Why You Can Trust CNET Gyration Go 2.4 Cordless Air Optical mouse review: Gyration Go 2.4 Cordless Air Optical mouse
The comfortable Gyration Go 2.4 Cordless Optical Air Mouse performs flawlessly on the desk or in the air and is ideal for use in a conference room or with a Media Center PC. Its functionality and sheer coolness factor are well worth its relatively inexpensive $80 price.
The versatile Gyration Go 2.4 Cordless Air Optical mouse will fit at a desk, in a conference room, or with a Media Center PC in the living room. This comfortable mouse can be lifted off the desk and used in the air. Its intuitive software and seemingly endless customizable command functions give it more usability than the average cordless mouse, which must remain deskbound. Given all its functionality and its sheer coolness factor, its $80 price is more than fair.
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Installing the Gyration Go 2.4 is about as easy as it gets. The mouse works as a plug-and-play wireless mouse; all you have to do is charge the mouse in its charger, plug in the RF receiver, and press the connect buttons on each. From there, you can adjust the settings through your control panel as you would with any mouse.
To take full advantage of this unique mouse, however, you need to install the included GyroTools software. This incredibly intuitive utility installs a control panel on your desktop, which lets you program the mouse's myriad command functions. The Gyration Go 2.4 recognizes double-clicking, pressing and holding buttons, horizontal and vertical shakes, and mouse swipes in eight different directions. You can also program eight different screen hot spots. In all, the Gyration Go 2.4 offers more than 20 programmable actions and allows you to choose from a wide variety of commands, including ones that open applications, cut and paste objects, control media devices, issue Internet commands, and trigger keystrokes such as Esc. Using the Other Events tab, you can also create your own key combination and assign a button or a shake to it. Setup doesn't require restarting the computer; so the whole installation and customization process can be done in less than five minutes. A detailed and well-written instruction manual guides you through the entire setup process, and the help menu of the GyroTool software answers most questions about programming the mouse.
The Gyration Go 2.4's high arch and long body make it comfortable to use as a desktop mouse, although we found that our hand tended to slip off the narrow back. The main left and right buttons are responsive and reachable, but it's easy to hit the lower three buttons by accident. Holding the mouse in the air is equally comfortable, and its curvy underside fits the hand well. The buttons are all readily navigable with your thumb. To use the mouse in the air, pick it up and click the activation trigger on the mouse's bottom twice. Then, when you move the remote, the mouse cursor will follow. The Gyration Go 2.4 doesn't even have to point at the screen or the receiver for it to work. Put it back on your desk, and it will return to regular mouse mode.
On the desk, the 800dpi optical mouse worked flawlessly; we didn't experience any glitches in cursor movement or loss of signal. We had no problem establishing the connection after our PC was restarted or when it woke from sleep. The only trouble we had was mastering the swipes, which work by pressing the large middle navigation button to show your programmed commands, and then performing a swift slide or flick of the mouse in the appropriate direction to execute the desired command. Shakes (moving the mouse quickly up and down or from left to right), desktop hot spots (corners or sides of the screen that, when selected, perform a programmed command), and the programmable buttons all worked flawlessly, although it took some practice swiping and shaking the remote to get the commands to work. The mouse is nearly as easy to use in the air as on the desk, and it works up to 30 feet away from the receiver; however, it responds better to quick flicks of the wrist than to subtle movements, making precise control a bit difficult.
Gyration offers a two-year limited warranty against defects--a year longer than on most mice. Phone support is available from Monday through Friday from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. ET and on Saturday and Sunday from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. ET. You can also e-mail tech support. You'll find drivers, FAQs, and troubleshooting advice on Gyration's support Web site.