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- Verified Buyer
My gf has a lot of pain from overextending her right mouse arm. She decided to start using her left hand for the mouse.She's tested a bunch of wireless ones from Amazon and they have made her work harder, by lack of precision.She had an evoluent right handed mouse decades ago and knew their precision was on pointShe loves this mouse. She said they last a very very long time.Make the investment, instead of wasting $20-$40 on junk mice.I like this mouse better than the *UPDATE - Nov 20, 2014:* After using this mouse (actually, I purchased two - one for my desktop and one for my laptop), I am happy to say that they are still working perfectly and I am extremely happy with them. The glossy finish has worn off a bit, but I actually like it even more because it is easier to grip. However, for those interested in esthetics, when the glossy finish wore off in various places where my hand touches the most, it is still a very similar color to the original, so at a distance, or at a glance, it is hardly noticeable.When I first received the Evoluent VM4 Vertical Left-Handed Mouse, it took some time to get used to it. Specifically, my forearm was quite sore and I didn't think that I would be able to use it. However, I stayed with it and the soreness went away in about two days of using it. I assumed that I just had to get used to it. From that point on, I was extremely happy with it.In fact, I purchased a second one to keep with my laptop so that I didn't have to keep swapping between my desktop and laptop. Upon receiving the second one, I was totally used to the first one and infinitely happy with it. However, it surprised me that my forearm was again a little bit sore and I had the same trouble as when I had the first one.The only thing that I could think of is that I must have worn some of the "slipperyness" off of the mouse after a day or two because I was able to grip it better when picking it up when relocating it on the mouse pad. Don't get me wrong, when I say "wear off," I don't mean that I saw any noticeable wearing of the finish. It must be a very subtle wear.So my advice would be to stick with this for a day or two and not give up on it.I primarily got the mouse for its ergonomic and comfort reasons. However, I was pleasantly surprised with the ability to program the buttons for various tasks. The directions also show you how to download the latest software from the website so that you can program the buttons and it was very easy to install and find on their website. Note that if you don't download the software, you can still use the mouse, but you can't reprogram the buttons. It will basically act like a typical two-button mouse with wheel.Just to give you an idea of how I programmed the buttons, (if you refer to the documentation to see the "button numbers") buttons 1 and 2 are just like standard left and right clicks. Button 6 I use as Copy and button 5 as Paste. I programmed the "wheel button" to minimize the desktop because I open multiple programs at once very often and it's an easy way to get to the desktop. I disabled button 3,which is the lowest one, where your pinky finger will rest. I disabled this button because when I tilt the mouse to reposition it (so the pointer doesn't move on the screen), I kept clicking this button. I was using this as "Cut," but I couldn't stop clicking this button when tilting the mouse, even after getting use to the mouse. So I simply disabled it.One thing that I was worried about was how the wheel would scroll. Quite frankly, I hate using a wheel that does not click when scrolling it. This wheel "clicks" when you scroll it. It does so in a perfect way; not too hard to click, not too easy. So I was extremely happy with the feel of how the wheel scrolls.In summary, don't get worried about the fact that I said that it took a day or two to get used to. This is obviously an expensive mouse, but I love it enough where I had to get one for my laptop (and to have an extra if needed). I fully recommend this mouse.I've been using these for several years. Have purchased a bunch of them for each hand over the past many years. They do give out rather quickly. I use them everyday for most of the day. Unfortunately, I'm unable to find a similar product that is more durable. The index button gives out and starts double clicking or not clicking easily.Pros - really great in operation, comfortable, responsive and totally fixed the hand pain i'd been suffering from doing lots of 3D modelling work.Cons - Failed just 2 weeks after the one year warranty ran out! and the makers were not at all sympathetic - when you spend £80-90 on a mouse you expect it to last longer than a year - had to switch back to an old MS optical mouse i had in a draw - its at least 13 years old :)I bought this mouse on recommendation of my physio. My arm and my left shoulder were completely locked up which I believe was caused by me doing a lot of photo editing using Photoshop Elements 6.0 and using the interface sliders to make minute adjustments. At first I found the mouse useless at solving that problem, as the buttons are orientated sideways and hence unlike a normal mouse, there is no pressure backwards (from the desk with a normal mouse) to control the mouse. I found I was using the mouse two handed to carry out photo editing! However, my son solved that problem by showing me I could the up and down arrows to carry out the fine adjustments in Photoshop Elements and now I achieve much better results. As for the mouse, I have found it much better than any other mouse I've ever used for normal computer interactions, the upright keys are much more natural to use and I wouldn't want to go back to a normal mouse, so I just hope it lasts longer than others have experienced.I am right handed but have right hand problems now so needed an ergonomic lefty mouse. This was very quick to learn to handle, especially because I was able to control the speed of the pointer right from the mouse, so I was able to handle window size changes and quicker pointing tasks like selecting text.I wish it was wireless too especially for this money, but hey, nothing is perfect, right ?I have both right handed and left handed Evoluent Vertical Mouses from 3 and 4 varieties, use them at home and at work and they are brilliant, am unable to use a normal mouse and these have come to the rescue for me.Mouse works fine. I like the extra buttons and the ability to customise the operation of these for individual applications. The only significant problem encountered so far is that the design makes it very difficult to lift the mouse off the desk whilst in use without accidentally pressing one or more buttons. This makes it difficult to re-centre the mouse pointer in the window quickly. Also some concern about reliability as the light behind the logo has failed after only one day. Finally, because of the way your arm sits on the desk you'll probably want to invest in a padded mouse mat.
