Need A Mouse

[Bobby]

Don't laugh! And no comments about the state of varmints in my house!

I need a new mouse. I have had a Logitech MX-700 for literally years and years. Wireless. Things I like: It has a nice drop-in charging stand, but this is not mandatory as most of the newer crop of mice seem to have much longer battery life. Extra buttons on the top and left side which I use for paging, font size control, and one button I reserve for closing the current window (very handy).

The first problem I had with it is that there is no support for Vista or Win7 - thanks Logitech. It runs in default mode, but I can't program the buttons. Now lately the buttons are starting to spaz and there is really no way to get in and clean things out if in fact that might fix it.

So, I guess it is time to move on. Logitech has a couple of similar mice (MX-620, the Performance Mouse), but they don't get very good reviews, even on their own website! I see Microsoft has a couple, but I thought they were out of that business (mice, keyboards).

I do NOT want a combo with a keyboard. A wired keyboard (I am still using my years old Microsoft keyboard and like it - clicky) is fine - just want a wireless mouse.

What is everybody using? Recommendations? Should I just go Tablet?

[Steve Grisetti]

I vote for going to Best Buy (or Amazon) and just grabbing whichever USB mouse feels right. But I love under $10 solutions!

[Dave McElderry]

Bobby, I'm using the 620. It was a replacment for my MX-1000, which I still mourn. The 1000 would work on my pitch black, flat black, desktop suface without issue. I don't like mouse pads. Sometimes it just seems to lose its mind, refusing to move the pointer and ignoring clicks until I physically pick it up off of my desk and put it back down. That seems to fix it for a while. The 620 has a similar, but different feel in my hand than the 1000. Even after several months it doesn't feel as natural to me. The setpoint software is much improved, however, and allows many more button programming options than it used to. The reason I had to give up my 1000 was because the rechargeable battery died and it was not user replaceable. In essence it was a throw-away mouse, whose lifespan was not dependent on the mouse itself, but on the battery. The cordless mouses that use regular alkaline AA batteries are the way to go, in my opinion. I have one for my laptop that the batteries last a year. I've had the 620 for months (I think I bought it last summer) and although it says the battery is low, it also says that the estimated life remaining is 87 days. Not a problem. Bottom line, I'd give the 620 about a 6 out of 10 and if my old 1000 had used AA batteries instead I would have given it a 9.5 out of 10.

[Chuck Engels]

Other than for my laptop all of my mice are wired. I have a very small mouse for when I travel, one wired and one wireless. I have gotten to like the wireless mouse once it was working correctly. The one I have does not have a name on it, just Model 7340. I got it at Office Depot for $10. It didn't work correctly at first for some reason, but one day it just started working and has been fine ever since.

Maybe you would like one of those mice with all the extra buttons you can program as shortcuts
http://astore.amazon.com/chuckengelsco- ... B001DWK4NC
http://astore.amazon.com/chuckengelsco- ... B001QXDN3G

[Bobby]

I will check those out Chuck - but will of course buy only if the price is right!

[Barb O]

Bobby,

My brother has large hands and he likes the Logitech LX8. I don't know if it will fit your needs. Here is the link for a description

http://www.logitech.com/index.cfm/mice_ ... 8&cl=us,en

[rfjg]

What is everybody using? Recommendations? Should I just go Tablet?

I use an older Wacom Bamboo tablet, love it. New versions included touch as well http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=5574660&CatId=140

Takes a little time to get use to, but once you do using a mouse seems cumbersome. Plus, using photoshop with tablet can't be beat!

[Bobby]

Re: Wacom

Now THAT looks like a good idea! How well does the multi-touch work, viewing webpages, etc.?

[Jayell]

I use a couple year old Wacom tablet. Haven't touched a mouse in 3 years. You couldn't pay me enough to go back to a mouse

[rfjg]

How well does the multi-touch work, viewing webpages, etc.?

The one I have does not have this feature, looks pretty good, have a look at the video on http://www.wacom.com/bamboo/multi_touch.php

[Greg mgm]

Those Wacoms look pretty good....I'll have to try one.

This is what I've been using for the last few years. It's nice keeping your hand in one place while on the computer. It's a Logitech Marble Mouse-

[Bobby]

Thanks for all the input so far.

I have been reading reviews, and the situation doesn't look good. For every good review you find, there are bad reviews on the same mouse. But the tablet does sound intriguing.

I think I need to actually put my hands on a mouse, so I am going to head up to the local (i.e. hour away) Best Buy and see if I can find something that feels right and gets good reviews.

[Bobby]

I broke down and bought a Logitech Performance Mouse MX at a horrendous price. But it had the feel that I wanted, and at least some programmable buttons (but less than my original Logitech MX-400).

It seemed to install OK on both my XP and Win7 machines. It feels pretty much like my previous mouse (good) and I am playing around with the settings now.

One irritant (still under investigation) is that the switching time using my USB KVM switch seems to be slower on the Win7 side only. Now sure why.

It is definitely lighter than the previous mouse (good).

More later, but if you want a good but terribly expensive mouse, this might bear looking at.

[Dave McElderry]

Congratulations on your purchase, and thanks for the update. It looks like a good mouse. Expensive, yes, but I paid nearly that for my MX-1000 and I really liked its performance. It's worth the money if it fits your needs. My experience with the rechargeables would probably keep me from considering this one, but that's a personal thing and I hope it works out great for you. I don't know why they don't make a rechargeable that you can replace the battery if it becomes necessary. That would be a major improvement to me. Post back in a while and let us know how it's working out.

[Bobby]

Dave, the battery in this one is a standard AA NiMh. It does not have a drop-in charger like my last one (bad) but they do supply a USB charging cord and even an a/c block to plug it into if you don't have a PC handy.

But they say the battery life is far improved from older units, and it should last for months or so. Also, it does have an on/off switch to keep charge when not in use.

I will let you know!