Gigabyte GM-W9C Wireless Optical Mouse Review
Gigabyte's new wireless rechargeable
optical mouse, the GM-W9C, is an RF device that is scaled for portability,
and includes a rechargeable battery that can be charged within
the mouse itself for convenience.
Anyone who has tried to use a conventional wired mouse with a laptop in
a cramped environment such as an airplane will appreciate the benefits a
wireless optical mouse can bring. They offer an excellent alternative to
the built-in touchpads and trackpoints that many find difficult to use.
At home, wireless mice can also offer benefits, freeing users from trouble with cord
binding, ergonomic injuries and other problems associated with traditional 'tethered'
mice. Optical mouse technology, where the mouse uses a
small CMOS camera to record its movement and interprets this information into
pointer movement, is tailor made for wireless mice. This technology allows
mousing on almost any surface (the only exception being some reflective
surfaces) allowing the wireless user to take advantage of the freedom on
offer.
RF (Radio Frequency) transmission is probably the best current method for
transmitting data to and from wireless control devices like mice and keyboards.
Bluetooth wireless mice have recently come onto the market, but are considerably
more expensive and offer no real benefit over RF. Infrared (IR) devices can also
be found, but these are massively handicapped by their requirement for
line-of-sight.
Features of the
GM-W9C
In one word
- 800DPi Optical technology. The Gigabyte GM-W9C is an optical mouse and should
scan on almost any surface. In our tests, we found it to be reliable on a
number of 'difficult' surfaces like metal and shiny plastic, though it did
occasionally refuse to work on the metal surface. Lifting it slightly then
replacing it on the surface generally solved this issue.
Gigabyte built the GM-W9C mouse to use 27MHz RF
technology to provide its wireless connection, and thus does not require an unobstructed line of
sight to the receiver which plugs into any free USB port. We
operated the mouse successfully out to about five feet from the
receiver. Not super long range, but average for RF and more than adequate
for most wireless applications.
The GM-W9C comes with a pair of AAA NiMh 600maH 1.2V
rechargeable batteries. These can be easily accessed by opening the palm rest, and are charged inside the mouse
with a small cord that draws power from the USB RF adaptor.
The GM-W9C wireless optical rechargeable mouse can be charged straight from your computer
through the USB port. A charging cable is included which actually plugs
straight into the USB RF adaptor provided with the mouse. As a nice touch,
the mouse will continue to function as a 'wired' mouse while the cable is
attached and charging the batteries.
Interestingly, the Gigabyte GM-W9C mouse can also be charged from a range of Nokia DC
adaptors. The manual specifies "ACP-7, ACP-8, ACP-9, LCH-9, DCH-9, etc."
and states that the DC adaptor voltage should be 5V and the output 500mA.
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