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COMPUTE!
COMPUTE! v
specific
Choosing a PC mouse used lo
be simple: You bought Micro
soft's mouse or Logitech's. But
the increasing popularity ofthe
mouse with PC users has creat
ed a hotbed of competition.
After Microsoft introduced its
new, streamlined mouse last
year, everyone seemed lo be
releasing new mice, many em
ulating Microsoft's Dove bar
look.
Logitech, which made the
three-button mouse popular,
hasjuslintroduced a threebutton,
high-resolution mouse
with a sleek new look (Logi
tech, 6505 Kaiser Drive, Fre
mont. California 94555; 800-
231-7717; $139). Besides its
new took, the Logitech mouse
shares two important features
with Microsoft's newest offer
ing: It has a short button travel
and its trackball has been
moved from under the palm lo
near the front.
The curvaceous shape of
the new Logitech mouse may
take some getting used to, es
pecially if you're familiar with
the traditional, wedge-shaped
Logitech mouse. The new
mouse doesn't support your
hand with ridges on the but
tons and grooves on the side
the way Logitech's previous
C7 did. And the new Logitech
isn't happy with just any
mouse pad—in feet, the only
pad it works well with is a
hard-surfaced pad such as the
MouseTrakL/F(930Dow
Dell Lane. Saint Helena. Cali
fornia 94574; 707-963-8179;
$11.95). But on the right sur
face, ihis mouse is fast and
surefooted.
Perhaps the biggest threat
to the dominance of Microsoft
and Logitech in the mouse
market is Key Tronic. Famous
for its high-quality keyboards.
Key Tronic recently intro
duced a new 200-dpi, high-
quality two-button mouse
(P.O. Box 14687. Spokane,
Washington 99214; 509-928-
8000: $119). The Key Tronic
mouse is shaped something
like Microsoft's, but it's larger
and will probably fit a large
hand better. Key Tronic shows
a conservative bent when it
comes to trackball location: It
places the trackball directly
under the palm. Another inter
esting feature is the raised
nubs on the left mouse button.
The left button gets the most
use. and these nubs make a
good nonslip surface for your
index finger.
The Key Tronic mouse
has a solid feel, with just the
right weight and resistance.
And it glides effortlessly across
almost any surface. The button
travel is a liltle longer than
Logitech's (which many people
may prefer), and it has jusl the
right amount of resistance.
If you're interested in
buying a mouse, it's best to try
a variety ofthe devices and
decide which is best for you.
But if you don't have an op
portunity to go comparisonshopping
and you want a twobutton
mouse, you can't go far
wrong with Key Tronic.
SideTalk
Background telecommunica
tions can certainly take the
sting out of uploading and
downloading. While your
computer burns up the phone
lines transferring files in the
background, you can work un
disturbed in another applica
tion in the foreground.
Invisible Link (see this
column in the February 1989
issue) is a good, basic package
that uses less than 30K, but it
does have some limitations. It
has no script language, it sup
ports only XMODEM Check
sum and CRC error-checking
protocols, and it doesn't gel
along very well with other
memory-resident programs.
At the other end ofthe
spectrum from Invisible Link
are high-powered, industrialstrength
programs such as Re
lay Gold. Mirror 111, and
BackComm, Unfortunately,
the power of these heavy
weights comes at a price: Each
uses about 200K of RAM
when operating in its memoryresident,
background mode.
Between Invisible Link
and the big guns is SideTalk
(Lattice. P.O. Box 3072, Glen
Ellyn, Illinois 60138; 800-533-
3577; S119.95). In its default
configuration. SideTalk uses
about 75K. supports an array
of communications parame
ters, offers speeds ranging
from 300 to 9600 bps, and
sports a powerful BASIC-likc
script language that can handle
complex communications.
SideTalk supports not only
XMODEM Checksum and
XMODEM CRC protocols,
but also the staples ofthe
BBS world, YMODEM and
YMODEM BATCH. And the
program has ANSI emulation
(though unfortunately, it
doesn't support ANSI color).
In ils background mode
(the program can also be used
as a one-time command), Side
Talk performs flawlessly: II
doesn't crash your system, it
works well with other memoryresident
programs, and it com
pletes transfers without muss
or fuss. I tested SideTalk with
a variety of foreground and
memory-resident programs,
including Borland's SidcKick,
and experienced no problems.
In fact. I even loaded and un
loaded SideKick from memory
while SideTalk was download
ing in the background—Side-