A Joystick – 3M’s Best Ergonomic Mouse
Excuse the pun, but 3M’s joystick mouse is truly a joy to use as possibly the world’s best ergonomic mouse ever. 3M didn’t invent anything new, joysticks had long been invented decades ago and were popularized for video games. But no one thought to take that concept and apply it to the every day work station… until 3M’s EM550GPL and EM550GPS ergonomic mice models. 3M took that concept, tweaked it for ergonomic comfort, patented it, and developed it into a highly usable pointer–retaining all the features we’ve come to expect from a mouse.
The 3M ergonomic mouse uses a unique vertical grip design that you won’t find offered by any other mouse manufacturer, including Logitech and Microsoft. With the design, your hand and wrist are kept at a neutral angle, eliminating any chance for strain due to an awkward position. Even over prolonged use, the joystick mouse by 3M will not cause any forearm pronation or pressure on the carpal tunnel area of the wrist. Its design is in fact clinically proven through scientific research and studies to immediately reduce any pain or discomfort from RSI (repetitive stress injury) that comes from using a traditional mouse.
The problem with today’s mouse designs, including even the top ergonomic mice, is the hand position. Though manufacturers like Microsoft, Logitech and many others have gone through great lengths to add curves and angles to the hand position when gripping the mouse, the wrist is still held parallel to the table or keyboard tray and therefore not in a neutral position. Take this demonstration for example: relax your hands and drop them to your sides. Do your palms face backwards or are they turned vertical facing your sides? Because the wrist is at its most natural position vertically as you can see from this simple demonstration, the joystick design actually promotes a much more comfortable and neutral posture than a traditional ergonomic mouse. This is the secret to its flawless ergonomic design.
3M’s EM550 series joystick mouse also comes in two sizes to accommodate all hand sizes. In fact, 3M is so serious that they have even gone so far as to obtain an Ease-of-Use Commendation from the Arthritis Foundation. Their best ergonomic mouse is offered in wireless and wired capacities as well and all come with a generous two year warranty. The left and right mouse buttons sit atop the joystick and are easily accessible by the thumb. They also addressed the scroll wheel/third button by placing it on the shaft of the handle. You will not lose your coveted scrolling ability or third button clicker with the 3M mouse.
Though 3M is not usually associated as one of the top makers of ergonomic products, they have introduced a winning ergonomic mouse in the shape of a joystick. It provides an unparalleled level of comfort due to its neutral hand position with a vertical handle and still uses an optical laser to track the cursor with high precision. The buttons we’ve all come to expect from a mouse are all present–including the scroll wheel. Whether you want a wired or wireless solution to suit your needs and budgets, you can still choose between the bigger or smaller mouse size that best fits your hand. Not many manufacturers have gone through the meticulous detail as 3M has done in what is possibly the best ergonomic mouse design today: the EM550 joystick mouse.
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i kinda wanna get this, but just how does the left and right button click works? it only looks like 1 button on top of joystick to me
There is actually a small switch on the side of the handle that toggles whether the mouse button should function as a left click or a right click.
I just wanted to say that I had RSI so I tried this 3M mouse and it took a few days to get used to since it was a joystick position but after about a week all the pain went away! The design does work well, a life saver in my situation.