The computer mouse is getting a raw deal these days. There are just so many devices now that interact primarily through a touch screen or touch-pad. These new input methods even support multi-finger gestures to scroll, zoom, and rotate, so why would you need a traditional mouse?
Genius has produced a new mouse that was designed specifically for Windows 8 and also sports a modern ergonomic design: the Genius Ergo 8800.
Features
- 2.4 Ghz anti-interfereance energy-saving technology
- Windows 8 mode (More on this later)
- Adjustable dpi (800 / 1200 / 1600 dpi)
- 36-month battery life on 2 AA alkaline batteries*
- Patented mouse scroll (5,530,455)
- USB Pico wireless receiver
- Stick-n-Go Mount
*36 month battery life if the mouse is not used
The box is a plain oblong rectangle of clear plastic. There is a cardboard insert that obfuscates the bottom of the product, so you can only see the mouse and not the other goodies that are included. The top lid is secured with plastic tabs inserted into cut slots, which is easily opened.
Once opened, a plastic tray slides out that houses the mouse itself, a small wireless USB host nub, a plastic mounting clip, and a paper manual. Genius includes two AA alkaline batteries, with the “Golden Power” label (not to be confused with Golden Shower, which is something else entirely).
The mouse is made of two different types of plastic and rubber, although the scroll wheel is composed of a metal alloy. The base of the device is a matte plastic that has been painted a silver tone, which in my experience erode from continued use. The top base of the mouse is made of shiny black plastic, which not only makes your hand sweat but picks up scratches and dust like a magnet.
The left side of the mouse has a nice thumb rest and has grippy rubber, which really helps secure the mouse in your hand. One of the thumb buttons has two notches so it is easy to identify the button by feel. The right side of the mouse has tapered finger grooves so your right hand cradles the mouse gently.
Wheelhouse
The center of the mouse has a weighty metal scroll wheel that is rimmed with notched black rubber. The wheel movement is notched, which feels soft rather than rigid, so the scroll wheel is not free-flowing.
The patent for this mouse’s scroll wheel (see here and here) is “Roller mouse for implementing scrolling in windows applications. This basically interprets scrolling with “weight”, so that the page continues to scroll after the wheel stops, the duration of which depends on how fast the wheel was moving. This patent was issued in 1996… so Genius does not appear to be the inventor of said patent; they are just saying their scroll wheel is patented.
Below the scroll wheel are a dpi switching button and “Flying Scroll” button (not Flying Squirrel… I hate Squirrels). The bottom button doesn’t seem to change anything mechanical, but rather toggles the mouse mode to “free scrolling” which lets you scroll left, right, up, down, or even diagonally; similar to the mini trackball scroll mice that almost became popular a few years ago.
The bottom of the mouse is very wide. The top has a little notch for mounting the included laptop clip. There is also an on/off switch, IR sensor, and latching door for the battery compartment. Two AA alkaline batteries (included in the package) are both inserted with the same orientation (both positive ends face the same way) which is unlike most other consumer devices.
Kudos to engineers for having common sense to move a wire around instead of making consumers decipher a faded diagram to install batteries correctly. The wireless USB host can also be stored here, a feature similar to Logitech’s mice. The USB host unit does not fit snugly but doesn’t rattle around inside the chamber, either.
Wireless receiver
The wireless USB Pico receiver is just as thin as Logitech’s multi-purpose hub but slightly longeruioiuolkjh. The shaft of the USB connector has been cut out so that it can fit on the mouse’s bottom, but this exposes the connector’s contacts and circuit board, which looks cheap. There are no other markings on the hub. Thankfully the hub doesn’t stick our when installed, which is good news for laptop users.
Where are the drivers?
No software is included with the mouse, although the manual does state that it should be downloaded from the Genius website. The problem is, the driver does not exist on their website (http://www.geniusnet.com), or anywhere else on the Internet that I can find.
I was hoping to use the driver to change the default behavior of the mouse to turn off the Windows 8 mode for gaming, but it doesn’t look like this mouse offers any customization at all.
The mouse feels rather good in the hand for a budget mouse. The thumb rest and additional finger rests mean that there is little to no finger drag when using this mouse.
The thumb buttons are easily accessible and the notched buttons let you find them by feel. The primary mouse buttons feel a little mushy, and the scroll wheel is a bit soft, too.
The relatively low dpi settings aren’t really set up for gaming, although you can easily get away with it by using mouse acceleration. Gamers usually don’t like this because some portion of your movement is interpolated, but in actual practice most people don’t really notice this.
The USB receiver may be ugly but it has a very low profile, but sticks out slightly more than Logitech’s universal USB receiver. This way you can keep it plugged into your notebook without problems.
The adhesive “Stick-N-Go” mouse clip is just unusable. While it does use 3M adhesive, the mouse is just too bulky to carry around in this way. It will certainly get bumped and nudged, and will rip right off. It’s a good idea, though, but you really can’t make a mouse this big very portable.
The mouse wheel does not have any left or right side-scrolling capability, which is odd for a mouse that it obviously targeted at office workers.
The mouse does feature a “free scrolling” button, which differs from the default mode when pressing down on the mouse wheel. Then this button is held down, you move the mouse to quickly scroll up, down, left, right or diagonally. When I find myself scrolling through a long document I’ll hold this down to quickly jump over large sections.
The mouse tracks very well on just about any surface. There’s a particular desk in our office with black laminate that many optical-sensor-based mice have trouble tracking, but the Genius Ergo 8800 worked flawlessly on it.
The other buttons to change the DPI aren’t easy to reach, which again does not make this a choice for gamers. The scroll wheel toggle button is software-only, so you really can’t scroll a really long web page and have the momentum of the wheel carry.
A small red LED below the middle buttons (which isn’t viewable when your hand is using the mouse) blinks when the dpi toggle switch is clicked.
- 1 blink: 800dpi
- 2 blinks: 1200dpi
- 3 blinks: 1600dpi
The modes work exactly as you expect, and are great for office users but not so much for gamers. There really isn’t enough of a difference for me between 1200dpi and 1600dpi and I would prefer to toggle directly between low and high modes, like this mouse.
Windows 8 mode
The problem with Windows 8 is that its interface is excellent for touch screens and horrible for traditional mouse input. The “Windows 8 button” functionality of this mouse really isn’t that useful. If you wanted to open the Start screen then most people will just use keyboard shortcuts. I suppose if you were navigating solely by mouse and had no touchscreen then this could be an advantage.
When in this mode, pressing the forward thumb button opens the Charms panel (which is easily opened from a touchscreen or keyboard shortcut). If you’re using a mouse, then you’re probably using the Desktop, and the Charms panel (same as Win + C) is practically useless. Pressing the back thumb button toggles between open applications (same as pressing Alt + Tab).
The only mappings that change between Windows 8 mode and regular mouse mode are the thumb buttons. You can switch between them by clicking all three of the top-facing mouse buttons at the same time (left-click, middle-click, and right-click). Unless you move the cursor to a blank area of the desktop then you might accidentally click something inside a window or put your browser into free-scrolling mode. My advice is to avoid this altogether and just use regular mouse mode.
Battery Life
The battery life is pretty decent. We weren’t able to test the 36-month battery life claim the company makes, however. Alkaline batteries are a better choice for long-term low-power devices anyway, as many rechargeable batteries tend to lose a significant portion of their charge after a month, even without use!
You can use the mouse just fine with only one AA battery, but it may not last as long. If you want your mouse to be as light as possible, then this may be the way to go.
The Genius Ergo 8800 mouse is a decent wireless pointing deice with a good amount of features. It is an especially good value when compared with others in the same price range.
The mouse has similar ergonomics as some premium digital rodents without the premium price. The build quality, however isn’t as good as premium devices by Logitech and Microsoft. The buttons are mushy, the unit is way too light, and it just doesn’t feel solid. The scroll wheel feels solid, though but isn’t free-scrolling.
Some of the features are nothing more than fluff. You made a decent mouse, Genius: you don’t have to mark up the package with stats that your customers will see through. It just makes you look cheap. The Genius Ergo 8800 is a good ergonomic 5-button mouse, but the lack of customization and software keeps it from being a great mouse.
As far as price is concerned, the Genius Ergo 880 packs more value than others in its price range. Most mice in the $50 price range are not ergonomic and can be small. This mouse has similar features to premium models along with an ergonomic shape.