Mad fan-fitted mouse keeps mitts moisture-free Suffer from excessively sweaty palms when you're gaming on your PC? Accessory maker Thermaltake has a - rather bizarre, IMHO - answer: a mouse with its own tiny clip-on fan. The Thermaltake Black Element Cyclone Gaming Mouse blows a gentle breeze over a player's hand, thanks to its detachable USB-powered air cooler. The …
Fan-cooled mice (and gamepads) have been around for a good five years or so, and have all been done with the fan inside the device so the palm is cooled - which makes sense, as it's the palm that can get sweaty.
This is a gimmick, and any gamer with a) sense or b) self-respect will avoid it - the weight will be off, there'll be a pendulum effect, and cold/draughty fingernails are not as enjoyable as the manufacturer thinks.
I can see this being bought as a gift by a well-meaning friend/partner, but anyone who plays long enough to get sweaty palms will avoid this.
As a bit of PR, though, it's sort of worked - I'd never heard of this company before, but then I've promptly forgotten their name and just remembered that it's a terrible product.
@Pirate Dave -- here, let me reword that for you:
"Thermaltake. I've heard of them before. They make shit."
There, much better.
Seriously, nobody who considers themselves either a "serious gamer" or an "enthusiast" would give the steam off their piss for TT products.
Remember kids: "Friends don't let friends buy Thermaltake".
As for the mouse... o.O
Totally useless for gamers. They still have to be able to move their digits to click the buttons. A dip in liquid nitro is known to have deleterious effects on joint mobility. And as ice water would not be advised in an electrical environment, perhaps the best course would be dry ice covered in some insulation so that you don't get frostbite on contact?
Charles 9 quipped:
"Totally useless for gamers. They still have to be able to move their digits to click the buttons. A dip in liquid nitro is known to have deleterious effects on joint mobility. And as ice water would not be advised in an electrical environment, perhaps the best course would be dry ice covered in some insulation so that you don't get frostbite on contact?"
Well, thanks for that safety tip! And there was I just just about to dunk my head in a vat of liquid nitrogen on this warm day to cool down.
I can't actually decide if you're the world's most deadpan troll or just stultifyingly devoid of any sense of irony. You' wouldn't happen to be a A Murrican would you?
Yes, I'm American, and yes I was serious. Think Murphy's Law and the Foolproof Folly. Whatever can go wrong will go wrong, and nothing is foolproof enough to withstand a better fool. If you're gonna cool your hand (and I have personal experience with sweaty hands trying to handle devices on a hot summer day), do it safely.
BTW, as to the subject of the mouse, perhaps that mouse was trying to cool the fingers, which would make sense since sweaty fingertips may slide off the mouse buttons without clicking them.
Not the mouse. It's too mobile. However, I personally possess a keyboard with a USB hub on it (two ports), and the mouse is attached to it. Kinda makes you miss the days of daisy-chain buses. But this is the next best thing. I'd attach headphones to it, but it's high-draw and not suitable for a bus-powered hub.
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