Targus PAUM01U Ultra-Mini Retractable Optical Mouse

 (119 customer reviews)

I don't like using touchpads and I got this mouse for my laptop about 6 months ago. I use my laptop a lot and take it from meeting to meeting, and absolutely loved this mouse - its size and retractable cord made it really easy to take around with me.

The only issue was its short life span: it died on me last week, without warning. No LED light, nothing. By reading the other comments, it looks like I'm not the only one who experienced this issue.

It is so convenient that I would buy it again, if Targus updated this model. For now I think I'll stick with a sturdier model, even if it is bigger.

The Targus Ultra Mini Optical Mouse (TUMOM) is an amazing piece of hardware. Its convenient size and weight make it just another competitor in the laptop mouse field, but what sets it apart from the crowd is its cord. Not only is the cord extremely thin and light-weight, but you can make the length anywhere from six inches to about two feet and then retract it down to nothing for transport. It's almost like having a wireless mouse, but without the added initial cost or the ongoing cost of batteries. Having the second mouse button is a big bonus for Macintosh laptop users; the third button (depressing the scroll wheel) is great too (mine is programmed for Exposé's "view all windows" feature).There are a couple caveats, but these are probably going to hold true for any laptop optical mouse, not just the TUMOM. When I plugged the mouse into my PowerBook (in battery power mode) it sucked about 20 minutes off the clock, which then kept dropping at an accelerated rate. Although it...Read more

I didn't think I really needed this for my laptop, since the touchpad does a decent job. But this makes navigating the desktop and surfing the web much faster and more comfortable. It's tiny, but feels just right. I don't even like using a regular sized mouse anymore. It is truly plug and play via the USB port - it doesn't require separate software or drivers, or even a system restart for that matter. I just hooked it up and was using it in less than half a minute. Both buttons and the scroll wheel perform admirably. The self-winding cord works like a charm too. It comes with its own carry bag which makes packing convenient. In essence, it's everything I was looking for in a mouse. I'm not usually terribly enthusiastic about gadgets, but this one is without flaw.