There is always the possibility of adding something a little extra to your laptop or desktop machine. Apple includes an Apple Pro Mouse and Keyboard with every machine the ship from the factor, but fail to include a scrolling feature on either product. Therefore, to fill you technological void, Griffin Technology went to the drawing board and thought about how they could offer the scrolling feature on a Macintosh in style. The designers came out with something along the lines of "stunning" and impressive.
A USB Multimedia Controller and Input device was created from solid machined brushed aluminum that offered both functionality and amazing design. A team dedicated to quality control must have designed the PowerMate. I received the PowerMate within a nice box firmly held in place by molded plastic. Removing the PowerMate revealed both a USB extension cable and Installer CD. The USB extension cable is a must for the Power Mac, iMac, or eMac user with the short distance of the cable connected to the PowerMate. Using my laptop, the Powermate's cable reaches the USB ports without a problem. The USB cable itself is firmly attached to the Powermate, and there are no worries of frays or loose connections.
Small and compact, the PowerMate weighs enough to "stick" to the surface that it is being used on. I've tried the PowerMate on several surfaces ranging from glass top to wood, and I found the weight along with the "sticky" base allowed it to remain in one place during use. In other words, this input device will not be roaming around your desk unless you want it to.
The scrolling and clicking action of the Powermate cannot be described by any other means than smooth and controlled. Scrolling the PowerMate needs no effort whatsoever with the smooth aluminum finish gliding freely with no friction. The physical click of the PowerMate is just as smooth and nice.
A small, but important part to the PowerMate is the addition of the blue LEDs underneath ( too bad there are not any other colors). A soft blue glow surrounds the unit adding to the "coolness factor" of the product along with the overall design look. The LEDs can be controlled thru software to blink during sleep or always (the speed of the flashing can be adjusted accordingly). Sure, it does not improve the overall functionality of the product unless of course you use other third party application such as: mailPulse 1.0b that allows the PowerMate to flash when new mail is received. Several other applications could follow the lead.