Home > Consumer Reviews > 3M Ergonomic Mouse EM500GPLLARGE

This 3M Ergonomic Renaissance Mouse is great for those with wrist injuries or discomfort because it keeps your thumb pointed in the upward direction, eliminating pressure within the carpel tunnel area. I was pleased to find this new version that uses an optical sensor, a USB connector, and a new graphite color.

Mouse model number EM500GPS is supposed to be for those with palms 3.5 inches wide and less and EM500GPL is for those with palms 3.5 inches and larger. My palm is exactly 3.5 inches wide, I tried both, and the large size was much more comfortable. My fingers were much too cramped with the smaller mouse. I think the recommended cut-off between the two sizes should be about 3.0 inches.

Unfortunately, there are a couple of drawbacks. First, it's for right-handers only. Secondly, it is not quite as precise as a regular mouse because you can't use your fingers to fine tune the position of the pointer, so I occasionally miss target areas and have to reposition the mouse and click again. However, I still highly recommend this product because it helped eliminate my wrist pain, and that is the first priority! You can find info and drivers at the official 3M website: 3m.com/ergonomics/ergonomicmouse.jhtml

I purchased this 3M Ergonomic mouse and the Evoluent Vertical Mouse2 at the same time to compare.
I really enjoyed the feel of the 3M mouse, but it is limited in what it can do. I need to scroll often with my kind of work. The 3M mouse does not have a scroll wheel it has a scroll button. When you push the scroll button, you then have to physically move the mouse up and down to scroll.
The Evoluent Vertical Mouse2 is pretty comfortable. It seems a bit light at times, so it takes a while to get used to it. I really enjoy the scroll wheel and the 5 programmable buttons; Left, Right, Middle, Wheel button (for your fingers) and a Back button (by the thumb) and the scroll wheel. Of course you can program each one to do what you want. You might want to visit Evoluent's web site to get the most up to date driver.
Although the 3M is slightly more comfortable then the Vertical Mouse2, with my type of work I need the functionality of the Evoluent Vertical Mouse2. If 3M had a scroll wheel I probably would have kept it, but I'm going to stick with the Evoluent Vertical Mouse2.

It's true, if you use this mouse for many hours a day then they have about 3 or 4 months of life - they start to double click like crazy, so you have to throw it out. I'm on my 3rd one, but it has allowed me to get my work done without pain. This seems like a small price to pay to reduce pain and allow me to keep working. I just purchased 3 of them so that I have about a 1 year supply. Maybe 3M will read these reviews and actually make a durable product, but why would they want to sell fewer mice?

I had pretty bad hand pain from my microsoft wireless mouse. I bought three of these based on the reviews I read here. The day I started using it the pain disapeared, however I gave my teenage son one too and that is when the bad news arrived. Within a week he had snapped the mouse in two. I figured he was just being a teenager until a month later when i broke mine in half. I took the third one and guess what, same exact way the third one broke. The base and the handle are connected with a plastic snap like joint. The joint occurs in the very place torque is likely to occur and there are three little tabs of plastic that are less than 1/8th of an inch thick keeping it together. Its amazing an engineer at 3M could think this was a good design. Oh well. I just threw them away, not sure if i could have returned them to 3M. They work so well ergonomically, once you get used to them, that I will probably buy more.

I tried many input devices, before being recommended this mouse by physical therapist. If you are having tendon issues in wrist and elbow this will be a big help in getting back to work without going tingly/numb again. The thumb button is very easy to use and the rest of the mouse is moved by upper arm/shoulder. You can wear a splint to make sure you don't bend your wrist if needed.

Seems a lot more user friendly than the quillmouse.

It installed itself without a hitch in xp and depending on the mouse pad you use doesn't skip around at all.