I got a new desk last week, and my Kensington optical mouse does not track well across it - it drifts, loses it’s place, etc.
I could use a mousepad but I always found them annoying.
Is there likely to be a noticeable improvement with another brand of optical mouse?
Are there any good, high-end ball-mouses still available? I loved my old ball-mouse Intellimouse, but it finally got worn out after about 5 years, and they don’t sell them anymore. I’d prefer a corded mouse to a cordless. Any web sites that just specialize in mice?
…or you could get a corded MX510. Pretty snazzy mouse.
Well yeah, but I’m not sure any optical mouse currently out will work on his particular surface. I doubt the MX1000 would have problems with it though. Sucks that there aren’t any corded versions. It would probably help keep the price down as well.
I’ve got an MX1000 and it has problems with the frosted glass surface of my desktop. But you would expect any optical mouse to have a problem with glass, much less one that uses a laser.
Works just fine on the faux woodgrain laminate for the keyboard drawer though. It is a really great mouse. Unless Phil’s got an all-glass desk or absolutely needs a cordless because he can never remember to put the mouse in the cradle, I would think it would work.
Office Depot and Office Max (and may other places I’d imagine) sell these clear mousepads which are practically invisible and work great with optical mice.
My desk is wood (Not even particle board, but the real thing, for the first time in my life). I’m a little suprised that my mouse can’t handle it, but that’s the case. Prior to this I had the standard particle board with wood veneer top, which was fine for the optical mouse.
I need my mouse to be USB, as I’m running through a KVM which has USB inputs. I’ve got several of the USB to PS/2 converter widgets laying around - will those reliably take a mouse that outputs PS/2 and convert it to USB?
Found an unvarnished wood surface just fine and dandy for the MS mice. The only thing it’s failed to cope with so far was a mainly monochrome, smooth mousemat which shouldn’t have been a surprise I guess.
I need my mouse to be USB, as I’m running through a KVM which has USB inputs. I’ve got several of the USB to PS/2 converter widgets laying around - will those reliably take a mouse that outputs PS/2 and convert it to USB?
Hmm - I have 3 different USB->PS/2 plugs, but they all seem to convert FROM USB to PS/2 - the PS/2 connector is male in each case - it would need to be female to convert from PS/2 to USB. Are there PS/2 -> USB plugs out there?
That’s a little more difficult. The convertors that you’ve got are actually nothing more than changing the connectors – it’s the mice themselves that handle the PS/2 or USB switcheroo.
I hooked up a MS optical mouse and had the same problem - finally decided that it’s related more to the shape of the surface (i.e. there’s a very subtle texturing/grain that you can feel in the wood) causing a non-smooth mouse feel, and not to the actual optical pick-up. So I reverted to a mouse pad - seems ok for now.
I have been using the 3M Mousing surface for some time now. I guess its about 1/16 inch thick and speeds the mouse up, big time. The smooth surface that is.
