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Help discover my perfect mouse

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stormbind

Technical User
Mar 6, 2003
1,165
GB
Hello everyone!

Warning:
I am extremely picky about the characteristics of input-devices, but I have been away from retail so long that everything on the shelves is foreign to me :(

Requirements:
I need this mouse for Photoshop. I am currently working on a laptop with a touchpad which is simply not going to suffice. For graphics, I do not want any of that moving 2 pixels at a time nonsense!

Why I hate infra-red mouse:
If I move my mouse to the edge of my mat/desk and want the on-screen pointer to continue beyond that, I must lift the mouse away from the desk and reverse it, before continuing. An infra-red mouse works when it is hovering above the desk, and in doing so it drags the pointer in the opposite direction from that which is desired. Not only is this terribly frustrating, but it can be fatal if playing 3D games where one might need to make several 360-degree rotations with urgency! :D

Other bonuses:
It should be chunky, preferably with rubber sides.

Previous failures:
Over the years I have had many mouse products. Once the novelty wore off, I have persistently dispensed with them and returned to using an old (and somewhat worn) Microsoft Intelimouse Pro. Sadly, I no longer have that mouse to fall back on :(

It is realised that I can be a difficult customer, but this mouse should be an extension of my hand so we gotta pick the right one. Thank you!

--Glen :)

Memoria mihi benigna erit qui eam perscribam
 
Microsoft's current range:

Logitech's current range:

With both of these companies, both are hot on optical devices and so you severely restrict your possible shopping list from the top 2 input device companies by removing optical devices from the shortlist.

I'd actually recommend visiting a few showrooms and see if you can see them and feel them against your hand or try them out on some of the demo PC's.

John
 
My favorite mouse is a logitech cordless trackman wheel, its a trackball. But i dont do photoshop or 3d games either.


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I use the logitech trackman with the cord I plat games and use the mouse for graphics programs it works great for all my uses.


Wayne

Life is a big Roleplaying adventure.

Wayne
 
I agree with jrbarnett, it all depends on what you like. As far as i know, nobody will ever pry my fingers off the trackball that i have. Its because i love it, i can set it to go right across my 21 in monitor with a small movement of one finger and many other reasons. But there may very well be another out there that i might like better, so unless i test something else out i will be sticking with what i have. So its best to actually try them out if you can.
In my opinion, though, there isnt a mouse around that will beat a trackball, but thats just my opinion.

Also, there are some mice, come with a kinda weird name, but they have better tracking built into them i hear. I just remembered, something about lazer, or lazor. anyway, these mice are supposed to be ideal for gaming. Cant remember the exact weird name they have though.



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There is also the logitech mx-1000 as well.


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Also, there is supposed to be this mouse pad that is so much better as well, so i guess it would make your mouse work better, its called a ratpadz GS I believe.


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I just remembered more of the name:
Boomslang razer and i think its now called the BFGTech Razer
Im sure you could google it.


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I use the Honeywell mouse, has two weels one for up and down the other for sideways use. Also has a third button located on the left side. Very smooth indeed. The model number is TS3. I can only recommend it to anybody.
Regards

Jurgen
 
And here i thought Honeywell made thermistats!


Good advice + great people = tek-tips
 
I am using a Toshiba Tablet PC with four devices to mouse/move around -

1. the built-in touchpad for fast moving general use.

2. a USB connected wheel mouse for fast document/image scrolling.

3. a Microsoft cordless mouse & keyboard for big freedom of movement such as CAD applications.

4. the built-in touch sensitive screen with tablet pen for direct image editing for Photo editing and CAD drawing very quickly, especially in the field.

Note: I can also use a dual monitor set up (available in most current laptops - see right click screen properties) which allows a huge desktop area across two monitors. A 21 inch monitor really helps photo editing.

Also, I can use voice commands from Dragon Naturally Speaking for navigation.

Using a USB hub with multiple input devices - mice, trackballs, etc. might prove useful. Then you could shift from one device to another to suit your needs. I do this right now with very good results.
 
How about a cat instead of a mouse, like Cirque's Cruise Cat touchpad. It's vastly superior to laptop touch pads. It took awhile to get its calibration to my liking, now I prefer it to a mouse or a trackball with apps like Paint Shop Pro, SmartDraw or TruefontsII.

The zoom, scroll & forward/back "edge sliders," on the pad shapes, and the programmable "buttons" add excellent capabilities. Set it's acceleration to max and you can get pinpoint accuracy with a fingertip and slow motion, or you can drive the cursor from edge to edge of a 24" display with a quick 1" move of a finger.







Steve
 
from Cobolkid "you can drive the cursor from edge to edge of a 24" display with a quick 1" move of a finger."

thats one of the reasons i love my logitech trackball, plus the buttons are programmable, and you dont have to move the trackball around like a mouse, you only move the ball around. Much easier and faster than a mouse.
But i dont do games or autocad type progs so i cant really say how they would work with those apps but i bet they would work great.





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Gee. maybe thats why i like my trackball so much as im also lefthanded.


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Pretty neat for a lefty. I have a mouse that is ambidexterous, the way its shaped is for either hand and you can changes the buttons for a lefty as well, but getting off-topic here i suppose, unless stormbind is a lefty!


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