Home > Consumer Reviews > Mouse, Roller Mouse Pro Black

I'm a programmer, so I look for anything that helps me code faster. Turns out it did not take as long as I expected to get used to. For the first few days my hand wanted to instinctively grab for the mouse, but that soon went away, and now I just love how my hands can stay in the same position for typing and mousing. I DO believe I am more efficient now (but I can't proove it).

One thing that I feel makes it more efficient is that the roller bar allows you to "flick" the mouse around the screen much faster than I could with a regular mouse, and you can scroll without your fingers ever leaving the keyboard. Okay, this sounds a lot like how a laptop works, and it sort of is, but the rollermouse is still more advanced, and its the only alternative for a mouse attached to a desktop PC that I've found.

I also love that all the buttons are programmable, but you absolutely need the downloadable software to customize it (I'm surprised this didn't come on a CD with the product already). There are actually TWO different software programs that do this, a basic and advanced version. After much Googling I finally found them here: http://www.contour-design.com/Default.aspx?ID=1126

What's confusing is that the http://www.contourdesign.com site is different from the http://www.contour-design.com site. The latter is the only one that offers the advanced software.

If you want the RollerMouse scroll wheel to scroll more than 1 line at a time, you have to get the ADVANCED software. None of my default drivers could be made to adjust the wheel, so was thrilled when I finally found that download.

Also, don't buy RollerMouse from Amazon or anywhere else. The cheapest at $199 was direct from here: http://www.rollermousepro.com/

The only other downsides besides having to hunt for the right software are 1) I wish it came with some built-in USB connections, otherwise, it might as be wireless!, 2) you need to use it with a keyboard that has an absolutely straight bottom edge otherwise the rollermouse sits too far away from your fingers, 3) the price: $199 is really expenisive for this product. Should be under $100.

I think if more people used this product the mouse would become a thing of the past! Give it a week and you won't go back.

this is an absolutely amazing product! Yes, it is rather expensive, but it's worth the money. I suffer from RSI, and I've tried various trackballs pounds weird shaped mice and 10 minus and lots of other things. But this device is definitely my favourite! It looks rather like a wrist rest for a keyboard and it does function as one but their arm a number of buttons too. The best bits however is the presence of a bar which you have all and move left right in order to move the cursor.
if you imagine a pencil held horizontally in front of you and you were to roll the pencil forwards and backwards and move the pencil left and right that's basically how it works. It sounds weird but it works incredibly well!

It's immediately intuitive and I didn't need any time to get used to it. There's no software to install -- everything is USB -- and using a computer has been easy again ever since. I get no pain from RSI now.

another neat little thing about this role of is that the bar itself can also be pushed down to simulate a mouse click.

finally the product is extremely well built. It is very sturdy and there's clearly been a lot of thoughts gone into the design. It feels like it's very professionally made and I have no complaints whatsoever.

I've been using a RollerMouse (original non Pro) since 2004 on a daily basis. It greatly reduced the amount of mouse or trackball related RSI as I no longer needed to leave the keyboard area to use a pointing device. Highly recommended. I regularly use it with dual and wide screen monitors on Linux (X11).

I have been using this for about a week. Got it at work because I was having repetitive stress problems from keyboarding and reaching out for the mouse. I got used to it within 2 days. It has built-in functions for the buttons and wheel, so it uses the generic Microsoft driver. Contour Designs has a beta driver that allows you to re-program the button functions, but I wasn't impressed with it and uninstalled it right away. The built-in functions are just fine.
I use this with a Microsoft Digital Media Pro keyboard, which is slightly curved at the bottom, but it works fine. That keyboard has a LOT of programmable keys, so between the two, I've been able to drastically reduce the strain and pain.
I wish this product wasn't so expensive, though. I'd buy one for home, too.

I bought one of these to use at work because I was developing carpal tunnel and had shoulder and wrist discomfort in my right arm. So far, I like it quite well.