Here we are again back with more peripherals, and today we have on hand another MadCatz production, the Eclipse Touch Mouse. Boasting it’s Bluetooth capabilities and a 30ft range, we will see just how well this works. Since Bluetooth is still relatively new to the computer scene, you may want to do your homework and figure out if your computer is even compatible with the Touch Mouse. More and more of the newer computers/laptops have Bluetooth installed on them from the factor, but older models do not, so just be aware. Also, with the “Quicktouch” mouse commands integrated into this device, it will be interesting to test just how “quick” they really are. Now, let’s put the Touch Mouse through the paces!

Packaging:

Features:

The Touch Mouse:

As you can see from the pictures above, the mouse is very simple. You have two buttons and a center scroll button which basically gets the job done. You can also see in the bottom right picture where you would insert the battery. All you need to do is unscrew the silver piece and plug it in.

Now with the mouse flipped over, you can see the button (left) that you need to push to connect the device to your computer. You can also see the pads, front and back, that the Touch Mouse uses to glide on whatever surface you have provided for it.

Usage:

Once you are ready to connect the Touch Mouse to your computer, just hold down the button for about three seconds and the light will start blinking letting you know that it is trying to connect. Once connected, you are good to go. If you used the installation disk to install the mouse drivers, you will have access to a lot more than just the three primary buttons.

Once you install the Touch Mouse driver, you will have a few simple options to play with. There is nothing fancy about the Touch Mouse settings program, it’s very basic, just like the mouse itself.

The stand-out feature of the Touch Mouse is the scroll wheel commands. As you can see above, the wheel has four different commands in which you can give it. This helps make up for not having extra buttons on the mouse. All you need to do is push down the scroll button and move the mouse to the direction that you want. This type of configuration is very easy to do and after awhile becomes second nature. While using the mouse to type up this review and play around, we got very good at surfing the web with it.

The scroll button features are nice, but the best feature in our mind is the fact that there is no actual scroll wheel per se.  The sensor only needs you to slide your finger over it for it to respond, and it is very responsive to the commands. This should help with the longevity of the mouse as normal old fashioned scroll wheels can wear out after awhile, forcing you to buy another mouse.

Size:

As for the size, we used a Logitech G5 mouse to help give you an idea as to the size of this mouse. You can clearly see that the Touch Mouse is quite a bit smaller and has a much slimmer profile than our G5. This will make it easy to carry around if you use it with your laptop, and it will give so much more space on your desk if you work in a small area. However, those with larger than average hands may want to steer clear as this may be too small.

Conclusion:

The Eclipse Touch Mouse has a very appealing look to it. The small stature means that this mouse can be taken almost anywhere and can be used in tight spaces. With 1600 DPI, while low maybe for some gamer’s standards, the cursor across the screen with ease. The Bluetooth technology is an added bonus and we are glad to see MadCatz taking advantage of this newer technology. Just make sure as a buyer that you have Bluetooth connectivity on your computer and you will not have any problems.

One thing we do need to point out is that while using the mouse, it seemed to skip or lag across the screen every once in awhile. We are not sure what the cause of this was, maybe it was just the way our hand engulfed the little mouse, but it may have also been a glitch with the Bluetooth transmitter, or even the optical sensor.  We do not know, we do know that this is not an issue that we experienced often and we will be contacting MadCatz/Eclipse to determine if this is the first report of this issue. It is not a huge turn-off for us because it only happened a few times throughout the whole time that we tested it.

Overall, the Touch Mouse could be a great buy for a person on-the-go as it is small and can work in confined spaces. It could be a perfect travel mouse or a normal 24/7 daily use mouse, it will work well in both situations, just give your hand a little time to adjust to it’s small size. Knowing what we know about this mouse now after our testing, we would not hesitate to recommend this mouse if you are looking for something in the wireless arena.



The Eclipse Bluetooth Touch Mouse receives the TechREACTION.net Bronze Silicon Award!