For the past 3-4 years I have been using a Microsoft Intellimouse which I have loved for the sole reason of the various thumb-buttons, comfortable ergonomic design, and great scroll-wheel. It’s been an indispensible tool for gaming.
The problem I have during game sessions though, if I tend to move it too quickly (trying to make a quick 180 in Doom 3 for example), the mouse tends to not be able to keep up and will recenter itself at the very top or bottom of the screen causing mass frustration. It happens quite a bit in RTS games as well as I quickly pan around for units, but end up immediately warped to a strange area of the map where fog of war exists.
I believe the problem lies with the amount of megapixel identification or something. It’s an older mouse and I believe the newer ones can likely keep up with quick flicks of the wrist…(boy that may have sounded wrong)
I’d pick up a new Intellimouse, but testing out the newer upgrade in a store recently, the new wheels are delightfully smooth to scroll, but I would miss the lacking ratchet-clicks in the mouse wheel (I can just imagination the hilarity that would ensue when switching guns!) as well as this new fangled ‘tilt technology’ Microsoft has incorporated. I wasn’t convinced it was a good thing to incorporate into the wheel. I walked away underwhelmed and happier with what I already had at home.
Logitech I hear makes a good mouse with their MX family. Any tips or suggestions? Am I being too conclusive with the newer MS mouses?
Damn, probably should have posted in the Hardware forum…sorry.
Seconding the MX500 line. I’ve had mine for quite a few months now and I absolutely love it.
Of course, I was coming from a wireless Intellimouse, so I guess its not that hard to surpass.
But I really like the smaller thumb buttons. I had one of the older Intellimice and the forward thumb button on that was too far for me to reach with my standard mouse-holding position. I’d have to move a good portion of my hand to extend my thumb forward. These smaller buttons don’t make it nearly as difficult.
Yep, just got an MX510 in blue and it’s fantastic. Very comfortable, very accurate.
edit: This is an upgrade from an MS wireless optical with the tilt-wheel technology. I found the tilt totally useless - on the rare occasions when I did use it to scroll horizontally, I found it uncomfortable.
Have to join the choir here by saying that one of those mice showed up on my desk at work, and I really, really like it. I’m considering purchasing one for home, as well.
Definately the logitech 510…i’ve got a nasty developing RSI from gaming and coding games so i’ve been trying out A LOT of mice and this by the far best, not only for precision but most importantly for comfort and a more correct hand position.
Also aiding this situation are the programmable buttons on it so as to minimize/completely cut out certain harsh movements for my hand such as the jumping back and forth between keyboard and mouse, or the deadly ‘constant scroll down motion’. These are also useful features in gaming if you take the time to set them up for the game in question.
I will jump on the Logitech bandwagon, too, albeit a bit late. When the left mouse button started acting flaky on my Intellimouse Explorer, I picked up the Logitech Duo on sale. It comes with the wireless keyboard and MX700 wireless mouse. I actually like the additional heft of the MX700 due to its batteries. It and the MX510 are both very nice, though. The mousewheel still clicks when you roll it and the thumb button is easy to reach. The MX510 is higher resolution and comes in different colors (based on what region you buy it in, apparently), so it’s just that much better if wireless isn’t important to you.
I love my Logitech MX700 - the docking cradle is great in that you don’t even really need to worry about batteries; just put the mouse on the cradle when you’re not using it, and let it recharge.
Yes I had the same problem with my original V1.0 Intellimouse. I upgraded to a V3.0 Intellimouse and the problem is fixed. The new versions have a much higher optical refresh rate.
I’m interested in purchasing the same mouse as well, BDGE. My corpulent hands engulf the current mouse. Let me know if you can find it cheap somewhere. I’m interested.
I just picked up a Razer Viper a couple weeks ago and I love it. It is their new optical gaming mouse and it tracks much, much better than any other optical mouse that I’ve used. I can’t say enough good things about this mouse.
There is a detailed accounting of their company history on their website, all the ugly good and bad. The short story is that they have gone out of business a couple times. They have run out of funding and have had tsunamis wipe out their physical stock, but they have a new funder and are making new mice.
I really liked the old boomslang mouse, though few others did. The viper is much smaller than the boomslang, and I think more people will find it ergonomic. It is extremely light and set on teflon pads instead of plastic, and it glides effortlessly across my desk. The button tension is perfect, and it has these gel grippy things on the sides which are perfect for holding it comfortably. Again, I can’t say enough good things about this mouse.
If you don’t need all of those extra buttons on the MX510 you can get the MX310 instead (just bought mine a few days ago). It does have the same optical engine and 3 extra buttons and it’s about $20 cheaper. Nice thing about these meeses is you can map the extra buttons to keystrokes for use in games!
Also, if you do get a Logitech, make sure you get the latest Mouseware drivers and the Advanced Settings utility:
FYI, after upgrading to this mouse (from a MS mouse) I noticed that depressing the wheel-button didn’t work in Thief3 (I had it mapped to use the special item in T3).
To fix it, I had to go into the Mouseware control panel applet and change it from “Scroll…something…blah” to “Middle Mouse Button”. So now when I press the wheel-button in Thief3 it does what I want it to.
No one mentioned this mouse? This, so far, has been the best mouse I’ve ever purchased. It’s incredibly smooth in it’s optical reading and the fits is great on my hand. The mouse wheel also sold me… instead of the clicky with each portion of the roll, it moves smoothly. Not too loosly either, just smooth and perfect.
