The Belkin USB Mobile Mouse - A Good, Portable, Lightweight, Mouse

Like a lot of people, I'm not the biggest fan of the touch pad (for navigation) used on laptop computers. Yes, we can all get pretty used to doing things that way; but, let's face it, some of us just prefer a good, old, mouse. Sometimes, using the touch pad is actually more convenient. Other times, a mouse can make things simpler. When I got a mini-netbook it wasn't just to keep the Internet handy. It was to do some real work. So, for my purposes, it became clear that a portable, lightweight, mouse would make my work a lot easier.

The Belkin "mini-mouse" (or "travel" mouse) is small mouse designed for portability and use with your mini-netbook (or for any other reason you may be looking for a small mouse). It is "officially" called the "Belkin USB Mobile Retractable Mouse". The one I've been happily using came in "Plum Berry", but the mouse comes in other colors, including gray, blue, red, and black. After years of using a mouse in standard size and of the perfectly acceptable and professional black color, I was in the mood for a fun color like, "Plum Berry". Somehow (at least for me), it can seem like "standard black" is fine with the all-business desktop, but once one gets into "cute, little" portable computing it just seems kind of inviting to think in terms of fun colors. As it is, I'm using a "Smoky Violet" Blackberry, so it appears I'm in a "go-with-purples" phase when it comes to indulging my otherwise "business-like-colors-leaning" personality with a few "unimportant" things in fun or pretty colors.

Now, on to the more important matter of whether this item works well:

First, I didn't want to worry about whether or not mouse batteries were charged or running out of charge, so I wanted a USB mouse. There may be a time and place for a wireless mouse, but I wasn't looking for a mouse for that time and place. When it comes to my own mobile-computing needs, I'm all about not having to think about stuff I don't want to be thinking about. Something else I don't want or need to do is buy high-priced accessories for a "sometimes-only" computer.

After reading reviews about how small this mini-mouse is, I wasn't sure I'd be able to get used to using it. I'd read a review from a woman who said the tiny mouse is perfect for her three-year-old's tiny hands, and that made me wonder a little. I don't have the biggest hands in the world, but they're pretty much in keeping with a lot of other adult women's hands. I did see a review by a man who said he had really, really, big hands and wasn't all that comfortable using this little mouse.

Another review included the comment that the mouse makes a loud click and may not be right for use in public libaries. I don't know.... There's definitely a click, but I can't imagine it really being a big problem in public libraries. Is it silent? No. I suppose it may depend on how much silence is requires and how much clicking anyone plans to do at a place like the library.

Still, the whole point of wanting a "travel" mouse is wanting one that's nice and small. As others have said, this one is super small. For me, though, it only took a minor adjustment when it came to getting used to using it. Even for someone with the smaller hands of a lot of women, ergonomic this mouse is not. I'm not someone who generally has much trouble with things that aren't egonomically designed, so maybe the fact that this little mouse requires a little bit of adjusting is less of a big deal for me than it would be for someone else (who can't be comfortable unless something is ergonomically designed), but I've found that the size of the mini-mouse kind of makes it feel natural not to grip it in quite the same way one might grip a standard-sized mouse. That, for me, has just been part of that minor adjustment I made almost immediately after beginning to use it.

As far as a mouse goes, this one is adorable (that's the "girl" coming out in me, isn't it...). It looks more high-quality in real life than it does in online pictures. Quality-wise, does it look "equally high-quality" to the heavy, black, full-sized mouse I use with my PC? No. It looks just the slightest bit cheesier, but I think some of that has to do with the fact that its retractable cord is white. Generally, though, the Belkin mini-mouse looks decent enough in quality. It has a red indicator light that lets the user know it's all hooked up and ready to go. A more tasteful black color might add to the look of quality (but I wasn't looking for "impressive and business-like" when I bought mine).

The retractable-cord feature adds another possibility for problems, but I've found this particular mouse to have a cord that retracts and pulls out without any sense of problems about to happen. Other similar items had reviews that noted the retractable cord didn't work well soon after purchase. This one, at least from my experience, feels smooth and unlikely to too easily run into any problems. Sometimes I'll notice that it looks like a little extra cord is too loose around the reel, but pulling it before things get too out-of-control returns all to normal. I'm not able to leave the mouse plugged into the mini-netbook when I put it into the case (because it won't fit), but it's nice to be able to have the cord reel up to make tucking the mini-mouse in on top of the machine easy and tangle-free.

The under-$8 price for this mini-mouse meant I could indulge my fun side with the "Plum Berry" color without much thought. If my taste for purple changes, I'll buy myself a mini-mouse in a different color. Heck, I just buy a spare in another color as a back-up. It wouldn't add much weight to my carrying case and might make sense.

I'm absolutely happy with my Belkin, "Plum Berry", mini-mouse. In case you're wondering, plugging it into one of the USB ports doesn't disable the touch pad, which means I'm able to do whatever I want (whether that's through the use the touch pad or the mouse) in whatever way is most handy for me.

I can see how something this small would be very handy (and appealing) to people of the under-four-years-old set (and here's that "girl" coming out in me again, but this thing is SO cute I just kind of like looking at it, even if I'm not using it). That aside, though, this lightweight mouse with its retractable cord are, at least for my purposes, does what a mouse is supposed to do in a perfectly portable (and adorable) way.