Examination: Mouse and Receiver
Packaging & Contents
• The Gyration Ultra GT mouse
• Charger cradle and AC adapter
• RF receiver
• GyroTools v7.1 Software CD
• Documentation
The Mouse
The first thing you will notice about the Gyration Ultra mouse is that it is an unusual shape. It is slender – about half the size of either the MS Intellimouse Explorer 3.0 or the Logitech MX510. Because the shape is slim, those of you with medium to large hands will likely find it uncomfortable for extended periods of time when used as a desktop mouse. When in mid-air though, any size hand will fit well.
The right and left buttons are oversized to make mid-air clicking easier. Between the right and left buttons is a small LED that gives the status of the mouse. The LED blinks at 20% battery life and when the mouse is active.
On the underside of the mouse are the trigger, channel and teach buttons. The trigger is used to activate the mouse while it’s in the air. The channel button is to change and display channel information. The teach button is to tells the receiver what channel the mouse is using.
There are two sensors on the bottom: one for sensing desktop movement (middle), and one for sensing when it is in the air or on a surface (top). The following pictures show how these sensors switch depending on whether or not the top-sensor detects a surface or not.
Covering the mouse’s top sensor activates the main optical sensor.
The battery is located along the top ‘heel’ portion of the mouse. It is a nickel-metal hydride battery (NiMH) which means it has no memory effect like nickel-cadium batteries and has a long life (1000 or more full recharges are typical).
The Gyration Ultra GT uses a NiMH battery.
There are accessories you can buy for the mouse, the most notable being a AAA battery clip. This battery pack allows you to use standard AAA batteries in the Gyration Ultra mouse. Just don’t expect alkaline batteries to last very long.
The Receiver
The receiver included with the Ultra GT is slim and small. It will easily fit into one of the pockets of your laptop bag and is small enough to be discretely hidden from view when set up. Compared to the old Ultra model of the same mouse, the Ultra GT’s receiver is much better suited for mobile use.
Slim design makes it easy to pack in a laptop bag.
There is no power adapter for the receiver as it runs completely off USB power. This is a great design feature as it reduces the amount of equipment you need to carry and simplifies setup. The cable is 5′ long which may sound a bit short, but since the technology uses radio frequencies the placement is not important so long as there is no interference.
The Learn button detects the mouse’s channel.
On the top of the receiver is the ‘Learn’ button. By holding and releasing this button, you can teach the receiver what Gyration devices are going to connect to it.
There are 4 LEDs on the unit: a status LED for indicating device activity and channel states, and num, caps, scroll lock LEDs for the optional Gyration wireless keyboard. The receiver can support multiple Gyration devices so you can have multiple keyboards and mice controlling the same computer which may have interesting uses in collaborative projects.
