Heating MousePad: Silly or Brilliant?

Right up until I saw the pictures, I really wanted one of these. Of course, most of the time I don’t actually sit at a desk, and since I bought the Couch Mouse I really don’t need a mousepad. But…my hands get cold. Like, stupid cold. Like, it gets hard to bend my fingers, which makes typing something of a challenge. So when I heard there was a heated mousepad that actually acts like a blanket to keep your hand warm, I was all for it. And then I saw the pictures. And, quite frankly, they make me giggle. A lot. I’m not sure if I could use this thing and function or if I would be laughing so hard I might as well have cold hands for all I could point and click.

My dithering aside, let’s look at what exactly you get here, shall we? It’s a mousepad, obviously, and it goes both over and under your hand. It’s being described as a futon-type design, where it comes in three pieces (mattress, pillow, comforter). The mattress would be the actual pad where your mouse sits. The pillow is actually a wrist rest, which is a handy feature to have, especially if you spend any length of time with your hand on a mouse. And then we come to the comforter. That’s the part that keeps your hand warm, in case you couldn’t figure that out. And you don’t have to use it all the time, which makes this more versatile than at first blush.

Bear with me, I’m working from a Google translation of a Japanese website. But it appears that the heating element (which is powered via USB) is removable, and will heat up to 120F. If you don’t want to use the comforter, you don’t have to. You also don’t have to plug it in, for when just having it over your hand is warm enough. It automatically heats up when plugged in, and it doesn’t appear that there is any way to control the heat, so you’re looking at on or off. The whole thing will cost you 1,980 Yen (or about $25 US).

Source: Oh Gizmo!