical Mouse (#OM3400U)
Microsoft Mouse D66 Optical Mouse
Belkin Laptop Cooling Stand F5L055

9/10

For other computer product reviews, click here to go to the index page!

© 2012 W.L. Swarts. May not be reprinted without permission.
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