Hello. Has anyone ever used an optical mouse? I went to a local computer store and that is all they had. I have never used one before.

I love mine - will never go back.

I've used both the Microsoft optical mice and the Logitech optical mice. I like the Logitech better, personally.

The optical mice work exactly like standard mice (by which I mean that if you use a MS wheel mouse now, the MS wheel mouse optical version won't have any noticible differences in the way you use it) except that there's no mouse ball to clean out, operation is much smoother because of it, and you can use it on any surface at all (bye-bye mousepad, hello lap!)

Jason

I've been using one for over a year now... Works great! A lot better than a regular mouse.... and no need for a mousepad.

Mine's from Microsoft - but there are cheaper ones out - this cost $40 when I bought it. You can probably find it for cheaper now.

I have 3 microsoft intellimouse explorer's (came cheaper if I bought 3 so I use one for both my PCs and one for my laptop). I will never go back. I had to go help my mom out with out *gasp* compaq which has one of the regular ball mice and it needs cleaning. For the life of me I couldn't get the blasted thing to move sideways. You'll love the optical mouse too... Come to the optical side!!!!

I use both the Microsoft Explorer and Wacom Tablets .. they are almost as nice as the tablets, but cost only 1/8 th of the price ;)

::drools:: I want one of the PL tablets (lcd screen ones). And I just got done cleaning my mom's mouse which cut me. Evil thing! We couldn't find the tweezers (sp?) so I had to do it with my fingers.

what is resolutions of optical mouse. ? :confused:
i was planning to get one but local wender does not had it. too bad :(

next time i will also go for optical. ;)

:homer:mmm. . . optical mouse. . .mmm

Originally posted by JustinK
I have 3 microsoft intellimouse explorer's

That's what I have (or had). It's currently on the other side of the world at the moment and I'm stuck using a packard bell ball mouse. I curse this thing. Optical mice is the greatest thing since sliced cheese. They may cost a little more, but they last longer, don't need cleaning and are more responsive.

Greg Moore

Wouldn't get anyting but optical now. If you travel much, you know what a pain it is to try and laydown on a bed and work with a regular mouse. With the optical you can work on damn near any surface. The only place I had to get a mousepad was for my desk at home, it has a solid glass top, so nothing but the floor to bounce the laser off of.

Optical mice are great, im on my second one now, the button on the first one broke.. well thats what happens whe you press it 500,000 times Thats not exagerating, i worked it out. Am i strange? probably.

Im thinking of getting an optical mouse :)

Dont you need a plain mousemat? I got told I wouldnt be able to use my Wallace and Grommit mousemat if I got one :angry:

Also, do they need specialist drivers? no? - Im thinking of what effect it would have with linux heh :)

My friend had his busted it in a week!But he slams it!:D

Nicholas, no extra drivers are need, they are only needed if you want to use the extra buttons you get. It will work on most surfaces but doesnt work on front of a monitor, over cds or on glasses.

You can also point them at other peoples eye for more fun.

Originally posted by SplashHost.com
Nicholas, no extra drivers are need, they are only needed if you want to use the extra buttons you get. It will work on most surfaces but doesnt work on front of a monitor, over cds or on glasses.

Dang - and I like to use my mouse on my screen too :D j/k ;)

I have a logitech optical mouse. It's pretty good, except when it comes to games, like Quake III.

One thing optical mice are not good for are for really quick movements. If I quickly move my mouse in any direction, the cursor goes erratic on me. I don't know what causes this, but from what I heard, all optical mice have this issue..

but since I don't play games anymore, it suits my needs and it's great..

No need to get a new mousepad. The things will work on pretty much anything solid colored below'em. I have a colorful dolphin sunset on this computer and some Flapdoodles one for my laptop. Extreme color!!!!

I've been considering an opti too.

Just wondering...has anyone had experiance w/ the cheap Wacom tablets?? the $99 ones...

Originally posted by Nicholas Brown
Dont you need a plain mousemat? I got told I wouldnt be able to use my Wallace and Grommit mousemat if I got one :angry:


I don't know what a Wallace and Grommit mousepad looks like, so I can't make a judgement call on that one. I will say however that I've used this mouse with lots of surfaces and it's only had trouble with two of them - one was a bright red Staples mousepad (the laser on the mouse is also red, so the mouse couldn't pick up the reflected light off the red mousepad) and the other was a Dell mousepad that for some reason it just didn't like (still can't figure out why exactly - there was no red in it).

But right now I'm using (when I use a mousepad - most of the time I use the mouse on my knee while I'm leaning back in my chair) a very funky logo mousepad (erm... it's from a competitor of mine, who is on these forums as well, so I'm not going to mention the company) that has several different colors in it and an interesting design, and the mouse has no problems with it at all.

Originally posted by Jason Ellis
I don't know what a Wallace and Grommit mousepad looks like, so I can't make a judgement call on that one.

Education Time - get out your books students :D

The attached image is a scanned image of my mouse mat - funky eh? ;)

Its a Brit thing :rolleyes: ;)

Hrm...

Hard to say what kind of impact that would have on an optical mouse's operation.

I could say with near certainty that the mouse cursor will jump every time you slide the mouse through the guy's red tie, but other than that I honestly couldn't say. It's a tough call on how it'll behave.

Sorry I can't be more helpful - I've never tried my optical mouse on something with that type of image on it.

Jason

I have 3 of them and I love my Microsoft grey one.

But the funny thing is that the infared light somehow detirrirates my desk. There is like small marks where the mouse sits on my desk.
Must be I use it too much....

Bleh. I have a MS Intellimouse. The ONLY thing it seems to work on is a mousepad. Probably the WORST surface I've tried it on is my desk (fake wood). It's nice otherwise, no more cleaning out the stupid things.

Originally posted by Nicholas Brown


Education Time - get out your books students :D

The attached image is a scanned image of my mouse mat - funky eh? ;)

Its a Brit thing :rolleyes: ;)


Just turn it over, and you'll be fine :D

well i got an optical mouse. so far so good.

i like it :)

Ok...

An optical mouse isn't a laser. It's a camera with an LED to light up the underside so the camera can see. In the case of an Intellimouse Explorer it 'takes pictures' at around 15 000 frames a second or so. What the software does is look at one picture, then look at the next. From this it works out how far the mouse has moved and then makes the cursor move the same (in a relative sense).

It's not recommended to use them on shiny surfaces (no doubt such as your fake wood), or surfaces with am extremely 'busy' image. The glass probably wouldn't work either as it doesn't have anything to reference from.

Greg Moore

Aloha
run an optical mouse
got one of the newer ones then the first gen ones
love it
also use wacom tablets (we have 2 puters each has a dif tablet size
I like the bit larger ones for the wacom tablets for some stuff but still love a mouse for most.
I use a old 3m pad as it has a cool surface and still makes my optical gliiiiiide

plus they look cool at night

with all the battery bu puters etc.. in our main room the place looks like some kind of cool UFO cockpit ;)

wacom tablets

Forgot to mention, yes Wacom are good, even the cheap ones. As far as tablets go they are pretty much the industry standard. They're a solid dependable, and quite affordable. :) I have an older one (about the size of a mousepad). It's been across the world twice and is about 4 years old. It still works as well as the day I bought it.

Greg Moore

Ohhhhhhh I miss watching Wallace and Gromit use to watch it every morning with the kids when i lived in Canada;) Also miss fireman Sam LOL
Anyhow I love my MS Explorer Optical wouldnt trade it for the world;) How ever I have a Explorer Optical track ball sitting here that i use as a paper weight.

I'd say if you're worried about the mousepad when you get the mouse, just try it out. If it doesn't work, grab a magazine to use as a mousepad until you get a different one. :) Mine's worked on pretty busy mousepads, fake wood, bed covering, real wood, paper, and my jeans.

If the TV hooked up to the VCR were working, I'd be watching my W&G tapes right now. That evil penguin is my fav.

Originally posted by Honu
Aloha
run an optical mouse
got one of the newer ones then the first gen ones
love it
also use wacom tablets (we have 2 puters each has a dif tablet size
I like the bit larger ones for the wacom tablets for some stuff but still love a mouse for most.
I use a old 3m pad as it has a cool surface and still makes my optical gliiiiiide

plus they look cool at night

with all the battery bu puters etc.. in our main room the place looks like some kind of cool UFO cockpit ;)

Honu,
as you are designer, how do you rate the resolution of the optical mouse. is it better drawing with optical mouse then scroll mouse ?

just me Rs.1 :D

Originally posted by mahinder


Honu,
as you are designer, how do you rate the resolution of the optical mouse. is it better drawing with optical mouse then scroll mouse ?

just me Rs.1 :D
Aloha
well at least for the MS have nto tried the logitech or other brands I am never going back to the old ball and glitchy mouse again

I like the fact it does not get dirty ;)
also when a ball starts getting dirty it gets this weird skip thing going sure ya know what I mean where it kind of lags sometimes.
well no more and the acuracy seems better and seeems much smoother to use

I just want to update everyone. I first purchased an IBM optical mouse. It died on me. Took it back and purchased a Microsoft Inteli Optical Mouse. That works much better. I will never use one of those regular balls again.

I even ordered more today. I am replacing the mice my tech's use.

Addictive aren't they? :D I'm sure your tech's will be much happier. :)

I have have a Logitech Optical Mouse - and it's great.

For best results, I recommend using it on a darker mousepad (I have a 3M Precise Mousing Surface as mine), and it is great for graphics use, and games. I can move it extremely fast without it going jerky, and its also pretty damned accurate too.

I am considering a cordless optical to get the best of both worlds... (I had a cordless before, and that was good to use too).

Regards
Matt

Originally posted by Glexicon
I have 3 of them and I love my Microsoft grey one.

But the funny thing is that the infared light somehow detirrirates my desk. There is like small marks where the mouse sits on my desk.
Must be I use it too much....

Hey that made me look at my desk and whoah I have those black spots as well. What are those things from? The beam or constant use?

Hehe, the Microsoft and Logitech optical mice are for suckers. Last I checked they were going for around $50. I got the no-name brand generic CompUSA model for $20, and it works like a charm. I suggest that one if you are looking to save money.

Originally posted by Foo-Dawg
Hehe, the Microsoft and Logitech optical mice are for suckers. Last I checked they were going for around $50. I got the no-name brand generic CompUSA model for $20, and it works like a charm. I suggest that one if you are looking to save money.

MS Intelimouse Optical's cost me $30 each.

Mine cost $24 and that's when they first where introduced

Originally posted by ProSam
Mine cost $24 and that's when they first where introduced

Maybe I got ripped off. Or they just went up. I baught them from a company that is usally pretty reasonable.

Either way I am okay w/ it. Beats $50 at comp usa. :D

I'm using a Microsoft Intellimouse Optical here and love it! Had it for a year now I think, it costed quite a big back then though.

What do people think of the wireless mice and keyboards? Which is the best? Or do we need a new thread for this :)?

Originally posted by ho247
What do people think of the wireless mice and keyboards? Which is the best? Or do we need a new thread for this :)?

I don't know about a new thread but I use an Intel wireless keyboard, mouse and also bought the game controller.

The keyboard and controller work great but the mouse is giving me problems, I don't know if it's a Win2000 thing. The mouse it too heavy anyways I'm used to my optical which is very lightweight.

The controllers great cuz I can use it as a mouse as well, even though I don't cuz I'm already used to the mouse. Really cool feature though.

Ahhhhh... I've never held a wireless mouse before, never knew that they are heavy, in that case I don't think I'll ever try one then. I just wanted a change... instead of the boring standard keyboards and mice.

Btw, what about the neutral keyboards, what's people's views on those? I'm eager to know how people have adapted to the split in the center, those who code a lot that is :).

Alan