You can buy a computer mouse from just about every electronics company that dabbles in computer hardware, or even your local department store, provided they have an electronics department. With the number of companies that make wireless peripherals nowadays, you're bound to find a wireless computer mouse for your home or office that is both comfortable and affordable.

Looking around at all these wireless options, one might begin to wonder how they work. Without getting too technical, let's take a look at the different kinds of wireless computer mouse that are out there.

So far there are two types of wireless computer mice available: Infrared, which is based on optical principle, and radio frequency, which is based on wave principle.

Infrared

A wireless computer mouse operating via infrared technology tends to be less expensive than its counterpart, and also generally receives less interference. The downside of this type of wireless computer mouse is that they usually need a direct optical contact between the mouse and the receiver that is plugged into the back of your computer tower, leading to a bit less in the way of freedom and mobility when compared to the radio frequency mice.

In terms of more practical use, however, most homes and businesses will rarely run into any problems caused by a standard desktop setup, so there's no need to rig up any special mirrors or anything of that outlandish nature. Simply plug the receiver into the back of the computer as you would for a standard mouse, make sure the driver for the mouse is installed, and use as normal.

Radio Frequency

The other, lesser commonly heard of, wireless computer mouse operates on radio waves. These mice tend to be more expensive than the infrared mouse, but for good reason as these mice can have a pretty good range, even with obstacles between them and the receiver. They work at all angles, which I suppose would make them pretty handy if you enjoy picking your mouse up and walking around with it while you work.

Of course, when dealing with a wireless computer mouse that utilizes radio wave frequencies you're bound to run into interference problems from time to time that can, at best just make the mouse glitch and work in a jumpy fashion, or at worst render it useless until the source of the interference is found and removed.

Personally I'd prefer an infrared mouse when going wireless, but everyone has their reasons for the mouse they choose. Keep in mind your preferred style and comfort and it's hard to go wrong with a wireless computer mouse.