Need a mouse recommendation

[mugs]

I was going to buy the Logitech Cordless Laser 530 keyboard and mouse set for my Mac Mini since I like the set I have for my work Macbook, but it seems that product doesn't exist anymore. So I need a recommendation.

I don't need anything fancy. I don't need cordless, I don't need super-high gaming accuracy. Honestly, my favorite mouse ever is this one: http://www.logitech.com/index....e/devices/338&cl=us,en I probably have a half dozen of that model. But for my Mac I need something with additional buttons that I can map to Expose. So that's really my only requirement. Corded/cordless doesn't matter.

 

[aphex]

I've been really happy with my Logitech MX Nano. Just the right size and its smooth as butter.

 

[xanis]

Originally posted by: aphex
I've been really happy with my Logitech MX Nano. Just the right size and its smooth as butter.

I second this. I've been using one since late December and it's AWESOME. Comfortable, smooth, and it has superb battery life.

 

[TheStu]

VX Revolution. Little bit bigger than the nano, but still incredibly comfortable, with great battery life and superb tracking.

 

[Injury]

Have you given the mighty mouse a whirl? I used a Logitech MX1000 for about a year, but it never quite felt "just right". My biggest gripe about the mighty mouse is the inability to right click while having anything but slight pressure on the left "button".

 

[mshan]

Logitech mouse with software configurable left and right scroll wheel click are nice because you can set them to trigger "back" while web surfing and say expose (right scroll click).

You can choose whatever function you want for left and right scroll wheel click, I just find above two options very convenient in Mac OS X.

(I've also got the Logitech VX Nano and love it).

 

[Kaido]

Originally posted by: TheStu
VX Revolution. Little bit bigger than the nano, but still incredibly comfortable, with great battery life and superb tracking.

Seconded on the VX Revolution! I used to get wrist pain with the "palm" mouse like the MX510, but with the "fingertip" mice like the VX, I don't have that anymore. I liked it so much I bought one for my laptop too and one as a spare :thumbsup:

 

[Tyranicus]

The Logitech VX series always seem a bit too small for me. I have an MX 620 and love it very much. It feels very comfortable in my hand.

 

[Kmax82]

I'm still a fan of the Logitech MX510/8. I haven't tried the VX series, but have a colleague who bought one and he loves it.

 

[mugs]

What's the difference between the VX series and the MX series?

They have 'clicky' scroll wheels, right? I have a Microsoft mouse with a non-clicky scroll wheel and I don't like it. I always hit the middle button when I'm trying to scroll.

I tried the Mighty Mouse at the Apple store. The scroll ball tickles my finger. And for that price, I think I'd get a better mouse from Logitech.

 

[TheStu]

Originally posted by: mugs
What's the difference between the VX series and the MX series?

They have 'clicky' scroll wheels, right? I have a Microsoft mouse with a non-clicky scroll wheel and I don't like it. I always hit the middle button when I'm trying to scroll.

I tried the Mighty Mouse at the Apple store. The scroll ball tickles my finger. And for that price, I think I'd get a better mouse from Logitech.

I think that it is predominantly size. The MX mice are generally larger whereas the VX are generally smaller. Originally it was just the Revolution line of mice that had the newer all metal scroll wheel that could switch between regular clickwheel and 'hyperscroll' mode. You can flip a switch and the wheel can free-spin at incredible speeds. Very low friction axle means you can scroll through hundreds of pages in just seconds. (I realize this sounds like a commercial ).

That wheel has found its way into the non-Revolution mice such as the MX620 and a couple others as well if I am not mistaken.

So, to the best of my knowledge, all Logitech mice have the click-wheel, but a few can be switched to free scroll mode.

 

[mugs]

I went to Best Buy to play with some mice today. I had pretty much decided on the MX 518, but now TheStu has me interested in this MX620.

Re: VXs, Nanos - you guys have some tiny hands. :Q

Question about the hyperscrollwheel thing - I see that it has little arrows next to it. Does that mean that you slide it side to side to switch between scrolling modes, or does is it a tilt wheel that does horizontal scrolling? Is it easy to click the scroll wheel? I use that a lot to open new tabs in Firefox.

 

[Tegeril]

The new Logitech G5 is quite nice as well (new one has forward and back buttons which was one of the biggest appeals of the MX518 because the original G5 had only the back button). It has the notoriously ridiculous weight cartridge, but if you load it with the heaviest weights, you get a very substantial mouse (or you can leave it empty for something very light). I think it is superior than the 518 in all respects.

 

[TheStu]

Originally posted by: mugs
I went to Best Buy to play with some mice today. I had pretty much decided on the MX 518, but now TheStu has me interested in this MX620.

Re: VXs, Nanos - you guys have some tiny hands. :Q

Question about the hyperscrollwheel thing - I see that it has little arrows next to it. Does that mean that you slide it side to side to switch between scrolling modes, or does is it a tilt wheel that does horizontal scrolling? Is it easy to click the scroll wheel? I use that a lot to open new tabs in Firefox.

Actually, I have quite large hands, I just happen to wrap right around the VX Revolution like a glove.

The arrows on the sides indicate that you can horizontal scroll. You need to flip a switch on the bottom to get the hyperscrolling.

Finally, my wheel clicks like a champ, perfect every time, in exactly the way that I am accustomed to after years and years of using mice with scroll wheels. Tyranicus's MX620 has a HORRIBLE center click that practically doesn't work. I complain about it every time I am over at his place, and he shrugs it off since he apparently doesn't use it. I would imagine that he has a bad egg since all the ones that I have played with at stores have clicked well. Besides, in addition to any return policy that the store you get it at might have, I know that my VX is covered by a 5 year warranty, so that is certainly something to keep in mind.

 

[mugs]

Originally posted by: TheStu

Originally posted by: mugs
I went to Best Buy to play with some mice today. I had pretty much decided on the MX 518, but now TheStu has me interested in this MX620.

Re: VXs, Nanos - you guys have some tiny hands. :Q

Question about the hyperscrollwheel thing - I see that it has little arrows next to it. Does that mean that you slide it side to side to switch between scrolling modes, or does is it a tilt wheel that does horizontal scrolling? Is it easy to click the scroll wheel? I use that a lot to open new tabs in Firefox.

Actually, I have quite large hands, I just happen to wrap right around the VX Revolution like a glove.

The arrows on the sides indicate that you can horizontal scroll. You need to flip a switch on the bottom to get the hyperscrolling.

Finally, my wheel clicks like a champ, perfect every time, in exactly the way that I am accustomed to after years and years of using mice with scroll wheels. Tyranicus's MX620 has a HORRIBLE center click that practically doesn't work. I complain about it every time I am over at his place, and he shrugs it off since he apparently doesn't use it. I would imagine that he has a bad egg since all the ones that I have played with at stores have clicked well. Besides, in addition to any return policy that the store you get it at might have, I know that my VX is covered by a 5 year warranty, so that is certainly something to keep in mind.

A switch on the bottom? Meaning I have to flip the mouse over to switch it? The way I was reading the product description, it made it seem like it's easy to switch. I guess if the hyperscrolling is easy to control, I'd just stick with that.

So the lack of friction doesn't make it to middle-click without scrolling at the same time?

I think I need to go to Best Buy and play with mice again tomorrow.

 

[mugs]

Originally posted by: Tegeril
The new Logitech G5 is quite nice as well (new one has forward and back buttons which was one of the biggest appeals of the MX518 because the original G5 had only the back button). It has the notoriously ridiculous weight cartridge, but if you load it with the heaviest weights, you get a very substantial mouse (or you can leave it empty for something very light). I think it is superior than the 518 in all respects.

That's another one I was looking at. It looks like it has a tilt wheel, which I don't think the 518 has. It has adjustable sensitivity, which is a feature I'd never use. The 518 has +/- buttons that presumably are intended to control volume (or whatever else you want), but the +/- buttons on the G5 look like they're dedicated to the adjustable sensitivity. Since I don't want to adjust the sensitivity on the fly, can I re-map those buttons to whatever I want?

 

[Kaido]

Originally posted by: mugs
I went to Best Buy to play with some mice today. I had pretty much decided on the MX 518, but now TheStu has me interested in this MX620.

Re: VXs, Nanos - you guys have some tiny hands. :Q

Question about the hyperscrollwheel thing - I see that it has little arrows next to it. Does that mean that you slide it side to side to switch between scrolling modes, or does is it a tilt wheel that does horizontal scrolling? Is it easy to click the scroll wheel? I use that a lot to open new tabs in Firefox.

It's a fingertip mouse, not a palm mouse - it's designed to let you rest your fingertips on the bottoms and float your palm above the rear of the mouse, then you put the bottom of your palm on the desk or mousepad behind it. I kind of use the bottom of my palm as a base, then move the mouse around using my fingertips. I use computers sometimes up to 14 hours a day and this has really saved my wrists. I use with with an ergonomic keyboard and I have zero pain, period.

 

[TheStu]

Originally posted by: mugs

Originally posted by: TheStu

Originally posted by: mugs
I went to Best Buy to play with some mice today. I had pretty much decided on the MX 518, but now TheStu has me interested in this MX620.

Re: VXs, Nanos - you guys have some tiny hands. :Q

Question about the hyperscrollwheel thing - I see that it has little arrows next to it. Does that mean that you slide it side to side to switch between scrolling modes, or does is it a tilt wheel that does horizontal scrolling? Is it easy to click the scroll wheel? I use that a lot to open new tabs in Firefox.

Actually, I have quite large hands, I just happen to wrap right around the VX Revolution like a glove.

The arrows on the sides indicate that you can horizontal scroll. You need to flip a switch on the bottom to get the hyperscrolling.

Finally, my wheel clicks like a champ, perfect every time, in exactly the way that I am accustomed to after years and years of using mice with scroll wheels. Tyranicus's MX620 has a HORRIBLE center click that practically doesn't work. I complain about it every time I am over at his place, and he shrugs it off since he apparently doesn't use it. I would imagine that he has a bad egg since all the ones that I have played with at stores have clicked well. Besides, in addition to any return policy that the store you get it at might have, I know that my VX is covered by a 5 year warranty, so that is certainly something to keep in mind.

A switch on the bottom? Meaning I have to flip the mouse over to switch it? The way I was reading the product description, it made it seem like it's easy to switch. I guess if the hyperscrolling is easy to control, I'd just stick with that.

So the lack of friction doesn't make it to middle-click without scrolling at the same time?

I think I need to go to Best Buy and play with mice again tomorrow.

The MX Revolution (the full size, and full price version) has a software clutch that will switch it based on what you are doing, and you can apparently force it to switch by scrolling 'hard'.

The VX lacks this feature due to its size. The real issue is, how often are you going to be switching between the 2 modes? However, on my VX, I can be in free scroll mode and still middle click just fine.

To Kaido. I never realized that I was using my mouse just as you described, I just never thought about it. He is right though, with the VX, i just nudge it around with my fingertips and have no need to move more of my arm.

I definitely recommend trying out the mice at the store some more. Also see if they have a no penalty return policy.

 

[mugs]

Originally posted by: Kaido
It's a fingertip mouse, not a palm mouse - it's designed to let you rest your fingertips on the bottoms and float your palm above the rear of the mouse, then you put the bottom of your palm on the desk or mousepad behind it. I kind of use the bottom of my palm as a base, then move the mouse around using my fingertips. I use computers sometimes up to 14 hours a day and this has really saved my wrists. I use with with an ergonomic keyboard and I have zero pain, period.

That's how I use my mouse. I never realized it, but I think that's why I like my plain old Logitech Optical Wheel Mouse so much. But the Nano is just too small for me.

After playing with the mice again, I've settled on the VX Revolution. Thanks for all of the info everyone.

 

[mshan]

http://forums.anandtech.com/me...keyword1=vx+revolution

 

[Kaido]

Originally posted by: mugs

Originally posted by: Kaido
It's a fingertip mouse, not a palm mouse - it's designed to let you rest your fingertips on the bottoms and float your palm above the rear of the mouse, then you put the bottom of your palm on the desk or mousepad behind it. I kind of use the bottom of my palm as a base, then move the mouse around using my fingertips. I use computers sometimes up to 14 hours a day and this has really saved my wrists. I use with with an ergonomic keyboard and I have zero pain, period.

That's how I use my mouse. I never realized it, but I think that's why I like my plain old Logitech Optical Wheel Mouse so much. But the Nano is just too small for me.

After playing with the mice again, I've settled on the VX Revolution. Thanks for all of the info everyone.

Be sure to install the Logitech Control Center software:

http://www.logitech.com/index.cfm/494/3129&cl=us,en

I turn the scrollwheel way up for Global and Safari, then do Home/End for side-tilt in Safari. The Zoom slider on the VX Revolution is utterly useless, so don't worry about it. I don't use the little search button under the scrollwheel either (I just use Hot Corners for Expose). So pretty much I use:

-mouse functions (set acceleration/movement)
-scroll speed (I set the gear to, uh, 'crunchy' on the bottom, then set both sliders up a bit higher till it gets where I like it)
-back/forward buttons (default)
-mousewheel tilt (home/end)

Then I program it for Photoshop, Safari, etc. etc. Best mouse ever!

 

[mugs]

The zoom button isn't programmable? I was going to use that for volume. Oh well, I can live without that.

 

[Kaido]

Originally posted by: mugs
The zoom button isn't programmable? I was going to use that for volume. Oh well, I can live without that.

It's programmable. What I meant by useless was, on both of my VX mice, the slider worked for a short period of time and then became extremely hard to push for some reason. I just unboxed my spare VX the other day though and I'm playing with it now, and the slider seems to be smoother. I dunno, maybe they fixed the hardware thing where it got hard to push, time will tell!

Also it's in a bit of an awkward position for my finger, even tho it's a small mouse I kind of have to stretch my finger to reach it and so I just use my keyboard's volume control buttons instead.

 

[Tyranicus]

I don't use the Logitech software. I've had a few issues with it freezing up. Steermouse works very well for me.

 

[mugs]

Apparently Logitech's software doesn't work with my Logitech keyboard. (Logitech Internet 350 keyboard)

Is there third party software that'll let me map the extra buttons on my keyboard?