The packaging was actually folded, so when we opened the package we had to open it like a book. Once fully open we find the second of the two interchangeable grips and a brief description of the G9's features. One thing that was mysteriously absent was a copy of their SetPoint software. It's no big deal considering most people today have broadband Internet and after considering the fact that our G9 was a press sample, this could explain the missing CD. Anyways, what we did receive was the G9 laser mouse, a manual, a package of weights, and the two interchangeable comfort grips.

The two comfort grips offer very different feels to the G9. The wide load grip has a throw back feel to it. It reminds us of an older style three button mouse from ten years ago. If you look at the wide grip it is raised in the palm area and has a moulded flare on the left side that supports the thumb during usage. The surface of the wide grip has a rather smooth satin type finish to it. The precision grip is far more streamlined and has a much lower profile then the wide load grip. The surface is not smooth on the precision grip; instead the surface is granular feeling. The granular feel of the material is more suited to precise working with the G9, perhaps graphic editing or other applications that require precision mouse movements. The images below shows both grips and an old school 3 button PS/2 mouse for comparison.

If you remove the comfort grip from the body of the G9 you see that it is rather compact in size. There are the two side buttons and a small silver metal post on either side of the body that hold the comfort grips in place. When you press the button on the rear of the G9 it retracts the two small metal posts just enough so you can easily lift off the grip. Just above the grip release there is the storage area that holds the weight that we have added to the body of the G9. After experimenting with weight combinations we settled on 22 grams, which seems to be a comfortable amount to work with.