Mouse technology has been relatively stagnant over the last few years - there's been the occasional upgrade in laser or infrared, but new features normally consisted of higher DPIs or a million customisable buttons. The techs at Microsoft, however, weren'...

The mouse itself is a fairly standard right-hand-only job, with the usual thumb groove and side buttons. Using the familiar 2.4GHz wireless technology, the Explorer model has a relatively small USB dongle that can attach to the underside of the mouse for...

Merging technology with fashion is not easy; most products fall squarely in one category or the other. Now meet the Arc, Microsoft's latest attempt that scores close to a bullseye

Using laser rather than the new BlueTrack technology, the Arc is really a standard mouse squeezed into a nice-looking shell. The tracker is moved forward to the front of the underside to accommodate the arc

Let's be honest, if you've looked at the picture to the left, you're probably thinking the same thing we did when we first saw the Microsoft Wireless Laser Mouse 7000: it's fairly ugly

In fact, we found this mouse a pleasure to use and its overall look was by no means a reflection of its comfort and ease of use

Graphics tablet But it's a convenience that doesn't come cheap; the 12WX has a small, 12-inch widescreen display with a resolution of 1280 x 800 - hardly the kind of display a graphic artist is going to want as their primary work area - but will set you...

The Cintiq, once you've installed the software, becomes a second monitor, and you can toggle between the main display and the Cintiq with one of the five programmable buttons on the tablet (which are duplicated both left and right). There's also a touchpa...

New high-end gaming mice tend to look more and more futuristic but Logitech has given its latest G9 Laser mouse something of a twist. Out of the box, the G9 looks like it could play sidekick to Knight Rider's KITT, thanks to an '80s retro look

Looking at the nitty gritty numbers, Logitech appears to have gotten one up on its competitors. The resolution of the mouse can be set from a lowly 200dpi all the way up to an incredibly fast 3,200dpi. A dedicated dpi adjustment button sits behind the lef...

Gaming peripheral specialist Razer adopted the tagline 'For gamers, by gamers' years ago, and it is evident in their latest offering on the gaming mouse-front: the DeathAdder

The DeathAdder has two side buttons and a clickable scroll wheel, bringing the button total to five. Competitors in the same group, namely Microsoft's Habu and Logitech's G5, sport the same basic design, but add two dedicated DPI changing buttons (DPI mea...

TrackIR 4 ProHead tracking device We love our games here at NZ PC World, so naturally whenever a shiny new toy comes along that's designed to enhance our gaming experience we give it a thorough going over (it's a tough job …). As far as gaming toys go, th

In this latest version, the physical design has been tweaked. For starters, the TrackIR 4 is tiny - about a quarter the size of its predecessor and thus significantly easier to place on or around your PC's monitor. A completely revamped pedestal/latch mec...

Pointing device As we all know, the mouse remains a key gaming accessory, so it's good to see Microsoft introducing the Laser Mouse 6000, a high-precision mouse with features aimed at gamers

The Laser Mouse 6000 is an ambidextrous design, featuring five buttons (including the scroll-wheel button) and a scroll wheel. Acknowledging that wireless mice aren't popular with gamers, the 6000 comes with a lightweight USB cord that doesn't interfere w...