I do a lot of work on my laptop, and nudging around a cursor with a little touchpad seriously slows me down.
But most laptop mice are awful. They're bulky, fall apart in your bag, and burn through batteries like crazy.
Worst of all: they make you futz with a cheap little switch at the bottom in order to turn them on and pair them with your computer. Then, switch out of sight, it's easy to forget to turn them off before chucking them in your bag. Hello battery drain.
The years-old Microsoft Arc- and Surface-Touch Mouse line elegantly solves all those problems.
Running on a single AAA battery, it only needs a change once every several months with heavy use. It weighs next to nothing, and has a slim profile to fit in small pockets. Even better, it's invincible. I regularly chuck mine into backpacks with heavy books and my laptop, but it only shows minimal wear:
But that's not even the best part. This mouse is a little design wonder because its whole body is the switch. In the above photo, the mouse is off. Bend the back of the mouse down...
And it turns on, connecting to my computer and assuming its mousey shape. This simple solution means I never forget to turn it off before stowing. One quick pop and its off again, ready to store in my bag.
The mouse comes in two versions. The Arc version sells for $17.99 on Amazon from authorized sellers and requires a USB dongle. The Surface version sells for $39.99 and connects directly over Bluetooth.
