Okay IOGEAR, we hear you. There's no need to shout. Your Personal Security Mouse with Nano Technology manages to cram biometrics and nanotech (of a sort) into an innocuous-looking peripheral, and there's something to be said for that. But the devil is in the details, and it seems like he brought along some friends, because this here mouse of yours certainly has some gremlins.

First off, any mouse, even one designed for travel, no matter what you cram into it, still has to function reasonably well as a mouse. And this black beauty may look nice, but with its small size and recessed finger-scanning dimple, it's not exactly ergonomic. Mousing around for a few minutes left even my small, stubby hand feeling unsupported and cramped. The poorly placed indent for the fingerprint scanner left the palm of my hand feeling like it was straddling a treacherous crevasse. Don't look down, man. Just don't look down.

The IOGEAR Personal Security Mouse is so small, it was swallowed up by my small hands

As for the "nano shield," it's made of "Titanium Dioxide (TiO2) and Silver (Ag)," according the chemistry majors who seem to be writing IOGEAR's Web copy. Supposedly, that nano-particle compound will keep bacteria, fungi and algae from taking up residence on the surface of your mouse. Though, as IOGEAR's disclaimer will tell you, "This device cannot be used as antibiotic or anti-viral medication. Do not ingest the surface material of the device under any circumstances." I'm glad they made that one clear, because I was going to have a hard time explaining things in the emergency room. And just in case you were wondering, "this device does not eliminate the entire universe of bacteria or viruses" either, which is probably a good thing, no matter how clean a universe free of viruses and bacteria may sound.

But enough enough with the ridiculous copy; back to the slightly less ridiculous mouse. The fingerprint scanner: It works, though it took me an average of three swipes to get a positive reading. Your mileage may very. The real issue though, is that putting a fingerprint scanner on the backside--or any side--of a mouse is probably a bad idea. Mice, aided by slippery feet, are designed to move easily. So when I tried to scan my finger, the mouse tried to run away. Eventually I learned to grip the mouse on both sides while gently stroking the fingerprint scanner. It works, but it left me with the odd feeling of attempting to pet a skittish hamster. At least this mouse won't keep you awake at night running around in a squeaky wheel and gnawing on bits of wood.

Because mice are skittish, you have to hold this guy on both sides while you stroke the scanner on its back

Design issues aside, the software locked up on me the first time I tried to save a password using the scanner. After that, I was too wary to let it deal with my Windows login, as the manual suggests. Though the software didn't fail on me again, when I had to swipe my finger two or three times to get into sites that I'd saved passwords for, convenience wasn't exactly the first word that came to my mind.

For all you paranoid or nefarious types, the software does let you use the scanner to encrypt individual files, folders, or a whole section of your drive. This is probably the most useful function for the fingerprint scanner, although if you're moving files from a desktop to your laptop, you'll then have to take your mouse along for the ride. But that's fine; IOGEAR says the mouse is designed to "safeguard your data while you are away from your computer," while being "designed to travel with your laptop." So if you like to go out in public and leave your laptop laying around when you grab some lunch, you can be sure your files will be safe, even though your laptop will likely be gone when you get back.

All in all, the IOGEAR Personal Security Mouse is a letdown. It might make sense to put the scanner further back on the mouse, so it doesn't feel so funky in your hand. It might make more sense, though, to forget the idea all together and put the biometric scanner in something more stable, like a keyboard.

IOGEAR needs to spend some quality time with its design team. But if anyone deserves a bit of shouting down, it's the copy writers. Hyperbole may be their stock in trade, but what they write makes some sort of real-world sense. If you really want to get paid to write off-the-cuff nonsense, you should probably be blogging.

Post by Matt Safford