Review: Mousetrapper Advance peripheral

RSI and associated physiological problems are still a problem for many computer users. And since the internet came of age, more of us than ever can be categorised as 'computer users'.

Companies have risen to the challenge, with keyboards and mice sporting ever more sophisticated ergonomic features.

Almost all but the cheapest keyboards now come with a wrist-rest, while recent mice from Logitech and Microsoft have shown progress in combating bad wrist positions.

The Mousetrapper Advance represents another way around the problem – getting rid of the mouse altogether. It is replaced with a trackpad, but not the kind found on notebook computers. This one is a kind of pressure pad, on which it's easy to move and scroll.

When your finger moves over the pad, the pad moves as well (it's on a roller) so it feels more intuitive than a notebook trackpad.

A pair of wrist-rests sits on either side of the trackpad, which also has a set of buttons to replicate mouse clicks. The whole thing is designed to sit in front of a keyboard on a desk, but it will only work with straight-edged keyboards.

On our Microsoft keyboard, with a curved base, the Mousetrapper sat so far away from the keys that it was a strain to reach the mouse pad. On a straight-bottomed keyboard, however, the combination worked well.

It takes a while to get used to, but the trackpad is a reasonably good way to control the pointer on screen. It's not clear how much good it can do for RSI sufferers, though – that's likely to be down to personal circumstances.

For £200, it's not a great leap forward in pointer control, although some may find it more comfortable. If the price were a lot lower, we'd have no problem recommending it.