

Ask HN: What Mouse Do You Use/Suggest? - ericb

My simple Logitech optical mouse is flaking out and disappointing me (it misses cursor movements, etc). I'm looking for recommendations for a new mouse, especially one that will be easier on the tendon of my index or "mouse-click" finger?  Suggestions?
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apu
I really love the Microsoft Intellimouse Explorer:
[http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16826105...](http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16826105122)

It's a 5 button corded optical mouse. Some people don't like the symmetric
extra buttons, but they're really awesome for web-browsing (forward and back),
and in other applications too. It has great accuracy and the mouse wheel
'clicks' when scrolling (so you know how many increments you've scrolled).

Your tastes may vary.

~~~
Xichekolas
I have this very mouse, and have for years. It's great because it's
comfortable to grip and very light. A lot of mice these days are so heavy I
don't know how people can use them for 8-10hrs at a time. Also, it has just
enough buttons to be useful without having so many it's annoying (you don't
accidentally hit them).

------
jonny_noog
For my main desktop PC, I have for some time now had a Logitech G5, which I
love. Coupled with my fUnc Surface 1030 mouse pad, it's awesome. Super light
buttons and super smooth movement.

I also have a Logitech G15 keyboard to go with, which is equally as awesome,
mainly due to the feel of the keys, they too are very light and easy to use.

All these products were originally bought by me for gaming reasons, but I have
not had time to game for a very long while now, and have found that these
products, while billed as gaming centric (which they are), are also excellent
for general purpose use.

~~~
rkowalick
I also own a fUnc 1030 mousepad. It does kick a lot of ass. It is amazingly
smooth and seems to last forever. I've had mine for 5 years and it looks
pretty much the same as the day I got it.

As for mice, I was told by someone while playing counterstrike about the
ultimate mouse: the Logitec Mouseman Dual Optical Mouse.

It was only 30 dollars and let me tell you, it's ridiculous. It came out
during a time when 800 dpi were top of the line. In fact, it was the only
mouse that had 2 of them! It was also about 20 bucks cheaper than most other
mice with a single 800dpi sensor. It was discountinued not long after I
purchased it, and there doesn't seem to be many of these mice floating around.

It's shape is also really nice and seems perfect for most hands. It also has a
conveniently located but hard to accidental actuate thumb button too.

This mousepad/mouse combo has given me optimum performance ever since my high
school gaming days. It has honestly spoiled me which explains my disdain for
using any other computer for web browsing.

I am getting better at using the keyboard for a lot of things, but web
browsing seems to be designed around the concept of a mouse. I have tried
vimperator, and it just didn't seem natural (not to mention certain mode-
change oddities).

~~~
jonny_noog
Yep, can't say enough good things about the fUnc Surface 1030, it's the best
mouse pad I've ever owned. Yeah I guess it is expensive for a mouse pad, but I
think it's so worth it. I have also had mine for some years and it's still
just as good now as the day I bought it.

Mine's an original Surface 1030, but they've also got the F-Series and the
Archetype now.

------
brianloveswords
I actually try very hard to do everything with the keyboard. I'm an emacs
zombie, though I'm sure the vim-o-nauts would agree: mousing is just really
inefficient.

BUT! It depends on what you do. Occasionally I have to break out the graphic
design “skills” and for that, I have my Mighty Mouse. I don't know that I
would recommend it, it's pricey, some people like having a tactile right click
(me, I just disable the shit because it's a fucking farce on the mighty mouse
anyway, getting it to work reliably is impossible and I have no problem with
holding down an extra key for context menus). It depends on what you plan on
mousing around on. My advice is to just keep getting the cheap $7 Logitech
opticals and try more keyboard, less mouse.

~~~
qwph
That's interesting. I recently bought a (cordless) Mighty Mouse, and I'd never
noticed any problems with the right click on mine. Perhaps yours is a bit
flaky? It sounds like it's not affecting your usage anyway.

I do agree with maximizing keyboard usage (as I tend to spend most of my time
in Vim). I was suffering from "mouse thumb" and recently did an experiment
with my office PC. I removed the mouse completely and turned on the MouseKeys
accessability option (using the numeric keypad to move the mouse pointer
around). After a couple of days, it felt as natural as using a mouse, and my
thumb felt a _lot_ better.

------
silencio
I absolutely love my logitech MX Revolution, except it's for right handed
mousers (I like using both). I use a razer copperhead for gaming.

To be honest, I prefer my tablet or the touchpad on my laptop. Feels more
natural and comfortable.

~~~
bprater
Absolutely love my MX Revolution. At one point, I lost the dongle that
connects it to my computer and I went out and burned another $100 to get
another. Only thing I wished was that the scroll wheel was a bit heavier.

~~~
silencio
couldn't contact logitech support about buying just that?

this is actually my second mx revolution. the first one got wonky on me, but
logitech quickly replaced it.

only wish their driver software was as good as their hardware..their OS X
software is jawdroppingly awful.

------
edu
I switched to a trackball a couple of months ago. I own the Logitech Cordless
TrackMan Wheel:
[http://www.logitech.com/index.cfm/mice_pointers/trackballs/d...](http://www.logitech.com/index.cfm/mice_pointers/trackballs/devices/159&cl=us,en)

It's a pretty awesome piece of hardware, big and very comfortable and with a
nice touch. It uses an optical sensor so almost no cleaning is needed. Being
cordless, the battery is not a problem as you're not supposed to move it
around.

------
wenbert
I always prefer those wired optical mice. They light and very responsive. I
never liked those wireless ones. SO heavy :-(

------
tortilla
I'm an Apple fanboy, but I use this MS Wireless Laser Mouse 8000 with my
Macbook Pro:

[http://www.amazon.com/Microsoft-Wireless-Laser-
Mouse-8000/dp...](http://www.amazon.com/Microsoft-Wireless-Laser-
Mouse-8000/dp/B000I4UQFC)

I like it because I can switch to my right and left hand (I'm right handed). I
used to get the sore finger and shoulders, so I switch sides often (every
hour).

The Bluetooth works without using the USB dongle but it's a bit flaky
connecting sometimes. So I use the dongle now and I rarely have any connection
problems or lagging.

The rechargeable cradle works great and stays out of the way.

Since I'm on OSX, I have to use SteerMouse to be able to customize all the
extra buttons. <http://www.plentycom.jp/en/steermouse/>

~~~
wenbert
for my macbook pro, i am used to using the trackpad - even while Photoshoping
^_^ i dont have the multi-touch though...

~~~
tortilla
I like the trackpad, but I'm hooked up to a monitor and a keyboard 80% of the
time.

------
Zak
IBM Trackpoint. I'd use a Trackpoint keyboard with a desktop if I regularly
used a desktop.

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ihartley
I have a logitech vx revolution and I love it. The freespinning mouse wheel is
pretty awesome, and it has a few configurable buttons. The logitech control
center on OS X sucks really hard, though. I recommend SteerMouse to solve that
problem.

------
jacobroufa
I highly recommend Logitech's VX Nano. I've had mine for almost 6 months now
still using the original batteries, and I use it every day! It's small which I
thought would be a pain at first (remember Apple's infamous "hockey-puck"
mouse?), but it really feels natural in my hand. Also, it is precise on any
surface I use it on, using the laser sensor. I really like the dual scroll
wheel (clicky until you press down and then it freesrolls through any doc in 2
seconds) and the forward/back buttons. Its receiver is so tiny I just keep it
plugged into my laptop and never worry about it. I could go on and on and on,
but you get the point.

------
ra
Kingston Expert Mouse :- The sturdiest, healthiest most hacker friendly, RSI
defending pointing device ever built.

Worth their weight in gold (and they're quite heavy).

~~~
sb
i have to totally agree on that one. i have had a very heavy tendonitis for
the last three weeks. i took measures to alter the strain loads by buying a
kingston expert mouse trackball (which was actually an interesting discovery:
seems like everybody using a trackball knows that a mouse is an unergonomic,
unhealthy device...). additionally i bought a kinesis freestyle keyboard and
am very happy with both devices...

------
hs
How about trying to repair your mouse first?

Just open it. Most of the time (microsoft wheel mouse in my case) the prism
lens is not aligned to the LED. Securing these with ducktape solved the
problem

But really, use keyboard more and just ditch the mouse (or use less) so that u
don't worry about it -- the biggest advantage being able to survive in
environment where mouse is unavailable (say dead batteries while using
wireless mouse)

------
cpr
I love the "IBM USB Optical Scroll Travel Wheel Mouse" (search ebay with those
terms to see what I mean). $1-2 each (I buy them by the dozen and spread them
around liberally to friends and family; when they wear out (scroll wheel gets
sticky or clunky) I just throw them out like a used-up pencil).

Wonderful, small, responsive mouse with smooth scrolling. Works on any
machine. (I use them with Macs as I'm a fanboi.)

------
wmeredith
I've used all three of the Logitech Revolution mice and I recommend them to
anyone I meet who uses a computer. Simply put, they are badass.

------
gizmo
Laser is a must. It's inexpensive and is that much more reliable. Less
frustration => less wrist pain.

I use a G5.

(If the tendon of your index finger is an issue RSI is on the way. This might
be one of those cure the problem not the symptom situations.)

~~~
gtani
There's been lots of discussing on RSI, as you can imagine. Wrist curls, learn
to mouse with both hands, ... Unfortunately, not an easy term to search in
searchyc.com

<http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=185743>

<http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=199493>

oh, yeah, i use the new-shape wired optical logitech mouse. $19, fits both
hands pretty well. The only thing is cursor accelerates/scrolls funny in OS X,
so i use the mighty mouse, which i'm not too fond of.

------
s_tec
My main computer three pointing devices, a mouse, a trackball, and a tablet.
If my hand gets sore from using one device, I just switch to another one. This
works pretty well, since all three devices need different hand positions and
muscle motions.

------
mhb
Is there a way to keep crud from accumulating on the low-friction pads on the
bottom of my mouse? I thought that getting a Wowpad would take care of this,
but it hasn't. Maybe the Surface 1030 that was mentioned solves this?

------
ivank
I use both the new G5 and the G9, alternating when I get tired of one or the
other. However, all the new Logitech mice have inferior rigid cords (non-
plastic), and it's fairly hard to middle click on either mouse.

------
elsewhen
i couldnt be happier with the logitech v470 laser bluetooth mouse. if you have
a laptop with built in bluetooth, this little mouse is fantastic. excellent
mouse features (back, forward, scroll, and middle click) and the batteries
last for weeks even with heavy usage. it takes AA batteries, so you can just
use rechargeables.

------
MaysonL
Contour Perfit Optical Mouse (5 sizes righty, 4 lefty) three finger buttons,
thumb-op scrollwheel + 2 thumb-op buttons.

------
patrocles
when life gives you lemons, make lemonade ;)

<http://www.nongnu.org/ratpoison/>

------
timcederman
My 3M ergonomic mouse takes away 90% of my RSI pain.

------
bjclark
Call me crazy but I like my bluetooth mighty mouse.

------
arthurk
MX510 + Steelpad QcK

------
xlnt
razer diamondback mouse. on mac, the razer proclick mac drivers work for it.

it's designed for gamers. i like the mousing accuracy. i used to have a cheap
mouse. one _can_ tell the difference; this is much nicer.

