Pet Mouse. (mouse device for computers) (Hardware Review) (Evaluation)
by Dana Stoll

Here's the lazy secretary's First Axiom of Computing: It's a great deal easier to manipulate software with a mouse than without one. After getting used to a system with a mouse, I suddenly had to do without. I was crippled. During my first mouse era, my keyboard use had shrunk to (gasp!) only letters and numbers. I'd forgotten the cursor-movement key combinations in my word processor.

With mice on my mind, I went browsing in my favorite computer shop, and there it hung, an answer t my prayer: Pet Mouse from International Microcomputer Software. I picked up the mouse to check for unusual markings. One caught my eye right away. This mouse came with MenuDirect menuing and hard disk--management software. The mouse was nicely compact and fit my hand well. It was so light that I looked forward to hours of Windows working with no wrist cramp. I noticed three buttons across the top and a small drawing of a mouse (probably a relative) under the left button. Flipping it over to tickle the trackball, I realized that taking the cover off to clean it wouldn't be a problem.

The Pet Mouse is slightly wider and fits my hand better than a Microsoft mouse. As far as performance is concerned, I couldn't find any problems. I found it responsive and accurate, even with the rigorous demands of Tetris. The buttons are a bit firmer than those of other mice I've used, and the click is more audible, but I found that double-clicking wasn't a problem at all.

I'm a sucker for pets, so of course I took this little guy home. It said right on the box that there's a double lifetime guarantee, so what did I have to lose? The manufacturer guarantees the Pet Mouse for as long as you own it and further assures that the Pet Mouse supports all mouse-driven PC software, since it's compatible with both Microsoft and Mouse Systems. What more could you ask?

You could buy a bigger, heavier, fancier mouse that costs more. But why would you want to do that? DANA STOLL

Pet Mouse-"9.95 INTERNATIONAL MICROCOMPUTER SOFTWARE 1938 Fourth St. San Rafael, CA 94901 (800) 833-4674 (415) 454-7101

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