Best office gadgets of 2011

(MoneyWatch) 

Do you have some end-of-year hardware budget to spend before the clock strikes 12 on Dec. 31? Then check out the best of the various office gadgets we reviewed in 2011.

Logitech Solar Keyboard Review: Eco-Friendly and Awesome

I expected the Wireless Solar Keyboard to be something of a gimmick. After all, how useful could a solar powered keyboard be unless your office is located in an atrium? And I assumed that if most of the $79 list price goes in the solar cells, the typing experience would be regrettable. I was wrong on all counts.

Microsoft Touch Mouse Review: Made for Multitaskers

Pretty much any mouse lets you left- and right-click, scroll through window, and point to things on the screen. What else could a mouse do? Microsoft's new Touch Mouse is pretty revolutionary by adding gestures that let you move documents around on the screen with a few simple swipes.

Microsoft's Arc Touch is Perhaps the Most Portable Mouse Ever

The heart and soul of the Arc Touch is the fact that the mouse transforms, like a gadget from the future, from its distinctive arc-shape to completely flat. It's the most portable mouse in history. Read the review to see if the rest of it stacks up.

Control Multiple PCs With One Mouse and Keyboard

I've got two computers in my office --a desktop that I work at most of the time, and a laptop that I carry to meetings and work at occasionally. If you too have a pair of PCs, you know the resulting problems. You have to fiddle with two mice, of course. And getting files back and forth between the PCs is a hassle. Here's a program that completely solves this problem quite elegantly. It's technically not a gadget -- it's software -- but that makes this even cooler.