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Optical or Laser Mice

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Originally posted by: pontifex
isn't laser and optical the same thing??
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No, opticals use an LED (scattered light) to bounce off of surfaces and back into an "eye", and the other uses a laser to bounce off of surfaces. Lasers are directed light, so they're *much* better at picking up the microscopic changes on surfaces, and as a result, are much more sensitive. However, without the correct polling/refresh rate, your mouse will be just as responsive as an optical, so cheap laser mice are not any better.

If you get a GOOD laser mouse, you can even use it on glass surfaces without a mouse pad or something opaque in between!

I use laser. I have a G9, now, and it's amazing. I can jerk it left, right, up and down, and it doesn't skip a pixel.
 
I still use one of the original ms optical mice that were released when optical was introduced. The one with a button each side. Tried other mice, but found this one to be my fav. Running strong for the past 4 or 5 years now. I hope it never dies.
 
Originally posted by: Excelsior
Still rocking my 3-4 year old MX500. Works like a charm on my wood table. No need for anything new...
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Same here but with mx510.

I tried several times to get newer laser mice (g5, g9, a few others) but I just can't get used to the sensitivity, since there is no way to make it match that of a normal 800 dpi mouse.
 
Originally posted by: QuantumPion
Originally posted by: Excelsior
Still rocking my 3-4 year old MX500. Works like a charm on my wood table. No need for anything new...
Click to expand...

Same here but with mx510.

I tried several times to get newer laser mice (g5, g9, a few others) but I just can't get used to the sensitivity, since there is no way to make it match that of a normal 800 dpi mouse.
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Actually! The G9 has software that lets you choose, very precisely, the DPI setting. You can have up to (I think) 6 presets in the mouse that are selectable on the fly using the two DPI buttons. You can choose what those presets ARE using a slider bar in the software. The presets are then saved in the onboard mouse memory.

You can have 400-600-800-1000-1200-1400, OR 400-800-1200-1800, OR.... etcetera

You can also change the LED colors with the software, and have game profiles, all saved inside the mouse memory. :3
 
Rockin optical with my MX518 at home, but i may either be switching to a trackball or a smaller, laptop-ish mouse if I can find either with nice back/forward buttons.
 
I am using an MX 700 led optical wireless.Works great,but the paint is all worn off in certain places and looks like crap lol.
 
Originally posted by: Canai
Originally posted by: Imp
Laser. Absolutely no reason to choose optical. My laser has no trouble with at least 2 surfaces that raped my old optical, causing it to skip or just die.
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Don't have a cat, eh? I always have cat hairs get stuck in the little opening where the sensor is. No problem with optical mice, but the laser ones catch the hair and it gets all crazy.
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This the reason I don't go with laser. I have two dogs and two cats. You can imagine how pissed I get with laser mice. Optical for me! I use the MS Comfort Optical. Good solid cheap mouse.
 
Laser. Not that it really seems to matter - anything that ain't a ball is fine by me - but I can find anything with the ergonomics and available buttons of the MX1000 to replace the thing.
 
I'm using an optical, have been using it for 3 years. I used it on my school laptop and home computer. Its still working fine, pretty damn durable
 
Originally posted by: Strebor
Originally posted by: AstroManLuca
However, it's showing its age. It still tracks great, but clicking the scroll wheel doesn't always work anymore, and it's picky about how I place it on the charger. If I don't fiddle with it and make sure it's seated just right, it won't charge.
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Had that exact problem after a few years on mine, talked to Logitech about it, and eventually it stopped charging at all. Asked if they would send me a new charger, so they sent me a retail MX-Revo free of charge. 😀 The new power plug from that one fixed the charging problem.
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Thanks for the tip, but I called in today and it turns out my warranty expired in November. Oh well, it still works well enough, and I don't really feel like budgeting $50+ for a worthy replacement (anything less would probably be a downgrade).
 
I am using an el-cheapo laser mouse from "MI" its not bad actually. I did have a logitech high rez optical I picked up at Wally-World for $12 - talk about a great basic mouse. The sensitivity was just right on it. The last optical I got cost me $30 and it was the worst mouse (other than ball mice) I have ever used. The resolution was WAY too low and the slightest movement at the slowest mouse speed made it jump across the screen!

I play mostly single player RPGs and FPSs. Or more specifically, "The Witcher", UT3 (Where are all the damn servers!!), Crysis (still, beat it quite a few times but its still fun to play), I am also about to start playing Oblivion again, since no good RPGs are comming out for PC anytime soon. Oh ya and Neverwinter Nights 2.
 
I have a laser, but it feels like my old optical was a little better on various surfaces... for example, on my brown couch the laser performs poorly without a mouse pad whereas the optical worked really well. Someone got me the laser (Logitech G5) for Christmas and then my optical died. When the laser dies I'll probably go try an optical again 😛

I've seen moved and now game from my bed. The laser mouse doesn't even work on the sheets without a mouse pad.
 
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