Now I’ve had it with Microsoft hardware. I used to buy MS keyboards and mice religiously but they seem to have entered the corporate phase of “live off the brand, skimp on quality”. With the last four MS products I’ve bought I’ve encountered:
[ul][li]a wireless keyboard that randomly swallowed key presses
[/li][li]a wireless mouse that randomly swallowed movements
[/li][li]a wired keyboard that had fucked-up function and cursor keys (that new MS layout)
[/li][li]and most recently, an Intellimouse Explorer whose left button started to fail after one year of service.
[/li][/ul]So can MS no longer afford 1 extra cent to buy decent microswitches? After the Intellimouse Explorer failure I went back to my old Intellimouse Optical. Guess what, even though I’ve used it far longer than the Explorer all its buttons still work perfectly. And my current keyboard is my old MS Internet Keyboard which has a reasonable layout and never drops key presses.
Somehow this reminds me of stories of Xbox failures due to a cheapskate Philips drive… and also of other manufacturers such as Eizo and Sony who lived off their brand name long after their quality was gone. Should I need a new keyboard or mouse I’ll have a look at Logitech.
That optical intellimouse explorer is the greatest mouse ever. I’ve still got mine from, what five years ago that they first came out? And it still works great, it’s been my primary mouse all these years.
You must be confusing models. The IntelliMouse Explorer Optical is newer than five years. I think I got one shortly after it was released. Look at the bottom of your mouse, that should tell you the exact name.
Ok, the bottom of my mouse says “IntelliMouse Explorer USB and PS/2 Compatible.” So technically it doesn’t have optical in the name, but it is an optical mouse. I could have the dates wrong, but I know I built my computer (not this one) in 2000, and I didn’t get this mouse right away, but it was within six months or so of building the computer and it wasn’t immediately following the release of the mouse, I’m fairly certain it had been out for a little while.
Anyway, it’s held up wonderfully. It’s dirty looking at this point, but it still works like a charm.
I’ve had three optical mice thus far (one Logitech original, one Logitech blue, and one Microsoft blue). The only one I’ve had a problem with is the Logitech original, which has shitty buttons that don’t register clicks well. The other two are still going strong after a couple years.
I also have a Sidewinder Precision 2, and it’s been fine. I have a Logitech MOMO, and it’s absolutely great. However, I have two Logitech Wingman Rumblepads, and both of them have broken thumbsticks. One of them also got a broken wire that I had to cut open and fix.
Needless to say, I probably won’t be buying any more Logitech gamepads. The X-Box 360 gamepads are supposedly going to be PC compatible, so I may look into that when they come out.
For a gamepad I’m using the Sony DualShock 2 controller anyway. Then again, I only ever need it in Mame…
Schmidt, I think there were several revisions of the Explorer mouse. Mine was the most recent one with the side-wiggling scroll wheel. Maybe it was surnamed v2 or something but it’s definitely not been available for five years. Yours is from the good old times when MS still made good hardware!
I hated the Intellimouse Explorer myself. I opted for the Intellimouse Optical instead, which has a button on each side, perfect for back/forward in web browsing. I got it in the summer of 2000 and it hasn’t failed me yet. I love it to d.
Not a big fan of Logitech. Seems like every mouse they make is either stripped down to bare bones or a retarded shape.
Oh yeah, mine is definitely the very first version of the silvery optical mouse with a red laser. There was a later version that was smaller all around, particularly in those forward/backward side buttons. A friend of mine gave me one of those that I use for my living room computer, but it’s gotten nowhere near the use of my main mouse, so I can’t say how it holds up. I think there were also one or two revisions to the original before it actually changed slightly in size. Mine was the first. They initially cost something like $80-90 if I recall correctly, I remember holding off until it was on sale or something for $50ish. That may have been when a slightly newer version came out, or maybe just a sale, I don’t remember. It was definitely at least 4 years ago though, if not 5.
I was going to make a new thread, and Discourse suggest posting in this thread instead. Thanks discourse.
I personally love Microsoft Hardware. I’ve always had really good experiences with Microsoft Sidewinder joysticks and Intellimouse optical mice, so seeing that they’ll continue in some form is good news to me, even though they are being licensed out basically. However, they’re using the same supply chains as Microsoft, so I guess, basically the same hardware will continue.
