The laptop trackpad is an unbeatable piece of kit that lets you carry out fast, non-precise input on a computer easy and conveniently without running out of a space on a desk! However, when it comes to precision "cursoring" (i.e. drawing) and overall versatility the good old fashioned mouse remains king of pointing devices!
There is nothing like the freedom of moving the mouse cursor on the screen with pinpoint accuracy. This is particularly true when working one pixel at a time on a vector graphics or raster graphics editor like Adobe Illustrator and Photoshop.
Computer mice and laptop trackpads essentially do the same thing, performing better in different environments like airports and desktops where both have their advantages and disadvantages. Unless you own a gaming laptop trackpad, a regular external computer mouse like the Perixx Perimice-803 is universally better than the average laptop trackpad for precise work on the go. The Perimice-803 is not tethered to a cable; instead it connects to a desktop computer or laptop via bluetooth 3.0 wireless connectivity.
The Perimice-803 weighs just 50 grams and measures 10cm long, 5.8cm wide and 4cm high so it has a compact small footprint designed exclusively for small hands. Those with a hand span (from tip of middle finger to palm base) larger than 15cm won't find a mouse of this size comfortable to use for long periods of time.
The Perimice-803 is sold as a travel mouse but can be used as a daily driver office mouse thanks to its optical sensor and 3 button scroll mouse design that allows you to do left-clicking for selecting objects, opening hyperlinks and closing running programs, as well as drag and drop by holding the left mouse button. The buttons make a subtle, satisfying click. As far as the tracking sensor, there is no technical specification listed for it but it tracks smoothly during general office mouse operation.
Saying this, a 1000 dpi office mouse like the Permice-803 runs faster with 720p computer setups than with computer monitors running 1080p resolution where 1000 dpi feels slow. With only 1000 dpi available, the Perimice-803 is not built for gaming so if you plan to do gaming you should look at a gaming mouse with adjustable dpi of at least 3500-4000 dpi.
The Perimice-803 isn't an ergonomic type mouse so you won't find grippy rubber sections nor side skirts to rest the thumb and pinky finger. The Perimice-803 is made entirely of plastic with a matt finish on the bottom part of the mouse and a high glossy shiny finish on top. The Perimice-803 is put well together without any parts rattling so it has an overall solid build to it, despite its low weight.
Being a computer mouse designed to be used on the go, it runs on removable batteries so it hasn't got built-in a rechargeable battery which always makes charging easier. With that said, the Perimice-803 only uses two AAA small batteries which are usually cheaper to buy than AA batteries so you can always use removable AAA rechargeable batteries.
There is also three power-saving modes built-in to the Perimice-803 mouse that are triggered according to time. After 1 second of idling, power consumption goes from 10mA (working consumption) to 4mA. After 10 seconds of idling power consumption goes down to 1.5mA and after 4 minutes of idling, power consumption goes down to 0.9mA (same type of ultra low power consumption you get with microcontroller based projects).
To give you an idea of how well the power saving modes work, if you were two use two AAA 1250 mAh batteries you can get 100 days of battery life from 2 hours of use everyday. If rechargeable computer mice aren't your cup of tea, check out the Perimice 517 trackball mouse.
Onboard the mouse there is an status led to indicate paring (blue light) and low battery charge (red light). The led indicator is a neat thoughtful touch that is very useful to alert you of low battery charge before the batteries run completely flat, which is nice.
Speaking of bluetooth, there is a dedicated bluetooth pairing button on the bottom of the Perixx Perimice 803 mouse that you hold down for 3 seconds to initialize paring. Just above it, you find also a dedicated power button to switch on and switch off the mouse.
As far as compatibility, the Perixx Perimice-803 3-button scroll mouse is compatible across the main operating systems including MacOS (10.6 and newer), Windows (XP and newer) and even Android (4.0 and newer). The Perixx Perimice-803 doesn't come with a dongle so if your device isn't bluetooth ready, you will need to get a Bluetooth dongle. Check out the review of the Periboard 328 mechanical keyboard and Periboard-512 keyboard