Review: ID Mouse Professional

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Reviewed by
Larry Grosskopf

Hardware Review of:
ID Mouse Professional
Fingerprint and Optical Mouse Technology

Larry Grosskopf is a Clinical Psychologist at the San Antonio State Hospital, with a strong interest in computers. He and Marta, his wife, are raising two children, Zoë, age 9 and Jackson, age 7.

From the August, 2002 issue of PC Alamode Magazine

Have you ever had a mouse start to behave with its own agenda in mind? One of the sticky aspects of typical mouse technology is the fact that the mouse ball inside the mouse often gets dirty and then may respond poorly. If you are like me, it is usually when you are in the biggest hurry that this happens. Of course, you can clean it, but many times people just don’t want to do this, or choose not to do so. In response, many companies have begun to move away from the older technology to newer, more efficient ways of moving the cursor on the screen. One such company is Siemens with the ID Mouse Professional and its infrared fingerprint technology. This USB mouse goes well beyond where the older, more typical mouse went. That is because it is not only a mouse, but also provides the user with identification by fingerprint, which allows you to log on to your computer, accounts or networks without entering any passwords. All you need to do is register your fingerprint and you are automatically logged on to your computer, once your fingerprint is recognized. This product works with Windows 98, NT and 2000.

screen capture It is not surprising that many people feel a need to maximize their data protection to keep the prying eyes of others away from their data. This product would be interesting technology to anyone who would have a need for that kind of protection. The Siemens ID Mouse Professional is, in a sense, a security guard for the data on your computer. One common use could be for a home or a business that would have multiple individuals using the same computer. Each of those persons could have their own separate identity logged on by their fingerprint . This technology works great in a home system with several users. Even my 6, now 7 year old son uses it without difficulty. Once I set the account up for him, he has been able to log on to the computer all by himself. You can store up to 10 ID fingerprint accounts on the software that comes with this mouse.

The fingertip sensor actually measures the capacities between the sensor and the finger and makes a digital image of your fingerprint which cannot be fooled by say a copy of your fingerprint. The silicon technology utilized is very sensitive and advanced. Thus, the fingertip sensor can be finicky at times, but it works. If you want something that works perfectly every time, this is not the item for you. The reason for this is that the sensor is affected by things like moisture, dust, oil or just plain dirt on your fingers. However, with a bit of practice, none of us have had any problems logging on using this technology. Sometimes, when an error does occur at login, it is because your finger is too dry, too moist or perhaps you have not used enough pressure for the sensor to recognize your fingerprint accurately. If an error such as this occurs, the software login program tells you what kind of problem it detected with your fingerprint. It may suggest that you moisten or dry your finger, for example. In our home use, it is usually easily corrected and you are able to successfully login on the second try. Although this is not always the case, it has been true the majority of the time. Other than this wee bit of quirkiness in the fingertip sensor, the mouse has worked flawlessly.

It is a very nice “compound” device product and is a great improvement over the older ball type mice since it is both an infrared sensor device and an optical mouse. This means there is no mouse ball to get dirty or to have to clean every so often. The mouse does not stick and overall works much more smoothly than any of the other mice I have used. My wife is left-handed and I am right-handed and we can both use this mouse with no problems. It is built so that users who are right or left handed may use it with equal dexterity.

The Siemens ID Mouse Professional is a very nice peripheral tool for your computer. It serves as both a security device for your computer data and an input device for accessing and using your computer programs. It does a fine job in either capacity. It is recommended for those users who are interested in protecting their data or for those who might have several people in need of using their computer. This would not work on a large network where more than ten people needed access to a particular computer, but it would work to limit access to those whom you wanted to have access. For example, if the boss wanted only himself and his secretary to have access to his personal computer in his office, then this would be a good choice.

More information is available on the web.