The Perfect Mouse
mrbuhyah (244 points) | Wed, 2005-05-11 06:31In the creative profession, one of the first things you want to do when you get a new Mac is to upgrade the mouse. I would like to hear what the guests and members of creativebits use for their mouse.
I recently purchased a Logitech MX1000 (laser) mouse. It is simply amazing and unbelievably precise. I find it great for design work and occasional gaming. It also is the best feeling mouse I have ever used.
I look forward to hearing your responses and comments.
Ron Gallagher
Citrus Studios
Great web hosting > Lunarpages
At work I have the same. At home I kept the Apple mouse. Honestly I like the Apple mouse and I don't think it slows me down measurably.
Are you running Tiger yet, Mr Buhyah?
I have a wireless optical Logitech mouse, and I can no longer set scrolling speed in the Logitech Control Center preference pane. Tiger broke the driver, or Logitech needs to update it...although I'm concerned about what they're going to do since it's been reported that Logitech is going to kill support for Macintosh.
I've spent a good bit of my day digging for solutions.
I'm on Tiger. I too noticed the scrolling issue - with the speed scrolling. Hopefully they will fix it. I haven't heard of Logitech ending Mac support.
Ron Gallagher
Citrus Studios
Ron Gallagher
Citrus Studios
Great web hosting > Lunarpages
I'm using the MX1000 laser mouse as well... and I love it. Before I had a MX510, which was also great (and would be my choise for a second mouse, since it's fairly cheap).
But with the 1000, you get accuracy you cant believe, buttons-galore (if you're into that kind of kinky stuff) and I agree, it feels just right.
Only thing I would like to see in that mouse is BlueTooth... get rid of the cradle.
Looks bulky, no wrist stress after a few hours of continuous use?
Waleed
www.waleedsgallery.biz
Not bulky at all. It may look a bit big but it fits my hands perfectly. Much better then my Microsoft Intelli Mouse Explorer did. The mouse feels very solid and screams quality.
Ron Gallagher
Citrus Studios
Ron Gallagher
Citrus Studios
Great web hosting > Lunarpages
has anyone use the MX900 bluetooth one? it's nice not having anything sticking out of my powerbook for a wireless mouse.
for me it's Wacom at work, Macally BT mouse Jr at home (not very precise and eats AAs but the convenience is great).
I'm an Intellimouse man, both wired and wireless when the mood takes and I have fresh batteries. I can't stand using a one button mouse as contextual menus are a productivity godsend.
A nice feature is to use the scroll wheel as an expose button when pressed. It makes multitasking immeasurably faster.
I've heard however that the Intellimouse software is buggered in Tiger. Can anyone confirm this?
www.afterglow.ie
afterglow.ie - Icons, interfaces, illustration
I replaces my Intellimouse Exporer (corded USB) with the MX1000 because the scroll wheel died and I had had enough of that mouse. No regrets on the MX1000. My Intellimouse seemed to work fine under tiger though.
Ron Gallagher
Citrus Studios
Ron Gallagher
Citrus Studios
Great web hosting > Lunarpages
Did you know that you can call the Microsoft hardware support line and tell them that you have a faulty mouse and they will mail you one for free. Of course you will need to fax them a copy of the base of your current mouse but if it is faulty they don't even ask you to ship the old mouse to them. They just mail you a brand new one.
I have done this before and am hoping to get another bluetooth mouse from them as my current bluetooth MS mouse is a lil flaky.
Let me know what you find out but I am thinking of getting myself the MX1000 after hearing so much about it. I am not much of a Logitech fan and more of an MS fan but anything that is better can make me switch any day :)
So I gave Microsoft a ring. The guy was troubled to hear my scroll wheel had died and said Microsoft wants to make things right. Heck they have a 5 year warranty on these things! He told me to photocopy the bottom of the mouse (serial & PIN) then to take the photocopy with a reference number and contact info to a specific number. Microsoft will confirm receipt via e-mail and send me a nice new one.
Now that's service, much better then Apple's.
Ron Gallagher
Citrus Studios
Ron Gallagher
Citrus Studios
Great web hosting > Lunarpages
eh hold out for Apple's rumored two-button mouse ;)
(more on this rumor at http://www.appleinsider.com/article.php?id=951)
Actually at work I still use the one-button, but at home I have a Kensington 2 button scroll mouse. I just wish the scroll worked better: it tends to scroll the screen back the other way a little bit when you finish scrolling. I'm using Apple's default Mouse software because Kensington's conflicts with my Palm synching.
I think the Apple mouse is the best one-button mouse, bar none. The tracking quality, feel in your hand and response is simply the best, in my opinion. I wish I could tollerate using a one button mouse.
As it stands now, I use a Logitech Cordless Duo Elite MX setup (which is the MX700 mouse with the keyboard). The mouse is pretty good overall. It features 8 buttons, but they are set up so that if you don't use all the buttons you wouldn't even notice they are there. The scroll wheel feels good and is quite accurate. My only complaint about Logitech's optical mice are that they are nowhere near as accurate at tracking as Apple's stock mouse.
I'm considering getting the Kensington Scroll Ring Turbo Mouse Pro for work at the office. I've used one at my mother-in-law's house and it's very smooth & accurate, and I really liked using the "mouse alternative" in the past, but the hard-wired metal wheels that made the ball move were horrible after a few months. Now that they've gone optical, that has been fixed.
Finally, I'm considering trying the Wacom Intuous 3 tablet at work as well. I tried the pen/tablet combo in the past, and the accuracy was horrible, and the pens required batteries that made it feel like you were holding a brick instead of a pen.
The real problem with choosing a mouse & keyboard is that you can't try-before-you-buy. So many times in the past, a mouse felt good in the store, but was horrible to use for any amount of time.
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I've got the Intuous 2 6x8. not exactly sure how they work but there are no batteries. The only problem I've had is using 2 monitors. Since the tablet mode matches the corners of the tablet with the corners of the screen using it across 2 screens makes the middle of the screens the middle of the tablet. This hurts accuracy because you're working with half the area horizontally. Its squished.
Besides that I've had it for years and it works beautifully. I'm a lefty so if it starts bothering me using the pen I switch to the mouse it came with in my right hand. So I can screw up both wrists, yipee.
... repetitive stress kicked me in the butt. The whole 'one-button' thing never bothered me as I always had one hand on the keyboard handy to push whatever alt-key I needed. However I started to get a lot of shoulder pain after work. At first this was rare. Eventually it was daily.
My doctor said it was mouse related so i switched a Logitech two-button Trackman Wheel. The trackball is great and the optical sensors mean smooth operation all the time. It took some getting used to (about four days) but I haven't looked back since. The two buttons are really all I needed and the scrolling wheel is quite handy.
Trackballs aren't for everybody and the Kensington 10+ button monsters look very intimidating. So this is one of the simpler options, but as someone who was fine with the cool little Apple mouse, it's really all I need.
Logitech also makes a wireless version, but honestly, why do you need a wireless version of somehting that's stationary on your desk?
"Fettucini Alfredo is macaroni and cheese for adults..."
-- Mitch Hedberg
I heard that actually logitech is making the apple's mouse from a mac dealer.
http://www.aciddesign.nl/v3/
Hmmm interesting - who knows. More often then not, Mac dealers don't get much more inside info then the rest. You can probably find out more via the rumour sites, of which I have never heard Logitech mentioned.
Ron Gallagher
Citrus Studios
Ron Gallagher
Citrus Studios
Great web hosting > Lunarpages
I use the Logitech MX Duo. The Logitech drivers are pretty whacky, I have to reset the mouse tracking every time I reboot the computer.
I have the standard Apple mouse at work. I'm used to working with both, but prefer the extra buttons and scroll wheels at home.
Even though it's a stationary element on my desk, I prefer my wireless keyboard because then there are almost no wires on my desk. It's more an aesthetic issue than anything.