Product Description

Designed for Comfort, Folds for Portability. You take your notebook PC everywhere. That¿s why the Arc Mouse is designed to go with you. Expanded, it¿s a sturdy and comfortable full-sized mouse. Folded, it fi ts perfectly into your bag.

Product Details

• Color: Black
• Brand: Microsoft
• Model: ZJA-00001
• Platform: Windows
• Format: CD
• Dimensions: 2.75" h x 5.13" w x 5.63" l, .54 pounds

Features

• Mouse folds to 60% of its fully expanded size
• Micro-transceiver snaps into the bottom of the mouse
• Folding motion turns mouse on/off
• Laser tracking for precision
• 2.4 GHz wireless with up to 30-foot range

From the Manufacturer

Overview:

You take your notebook PC everywhere. That's why the Arc™ Mouse is designed to go with you. Expanded, it's a sturdy and comfortable full-sized mouse. Folded, it fits perfectly into your bag.

Features:

Folds for Portability Designed for comfort, the Arc Mouse folds to 60% of its fully expanded size, with the folding motion controlling turning the mouse on and off.		Scroll Wheel For easy navigation.		Strong Hinge Made of metal for durability.
Micro-Transceiver Snaps into the bottom of the mouse.		Battery status indicator Changes color to indicate when the battery needs to be replaced.

Additional Features: 2.4 GHz wireless with up to 30-foot range Laser tracking 4 buttons Carrying case included

System Requirements: Windows Vista®/Windows XP or Mac OS X v10.2–10.5 Powered USB port 2 AAA alkaline batteries (included)

Customer Reviews

Microsoft Arc Mouse
I like this mouse. Here's why:

1. The size. It's a full-sized mouse, yet it folds up nicely for transportation.
2. The laser is accurate. Finally! A laser mouse you can use on your bed sheets/blankets/pillows without skipping horribly. Does it work on a glass tabletop? Sorry, I didn't try it, but I would think not.
3. Appearance. Sure, this may not be a big deal to anyone, but it looks good -- well, the black one does anyway...
4. Noise. The buttons don't have a pronounced "plastic click" sound. Some may find this to be a disadvantage, but my wife is thanking me dearly for not keeping her awake when I'm on my laptop late at night.
5. The small USB plug -- not quite as small as the Logitech Nano, but close.

Of course, there are some shortcomings:

1. Functionality. This is a very basic device -- Right click/Left click/Scroll/Back are your functions. That's it; no browser forward, email, volume, etc. features here. To me, not a big deal. To you, it might be.
2. The browser 'back' button is WAY too far down toward the nose of the mouse. I can't imagine the prehensile anatomy of whoever thought this would be ergonomically viable to us modern-day hominids.

All things considered, I like this mouse a lot. It could have more features, but what it lacks in that regard, it makes up for in comfort and styling.

Quite fine mouse!
I was looking for a portable mouse to use with the ASUS 1000H. (The trackpad works fine, but I just prefer an actual mouse.) I went to the local electronics store and clicked and held many mice of its an unbelievable variety of shapes, sizes, and features. I kept coming back to this one, so I went for it and am quite pleased with it. I like the pronounced arc shape of it, as it fits in my hand well and comfortably and I can rest my palm on it. I have average sized hands for a woman--people with big hands should try it out before purchasing. I also like the light weight and the fact that it folds up. The USB piece sticks to the bottom of it with a magnet, so people like me won't lose it. The buttons click softly and easily. The scroll wheel does make clicking sounds, so if you need your mouse to be totally silent while scrolling, you might look elsewhere. As the other reviewer noticed, the "back" button is in a slightly awkward place, but if I just hold the mouse at a very slight angle, my thumb reaches it with no problem and I can still right click. It doesn't come with software and I've found that I have to insert the USB piece before booting for it to work. Once working, its been quite nice, moves easily, and does what I need it to do, both quickly and accurately. Folding it up turns it off, which is a nice feature for forgetful people. Once folded up, it slips into a small black bag that hardly takes up any room at all. Finally, the manufacturers were kind enough to include the two AAA batteries that power the mouse.

Overall, I'm quite pleased and am thinking of using this with my desktop computer as well.

Cheers!


Update: (11/29/08) Bah. I have to change my review a bit. The scroll wheel, like so many have noticed, has stopped working and appears to be unfixable (at least, by me). I'm bummed, as I really liked this mouse. I've replaced it with a Logitech V450 mouse, which is okay, but the buttons make a harder click than I like and I have to actually manually turn it off when I'm done using it. I loved that the Arc would turn off automatically when folded. Anyways, if Microsoft fixes the scroll wheel and makes it more durable, I'd definitely buy another Arc.

Nice while scroll wheel works
I bought this mouse about 3 months ago as an upgrade to a Logitech nano mouse, mainly because it was slightly smaller when folded for travel, but slightly larger when unfolded for use. I liked the feel of it, but after about 3 months the scroll wheel has completely stopped working, so that there is no "click" and also no movement on the screen. In contrast, my Logitech nano mouse was over a year old (and I've gone back to using it since the Arc mouse broke).