ROI: Bella HD Mouse

Studio Monthly by Scott Simmons

A well-designed, well-built piece of hardware, if you can figure out how to use the supporting "HD" software One of the last things that caught my eye as I was leaving NAB 2009, way back in April, was a sign that said "HD Mouse." I had to check it out. I mean, what exactly is an HD mouse after all? Despite the fact that the term HD is overused, thrown about from video to television sets to sunglasses, sometimes it actually means something important. And sometimes, it's just more marketing hype. For the Bella HD Mouse, as I later found out, that could go either way.

As far as basic mousing duties go, the Bella HD Mouse performs very well. It is a wireless mouse but isn't a bluetooth device. Rather, it connects to its supplied USB dongle. The two included AA batteries supply power to the mouse and the entire wireless range, says the company, is 26 feet. Plug in the transmitter, pair the mouse with it, and you are ready to go. There is no mechanical rubber ball gum up as the mouse uses an optical sensor to track movements. It is very precise and has a claimed resolution of up to 1600 DPI. Bella also claims a response time of 3,000 Frames Per Second; even though this mouse is geared toward video editing, this frames per second is an indicator of how the optical sensor reads the surface it is tracking. The higher the number, the better the mouse tracks. read more...